Suns’ Bradley Beal out, rookie Ryan Dunn starts vs Clippers

On By Littum

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INGLEWOOD – Phoenix Suns Guard Bradley Beal has been ruled out of Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome with a sprained right elbow.

Rookie Ryan Dunn gets his second career start as he started for the injured Beal against Dallas.

Beal participated in an optional shootaround Thursday morning at UCLA along with Jusuf Nurkic, Tyus Jones, Damion Lee, Ryan Dunn, Oso Ighodaro, Collin Gillespie, Mason Plumlee, Monte Morris, Bol Bol and Josh Okogie.

“It feels better today,” Beal said. “Got a little shot. I’ll have to let it kick in, let it work its magic, but I feel significantly better today than the last few days.”

Beal worked on his right elbow during a timeout in Monday’s 109-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Footprint Center. Admitting the injury has bothered him “a significant amount,” Beal scored 15 points, including the game-sealing free throws with 0.8 seconds left, but went just 1-of-7 from 3.

“It’s too bad because I shot flat,” Beal said. “Everything was flat and short, but it’s just one of those things that you get the adrenaline going. It’s other ways to impact the game. I was like, man, let me focus on the defensive end. Put my body game, which is tough because you pitched up, but you want to win. We have so many talented, versatile guys that I don’t have to worry about scoring all the time.

Beal wishes he had made his open looks, but he took credit for helping the Suns get defensive stops in coming back from an 18-point deficit in the first quarter. He played an excellent defensive game in the first half, denying Rui Hachimura at the basket in transition.

The Lakers had a 3-1 lead at halftime, but the 6-3 Beal jumped up and gobbled up the 6-8 Hachimura’s layup attempt before falling out of bounds to the delight of the sellout crowd of 17,071.

“I know Rui is an aggressive driver and jumper,” said Beal, who was teammates with Hachimura in Washington for four seasons (2019-23).

“My biggest thing was just making sure I got airborne and vertical before he did because it could be a poster real quick. I was just glad I was in the right place at the right time . I just made a hell of a play on the ball.”

Beal missed last week’s home opener win over Dallas with right elbow soreness after getting tangled up in a screen late in a loss at the Los Angeles Lakers.

He has also dealt with right shoulder soreness this season. Beal played in just 53 games last season in his first year in Phoenix as he dealt with multiple injuries.

The three-time All-Star opened the 2024-25 regular season with a 24-point effort in an overtime road win last week at the Clippers. He is averaging 18 points on 50% shooting so far this season.

Josh Okogie remains out with a right hamstring strain. He has not played in the regular season.

This will be the second of a back-to-back for the Clippers, who lost Wednesday night to Portland. Kawhi Leonard and Mo Bamba were ruled out of the game with knee injuries.

Neither Leonard nor Bamba has played this season.

Do you have opinions about the current state of the sun? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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