Suns aim to keep good thing going as they wait on Jalen Green

The Suns are quietly doing what good teams do when the picture is incomplete. They are winning anyway.

Phoenix has taken eleven of its past sixteen games, including two wins over the Knicks in just over a week, and sits at 25-17 while pushing for a top-six spot in the West. All of that has happened with a notable absence in the lineup.

That would be Jalen Green, a key offseason addition who has yet to fully factor into the rotation.

“We miss Jalen,” Devin Booker said after Saturday’s win, via Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. Booker pointed to Green’s rim pressure and foul-drawing ability as elements Phoenix has been forced to manufacture by committee.

Others see the same upside. Grayson Allen said Green’s return would add another creator who can bend the defense and open things up for everyone else.

That return may be close. Rankin reports Green is listed as questionable for Monday’s game against the Nets. Coach Jordan Ott sounded encouraged after shootaround, noting that Green’s latest stretch of five-on-five work went well.

Booker suggested the delay may have been more caution than necessity.

“He’s been licking his chops,” Booker said. “We’ve overdone it with keeping him out.”

The Suns have built momentum without him. Adding another downhill scorer could change the shape of what comes next.