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Phoenix Suns Guard Bradley Beal Out for Two More Weeks

Phoenix Suns shooting guard Bradley Beal will be sidelined until early January with a right ankle injury.

Suns Bradley Beal injury
Medical staff from the Phoenix Suns attend to shooting guard Bradley Beal after he went down with an ankle injury against the New York Knicks at Footprint Center in Phoenix. (Image: Getty)

Beal sprained his ankle in the first quarter against the New York Knicks last week. It was a crushing blow considering it was only his sixth game of the season.

X-rays were negative and an MRI revealed no structural damage. The Suns will evaluate Beal in early January.

Beal knocked down a 3-point shot but he landed on Donte DiVincenzo’s foot and rolled his ankle. Officials reviewed the incident and called DiVincenzo for a flagrant 1 foul since he failed to allow Beal space to land after his jump shot.

The Knicks held off the Suns, 139-122, thanks to a 50-point eruption by point guard Jalen Brunson. The Knicks hadn’t defeated a team with Kevin Durant in more than 10 years, but finally got off the schneid with the road victory.

Another Injury, Another Setback for Beal

The Suns acquired Beal in a blockbuster trade with the Washington Wizards in the offseason. They sent future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul and multiple draft picks to the Wizards, who then flipped Paul to the Golden State Warriors for shooting guard Jordan Poole.

Mat Ishbia purchased the Suns in the middle of last season for a record price tag of $4 billion. He wanted to put his imprint on the team by assembling a “Big 3” with Durant, Devin Booker, and Beal.

Beal missed most of this season with a back injury and his debut with the Suns was delayed while he recovered from a sprained back. He appeared in three games in November before he aggravated his ailing back, and was sidelined for almost another month.

Beal averaged 16.4 points per game in five full games before he went down with an ankle injury against the Knicks.

Without Beal, the Suns will rely on Devin Booker and Durant to provide additional scoring. The Suns are ranked #15 in the NBA in scoring and average 114.9 points per game. The Suns specifically added Beal to alleviate the scoring burden on their top two stars, but injuries derailed their plan.

There were only two games this season in which neither Booker nor Durant led the Suns in scoring. Guard Grayson Allen led the Suns with 26 points in an overtime victory against the Chicago Bulls in early November. Center Jusuf Nurkic dropped 31 points in a loss against the defending champion Denver Nuggets in early December.

Next Man Up: Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon

With Beal sidelined, the Suns will rely on the veteran tandem of Allen and Eric Gordon to log more minutes.

Head coach Frank Vogel experimented with Booker at point guard, and Allen started 22 games at shooting guard this season. Allen averages 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

The Suns acquired Allen, formerly of the Milwaukee Bucks, in a multiteam trade with the Portland Trail Blazers that sent Damian Lillard to the Bucks.

Gordon started 16 games for the Suns this season. He averages 13.8 points and 2.8 assists per game, and emerged as the Suns’ most reliable scorer aside from Durant and Booker.

Second-year guard Jordan Goodwin earned Vogel’s trust and he’s been logging 20 minutes per game off the bench. Goodwin, an undrafted player from St. Louis, averages 6.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

Banged-Up Suns Trying to Stay Above .500

The Suns had an 11-6 record in late November before they lost seven out of their last 10 games. They sunk to 14-13.

The Suns are one of the rare teams that play better on the road (7-5), and who have a losing record (7-8) on their home court.

The Suns are one of the worst betting teams in the NBA this season. They have a 10-16-1 record against the point spread.

Despite their slow start, the Suns are +850 odds to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship. They’re the fourth-highest team on DraftKings’ NBA futures board.

The Suns are +450 odds to win the Western Conference, and trail only the defending champion Denver Nuggets at +225 odds.

The Los Angeles Clippers (17-11) are the betting favorite to win the Pacific Division at +140 odds. They’re ahead of the Sacramento Kings (16-10) at +290 odds, the Suns at +400, the Los Angeles Lakers (15-14) at +600, and the slumping Golden State Warriors (13-14) at +1100.

The Suns are a +3.5 underdog when they visit Sacramento to play the Kings on Friday night. They host the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas evening during the NBA’s yuletide quintuple-header.

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Memphis Grizzlies Lose Point Guard Marcus Smart for Several Weeks

Veteran point guard Marcus Smart will miss three to five weeks with a left foot injury, which is bad news for the struggling Memphis Grizzlies.

