Bradley Beal missed his fifth straight game as Phoenix Suns earned his ninth straight victory at the Footprint Center, defeating the Houston Rockets 110-105 Thursday evening. Despite leading by 21, Valley struggled to hold off Houston, allowing the game to be in question more than it should be on points.
As the Suns enter a month where they will face twice on the road the defending champion Denver Nuggets, the team with the best record in the NBA in Boston Celtics twice, and the current top two seeds in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, multiple times, it is imperative that Bradley Beal returns as soon as possible.
The three-time All-Star’s health issues are more problematic than ever, even though Phoenix is 3-2 since his last injury.
The Suns are not a team capable of cruising through the second half of the year; it’s not a guarantee that they’ll finish the year avoiding the dreaded play-in and have to face players like Stephen Curry or LeBron James in a one-game stalemate.
The Denver Nuggets were trailing 12-11 after the All-Star break, but they were top seed by a considerable margin when play stopped in February. The Nuggets’ core played together for several years and their head coach, Mike Malone, had been with the team since 2015.
The Phoenix Suns don’t have those freedoms, and if they win the title, they would be just the fourth team in NBA history to experience their 20th loss before their 40th win in more than 30 years.
Bradley Beal must return. The sloppy wins, poor ball handling outside of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, and the constant blitzes and double teams that Phoenix’s two stars endure are mitigated by his presence.
The more time Beal misses, the more Phoenix’s championship window closes. Booker and Durant can’t put on their Superman capes every game. If they could have, the Suns would have beaten Denver despite Chris Paul missing time and Deandre Ayton being injured for Game 6. This roster is better than last year’s, but not good enough for a long playoff run with a key player missing time.
The playoffs are decided as much based on matchups as health. The more time Beal misses, the more Durant and Booker become exhausted. Beal’s availability gives Durant and Booker the opportunity to rest on and off the court, easing their workload.
Beal’s return also gives the Suns more reps against tough competition. Phoenix only faced one top-four team in the Western Conference with the Big Three in the lineup, the Clippers, who were back-to-back. Conversely, the Suns have only faced one Eastern team in the top four, with the Big Three playing an entire game, the Milwaukee Buckswho was missing Damian Lillard in the contest.
More than ever, Bradley Beal needs to come back and play. The playoffs start next month, not in five.
