The Denver Nuggets have been handed a significant edge heading into Tuesday night’s primetime showdown against the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Center.
While the Suns (40-32) continue to battle a wave of injuries, the Nuggets (44-28) will take the floor essentially at full strength. Peyton Watson (right hamstring injury management) is the only Denver player listed as out, giving the Nuggets a major boost in depth and rotation flexibility for what promises to be a tough Western Conference clash.
On the Phoenix side, the injury report remains heavy. Royce O’Neale is listed as probable with left knee soreness, but Grayson Allen (left knee injury management) is questionable. More critically, four key contributors remain sidelined: Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture), Mark Williams (left foot third metatarsal stress reaction), Amir Coffey (left ankle sprain), and Haywood Highsmith (right knee injury management).
All six players have now missed at least the last two games, with Brooks entering his 17th consecutive absence and Williams sitting out his 12th straight. According to Arizona Sports insider John Gambadoro, both starters are expected back sometime next week—likely with Brooks returning early in the upcoming road trip and Williams joining later.
The Suns showed encouraging signs of resilience on Sunday night, snapping a five-game losing streak with a dominant 120-98 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Young bench players like Rasheer Fleming, Ryan Dunn, and Khaman Maluach have stepped up impressively during the injury stretch, providing energy and production in expanded roles.
However, Phoenix sits in a precarious spot in the Western Conference standings. They’re currently locked into the top play-in position, four games behind the sixth seed and 4.5 games ahead of the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers, with just 10 games remaining. Devin Booker emphasized the need to focus on playing the right style of basketball moving forward.
“We put ourselves in a tough position to make it to the six seed now,” Booker said after the Raptors win. “I think now we just need to focus on playing the right brand of basketball… Whatever happens moving forward, if that is play-in, we handle that when it gets here.”
The Nuggets, who have dealt with their own injury issues throughout the season, have won both previous meetings against Phoenix this year. With a healthier roster and momentum from recent wins, Denver enters Tuesday’s contest as the clear favorite.
Tip-off is scheduled for shortly after 8:00 p.m. MST in a nationally televised primetime matchup. The Suns will need another all-around team effort—and possibly some help from their walking wounded—to overcome the Nuggets’ current health advantage and build on Sunday’s strong performance.