The Phoenix Suns have been playing at a high level recently. Though, a recent injury to Bradley Beal could throw a wrench of their recent momentum.
After a Christmas Day loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the Phoenix Suns were 14-15 and ranked 11th in the Western Conference standings. It was a nightmarish first quarter of the season for a team that many expected to emerge as one of the strongest contenders in the Western Conference. However, it was almost as if something clicked after that night. Or, perhaps it was just that the Suns were finally getting healthy.
Since then, the Suns are 18-7 and have climbed all the way up to 5th in the West standings. A big reason why is the fact that over the last month and a half, the Suns have been relatively healthy. After missing a good portion of the start of the season, Bradley Beal has consistently been available for Phoenix. And when he's been healthy, the Suns have looked like a contender.
In the 30 games Beal has played this season for the Suns, they're 19-11. When he's been out, Phoenix has been an uneven 13-11. Now that Beal left Tuesday night's win against the Sacramento Kings with a hamstring injury, the Suns have to be holding their collective breaths.
However, the Suns may have received some early good news on Beal's injury. After their win against the Kings, Suns head coach Frank Vogel told reporters that the initial belief is that the injury to Beal is "not too serious." If this is indeed the case, there's a very good chance that Beal could be back when the Suns return from the NBA All-Star break.
Bradley Beal has been criminally underrated this season
Even though he isn't talked about much with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker garnering most of the headlines in Phoenix, and understandably so, Beal has been criminally underrated as a player this season. With how well he's played this year, you can make the easy argument that he's currently the best third option on a team in the NBA. Perhaps the only competition he may have for that crown is Kristaps Porzingis in Boston.
Nevertheless, Beal is averaging 18 points, five assists, and four rebounds on 50 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent shooting from 3-point range.
If it hasn't been evident enough so far this season, it's pretty clear that the Suns need Beal healthy to make a deep run in the postseason. Luckily for them, it seems as if Beal has avoided a serious injury.