Suns Reveal New Starting Lineup vs Bulls After Mark Williams Injury

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns begin a three-game homestand tonight against the Chicago Bulls looking to extend their win streak to three against a very undermanned team after releasing some unfortunate news shortly ago.

Phoenix (35-26) announced starting center Mark Williams, who has played a career-high 56 games so far this season, suffered a stress reaction in the third metatarsal of his left foot and will be re-evaluated in two-to-three weeks.

"It just popped up," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of Williams' injury pregame. "Yesterday when he came in, day in between games, just had a little soreness. Went to have an image and you saw the news."

Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) and Jordan Goodwin (left calf strain) also remain out for the Suns.

Chicago (25-37) will be without its top two scorers in Josh Giddey (right ankle sprain) and Matas Buzelis (right ankle sprain), as well as Anfernee Simons (left ulnar styloid fracture), Jalen Smith (right calf strain), Patrick Williams (right quadricep sprain), Jaden Ivey (left patellofemoral pain syndrome), Zach Collins (right first toe surgery) and Noa Essengue (left shoulder surgery).

The Bulls were already facing an uphill battle in addition to the long list injuries going into tonight having lost 12 of their last 13 games and 11 games in a row against the Suns.

This will be the first meeting between the Suns and Bulls this season, and Phoenix is favored by double digits.

Suns' Starters vs Bulls

Down two starters in Williams and Brooks, here's the starting five Phoenix is rolling with tonight:

Collin Gillespie
Devin Booker
Jalen Green
Royce O'Neale
Oso Ighodaro

This group has not started any games together, as Ighodaro fills in for Williams.

What Suns' Center Rotation Looks Like Without Mark Williams

Ighodaro enters the starting lineup after recording a season-high 14 rebounds to go along with 14 points in Phoenix's 114-103 victory over the Sacramento Kings Tuesday.

His backup will likely be rookie Khaman Maluach, who will get his first minutes as the true No. 2 center after moving up to the third-string role following Phoenix trading away Nick Richards ahead of the deadline last month.

Ironically, the two big men will go up against Richards on the Bulls, as he has taken on a much bigger role in Chicago and is averaging 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game across 10 contests for the Bulls since the trade.

Ott called Ighodaro "our best defender, or one of our best defenders" pregame and explained what he is expecting from Phoenix's center rotation ahead of tonight's matchup:

"(Williams' injury) will have an opportunity for both (Ighodaro and Williams)," Ott said. "It'll have an opportunity for everyone just to continue to take the next step. Next man up, ready to go."

Maluach, specifically, has barely played any meaningful minutes this season, and the No. 10 pick will have a great opportunity these next couple weeks.

"When you're a young guy, just bring your energy. Bring your energy, bring your athleticism, bring your joy of wanting to play because of all the work that you've put in," Ott said of Maluach. "It doesn't matter if it's two minutes, four minutes, eight minutes, 24 minutes, go out and play as hard as you possibly can.

"We'll live with the mistakes and then we'll speed you up as fast as possible. That's our job, to speed them up, correct some mistakes on the fly. These are meaningful minutes, but we wouldn't put you out there if we didn't believe. The whole group believes he's going to bring some excitement to us. Then we're going to be excited to be a part of his journey, wherever it goes."

Ighodaro also spoke on entering the starting lineup earlier today, which you can read more about by clicking here.

Tonight's matchup is scheduled to tip off shortly after 7:00 p.m. MST.