Devin Booker, More Stars Pop Up on Suns Injury Report vs Lakers

PHOENIX -- After getting locked into the No. 7 seed in the West with last night's victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the Phoenix Suns have a lengthy injury report for tomorrow night's matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Suns (44-36) listed Devin Booker (right ankle injury management), Jordan Goodwin (left ankle sprain) and Haywood Highsmith (right knee injury management) as out against the Lakers. Jalen Green (right knee soreness) is questionable.

Booker, who will not meet the 65-game minimum requirement for NBA awards despite playing 64 games because he played less than 15 minutes in two of them, said that he would benefit from resting in one of Phoenix's last two games after the win over Dallas.

"It's probably a conversation we'll have amongst the team, but I could see one of the games not playing," Booker said.

Green left in the first half with a right knee injury and did not return against the Mavericks, while Goodwin, who has been in the starting lineup the last three games, hurt his ankle and also did not come back against Dallas.

"I think I don't know about imaging, but they [medical staff] just said right knee [for Jalen] and left ankle for Goodie, they tried to both come out, back in they just weren't able to do it," Suns coach Jordan Ott said after the win over Dallas.

As for the Lakers (50-29), they will be on the second night of a back-to-back tomorrow after taking on the Golden State Warriors tonight.

Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain), Austin Reaves (left oblique muscle sstrain), Marcus Smart (right ankle contusion) and Jaxson Hayes (left foot soreness) are all out against Golden State.

Stakes of Tomorrow's Game for Both Teams

The results of the final two games for the Suns really do not matter anymore now that they are locked into the seventh seed and will likely be taking on the winner of tomorrow night's matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers in the opening round of the play-in next Tuesday night.

Although these next two games really don't matter for the Suns and several players will be out against Los Angeles, Phoenix has simply not been playing well for over a month and needs to figure out things fast before the play-in.

It has not been a seamless transition integrating Dillon Brooks into the lineup next to Booker and Green after all three battled injuries throughout the year and are finally all healthy, as the Suns have struggled to figure out their rotation over the past week since Brooks returned from a broken hand.

Phoenix will have to decide if it values rest or more reps over these next couple games to sort through these problems ahead of the postseason.

The Lakers are in a tough situation with the injuries to Doncic and Reaves ahead of the playoffs, but are currently tied with the Houston Rockets and own the tiebreaker over them for the fourth seed in the West.

Including tonight against Golden State, L.A. has three more games remaining and needs every win it can get to try to earn homecourt advantage, but has lost three games in a row and really struggled without its starting backcourt.

Tomorrow's game is scheduled to tip off shortly after 7:30 p.m. MST.