Injury notes: Booker, Allen, Tatum, Lakers, Wizards

On By Littum

The Sun will lack guards Devin Booker and Grayson Allen christmas day Both players were ruled unavailable for Wednesday’s game against Denver after sitting out the team’s practice on Tuesday, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

Booker was originally ruled out for two games after injuring his groin last Thursday, with the Suns referring to the ailment as groin soreness. On its latest injury report, the team now lists the star as out with a groin “strain.” Wednesday will be Booker’s third absence in a row.

Allen, meanwhile, has been in the concussion protocol since taking an elbow to the head in Saturday’s loss to Detroit. This will be the second game he misses.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

  • Celtics star Jayson Tatum was a surprise late scratch for Monday’s game against Orlando due to a non-COVID illness, which Brian Robb of MassLive.com details. Tatum has been listed as doubtful to play in Wednesday’s Christmas Day game against Philadelphia as a result of this illness.
  • Lakers stars Anthony Davis (left shoulder contusion) and LeBron James (left foot injury management) are both listed as questionable for the team’s Christmas Day game against Golden State (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN). However, I would be surprised if either player missed the game – they were listed as questionable due to the same ailments on Monday before being upgraded to available. Point guard D’Angelo Russell is also considered questionable to play due to a sprained left thumb.
  • The Wizards missing starters Bilal Coulibaly (right groin tenderness) and Alex Sarr (lower back pain) on Monday, prompting the club to deploy a small starting lineup of guards Jordan Poole, Malcolm Brogdonand Carlton Carrington (Twitter link). While none of these injuries sound serious, we’re still waiting for an update on the big man Marvin Bagley IIIwho had to be helped off the field midway through the fourth quarter on Monday after suffering a painful-looking knee injury (Twitter video link).