Devin Booker’s Hamstring Injury Could Be Massive Blow to Suns’ NBA Championship Odds

There is no such thing as an easy playoff run, especially for the Phoenix Suns.

Superstar guard Devin Booker scored 31 points in the first half of Game 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans, but he was injured just two minutes into the third quarter and did not return. Booker injured his hamstring on a fast break, an injury that forced him to miss 17 days earlier this season.

Phoenix entered the NBA playoffs as the overwhelming favorite in the Western Conference, peaking at -130 odds at WynnBET heading into Game 2. The Suns were also the favorite to win the NBA title, and rightfully so, as they finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA.

That may all change with Booker's injury. WynnBET has yet to release revised NBA Finals odds, and with the Suns now tied 1-1 in their first-round series, it's hard to imagine them not taking a small hit ahead of Game 3.

While Booker could have been held out on a precaution, it is an ominous sign that the team didn't deem him healthy enough to return to a game it eventually went on to lose.

Booker averages 26.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game this season, but his impact is even bigger than that. The Suns went 64-18 this season, but they were just 8-6 in the 14 games Booker missed.

It will be up to Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet to step up in Booker's absence, and it certainly should make Suns bettors nervous that the star guard could miss this series and some of the next with the injury.

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