Grizzlies Marcus Smart injury
Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart went down with a foot injury against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. (Image: Getty)

Smart exited a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half last week with a foot injury. X-rays were negative, but an MRI revealed a left foot strain.

The Grizzlies were already short-handed, with All-Star point guard Ja Morant serving a 25-game suspension for various incidents involving firearms and social media.

Smart, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, joined the Grizzlies in an offseason trade with the Boston Celtics. The Grizzlies were relying on a veteran floor general like Smart to keep the team afloat until Morant returned.

The Grizzlies struggled without Morant and started the season at 0-6. They currently have a 3-10 record.

The Grizzlies are tied for last place in the Western Conference with the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers. The Washington Wizards (2-10) are the only team in the NBA with fewer wins than the Grizzlies.

Morant is eligible to return on December 19. But the Grizzlies have to endure 12 more games without him. Smart could potentially be out until the end of December.

Grind City Add Veterans Smart and Rose

While the Grizzlies were experiencing their off-court drama with Morant, the organization brought in two veteran point guards to provide stability and leadership to the locker room. The Grizzlies acquired Smart in a three-team trade with the Wizards that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics.

You always want to be where you’re wanted, and another team’s trash is another team’s gold,” Smart told The Athletic the preseason. “So, I’m glad to be here. Glad to be on an organization that wants me and seesĀ  great value.”

Head coach Taylor Jenkins wanted Smart to be himself — a hard-nosed defender and a brash, no-nonsense veteran — while the Grizzlies navigated the first 25 games without Morant.

Smart averaged 12.5 points,5.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game in 11 games this season. He shot a career-best 42.9% from the floor, but struggled to connect from deep at 29.5% from 3-point range.

The Grizzlies signed Rose, a former MVP, in the off-season. He appeared in only one game in November due to a sore knee, but he averaged 8.2 points and 2.4 assists per game in limited action off the bench.

Smart being sidelined with a foot injury is a huge blow, especially with Rose dealing with his own health issues. The Grizzlies also lost center Steven Adams, one of the top offensive rebounders in the NBA, for the entire season while he recovers from knee surgery.

Next Man Up: Konchar and Gilyard

The Grizzlies parted ways with feisty veteran Dillon Brooks in the off-season. Jenkins has been shuffling his lineup to find the right backcourt combo to pair with shooting guard Desmond Bane after Smart went down.

John Konchar, who is in his fifth season with the Grizzlies, started in the last two games. Konchar averages 3.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game, while shooting 40% from 3-point range. Konchar started 23 games last season when Bane sustained a toe injury.

Second-year guard Jacob Gilyard, who was undrafted out of Richmond, started four games this season for the Grizzlies. Gilyard averaged 4.4 points and 3.3 assists this season, while knocking down 48.3% of his 3-pointers.

Vince Williams, a 2022 second-round draft pick out of VCU, logged 17 minutes off the bench against the Celtics on Sunday. Williams averaged 3.6 points per game this season.

Betting the Morant-Less Grizzlies

The Grizzlies secured the #2 seed in the Western Conference in each of the previous two seasons. Despite their recent prominence in the regular season, the Grizzlies failed to advance to the conference finals. The Lakers, with the #7 seed, knocked out the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs last season.

In the last three postseasons, the Grizzlies won just five games. They were a first-round bust out in the 2021 NBA Playoffs as a #8 seed, and they were eliminated in the second round by the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

The Grizzlies are seeking a third-straight Southwest Division title. They entered the regular season as a slight divisional favorite a +140 odds, and ahead of the Dallas Mavericks (+200), New Orleans Pelicans (+220), Houston Rockets (+4000), and Spurs (+6500).

The Mavs occupy first place in the division with a 9-5 record, and are the consensus favorite to win the Southwest at -215 odds, followed by the Pelicans (6-7) at +500, Rockets (6-5) at +800, and Grizzlies at +1600. The Rockets surprised a lot of teams with a 6-3 start, but have since dropped two games in a row.

During the preseason, the Grizzlies were +3000 odds to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship. After their slow start, the Grizzlies saw their title odds slip to +12000. They’re now +5500 odds to win the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies have a 5-8 record against the point spread, and are tied for the sixth-worst ATS record in the NBA after the first 13 games of the season. They play the Rockets in Houston on Wednesday, before returning home to Memphis for a three-game homestand against the Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Utah Jazz.

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