Suns’ Jalen Green Forced Out vs Hawks With Hamstring Injury

Jalen Green played just four minutes before exiting.

Jan 20, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green (4) drives against Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) during the first quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green exited Friday night's matchup against the Atlanta Hawks after just four minutes of action. He wasn't spotted on the team's bench towards the end of the first quarter, which Phoenix led 31-27.

The Suns officially ruled him out with "precautionary right hamstring tightness," at the very beginning of the third quarter.

He finished the first with four points on 1-3 shooting, which included quite the move to the basket — some think this is the play he was hurt on.

Jalen Green cooked his defender and walked gingerly back to the bench shaking his head.

He went back in the locker room and has yet to return to the bench. pic.twitter.com/zcRhcGg6aP

— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) January 24, 2026

Green had previously missed 33 consecutive games with a right hamstring strain that initially flared up in training camp. Green suffered setbacks in preseason and earlier in the regular season with the same injury.

He eventually made his return on Tuesday, scoring 12 points in 20 minutes before playing his second game tonight. It's notable Phoenix also saw Green exit in his second game back from action earlier in November before he re-injured the hamstring.

He hadn't started either contest as the Suns wanted to be careful with his hamstring.

"He's not going to start. He's going to come off the bench. It's just those target number of competitive minutes got to go up," Suns coach Jordan Ott said before the game (h/t Duane Rankin).

"We need him at the end of games. So to try to manage that the best we can at this point, it's best to just to bring him off the bench, but whatever minutes he's out there, we know we're fortunate to have a healthy group. Talked to the guys yesterday, like end of games is going to be tough. We've got a lot of really good players. A lot of big decisions. And we've played well. A lot of that stuff, we're going to have to have some feel and some grace as we go through this."

The Suns, 27-17 entering tonight, have missed Green's ability as an iso scorer and his willingness to attack the rim downhill.

"Man, I'm excited for him," backcourt running mate Devin Booker added. "He's been with us through the whole process. We've been watching him grind. He looked good to me. He's fast. He can make plays for other people and he gives us another presence in the paint. The speed is there."

The Suns are concluding their six-game road trip tonight before returning home this weekend. Entering Friday, Phoenix had possession of the West's No. 5 seed. They were 3-2 on their current road trip.

Green's reemergence into the lineup gave the Suns an excuse to wait out potential options at the NBA trade deadline, though this certainly isn't a good sign for his health moving forward.