Injury Update: Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic both questionable ahead of clash with Nuggets

A rough night in San Antonio was made tougher when Jusuf Nurkic was injured in the 3rd quarter last night. He had 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots when he exited the game after tweaking his ankle on that of Jeremy Sochan’s. Then, with the Phoenix Suns down 99-97 and with 2:51 left in the game, Bradley Beal jammed his right ring finger after contesting a shot.

It was the shot of Jeremy Sochan.

“It hurt like hell,” Bradley Beal said after the 104-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He was diagnosed with a right ring finger sprain. “Caught in a weird, funky way, I think in somebody’s jersey.”

Bradley Beal has been bitten, stabbed, and stung by the injury bug all season long. He’s played in 43 of the Suns’ 72 games thus far this season, suffering from back, hamstring, nose, and ankle issues. Add “finger” to that list.

Jusuf Nurkic has been as close to an Iron Man as he’s ever been in his career. He’s missed just 4 games this season. The games that he has missed? The Suns are 0-4.

He did not practice today, but both he and Brad Beal are listed as “questionable” as the team flew to the Mile High City to face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

The reigning NBA Champions are currently in first place in the Western Conference at 51-21.

Phoenix is embarking on the toughest 10-game stretch to close a season since the 2015-16 Memphis Grizzlies. That team went 1-9 to end their season. If the Suns are missing both Beal and Nurkic, things could get ugly for Phoenix rather quickly. The depth behind Nurkic is...scarce. For everything that Nurkic isn’t, his reliability, intensity, and “give a shit” attitude is rare on this Suns team.

For those who are anti-Nurk, still daydreaming of center's past, you will learn what this team is without him. And that could be a nightmare.