Suns get worrisome injury update on All-Star guard

Phoenix enters its off day on Monday at 35-26, just one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for fifth place in the conference standings and only two percentage points in back of the Sacramento Kings for the sixth spot. Without Booker for potentially the first half of March or longer, however, the Suns could end up seeing the eighth-place Dallas Mavericks (34-27) surpass them and possibly the Golden State Warriors (32-28) and/or Los Angeles Lakers (33-29), who are both 2.5 games back.

With the expanded playoff field of recent years, Phoenix should at least qualify for the play-in tournament, as the 11th-place Utah Jazz sit eight games back of the Suns.

Booker's injury comes nearly one year after his superstar teammate -- Kevin Durant -- sprained his left ankle during pregame warmups ahead of what was supposed to be his first contest with the Suns. The former MVP missed three weeks, the Suns went 8-8 to close the regular season, earned the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and fell in the Western Conference semifinals.

The team then traded future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul to the Washington Wizards in a package that landed them three-time All-Star guard Bradley Beal in June. Beal and Paul have been limited to 32 and 36 games this season, respectively, due to injuries.

Booker's impact on the squad is obvious.

As Charania noted, the group is 31-19 this season when the four-time All-Star plays but just 4-7 when he's been out of action. Booker leads the team in assists per game (6.8) and is second only behind Durant in scoring (27.5) and minutes per contest (35.8).

The slate of regular season games left, which the 27-year-old looks destined to miss the bulk of, includes plenty of matchups against top contenders.

Per Doug Haller of The Athletic, of the Suns' 21 contests remaining on the docket, 15 are against teams that are currently seeded fifth or better in their conference. Among them include two apiece against the defending-champion Denver Nuggets (42-19), NBA-best Boston Celtics (48-12), Minnesota Timberwolves (42-19), Los Angeles Clippers (39-20) and Cleveland Cavaliers (39-21).

If the Suns want to finish the season strong and avoid the play-in tournament, they'll have to earn it.