Suns Suffer Unexpected Blow Before Hornets Battle

The Phoenix Suns move into tonight's battle against the Charlotte Hornets without Grayson Allen.

Allen, after not appearing on the initial injury report, was downgraded to probable with right knee injury management.

That stirred some questions initially, though Suns coach Jordan Ott didn't comment on Allen's injury at all during his pre-game media availability, which led many to believe the organization didn't view it as serious.

Phoenix, now, is down Allen alongside all of Jordan Goodwin (calf), Dillon Brooks (hand) and Mark Williams (foot) tonight.

Allen has been dealing with a right knee injury for some time now, though a recent flare-up on Feb. 6 against Golden State saw him exit action to also recently pair with a right ankle sprain.

Allen's been clean off Phoenix's injury report and has played in their recent slate of games, though with the Suns embarking on their third matchup in four nights, the training staff could just be taking extra precaution with Allen, who played 29 and 33 minutes in the last two games.

Allen has been a key contributor for Phoenix's 36 wins thus far, which has already matched their total from last year. Though his three-point shooting numbers have dipped slightly, he's transformed himself into a critical offensive piece that can hit from deep and slash to the rim as well.

The three-ball will be crucial tonight, as the Hornets are arguably the NBA's best team in terms of shooting from deep. We'll see if the Suns are able to keep pace themselves without Allen.

"They play fast. Play hard. The way they shoot the ball, score the ball, we've just got make things challenging for them," Suns forward Royce O'Neale said at shootaround earlier today (h/t Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic). "Take away the 3s, take away the rim ability. Defensively, just stay connected and lock in."

The Suns also have their hands full down low missing Williams, as Charlotte's a top five team in terms of rebounding.

Phoenix has just 19 games remaining in the regular season and is hoping to push themselves up the board of the Western Conference standings and completely avoid the play-in tournament entirely. The Suns (seventh) are two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers (sixth) to do so.

This will be the first meeting between the Suns and Hornets this season. The two sides will meet again on April 2.

Opening tip is slated for just past 7:00 PM AZ time at Mortgage Matchup Center.