February 21, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (left) celebrates with Jalen Green after defeating the Orlando Magic in overtime at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Image The return of All-Star guard Devin Booker moves the Phoenix Suns closer to full, and barring further injuries, should finally give them a chance to get a good look at their projected starting backcourt of Booker and Jalen Green.
The pair are expected to be in the same starting lineup for the fourth time this season when the host Suns play the struggling Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
“We’re improvising, but it’s very exciting,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said after Booker and Green scored 37 points and hit six 3-pointers in Tuesday’s game at Sacramento.
“Watching those guys play together… we’ve thought about it a lot, and I’m sure they have too. Having those two guys on the court (helps), but now we have to put it into action.”
The Bulls, who have suffered a lineup setback, enter after losing 116-108 to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. This is their sixth loss in a seven-game homestand after going undefeated in February.
The Bulls parted ways with eight players at the trade deadline and may be without leading scorers Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey against the Suns after both left the Thunder game with ankle injuries.
“We can beat a team like that,” said Buzelis, who is averaging 15.3 points per game. “We just need to be on the same page. As you’ve seen before, we always have too many turnovers. If we get rid of that, we can execute in the game.”
Gidey is averaging 17.7 points, 8.4 assists, and 8.2 rebounds.
The Suns, 7th in the Western Conference, are looking for a chance to take on the 6th-place Lakers. After Chicago, they completed homestands against New Orleans and Charlotte before meeting Milwaukee and Indiana in the first two games of a six-game road trip.
“We’re a first-year team, so we’re trying not to make the same mistakes we made before the All-Star break. We definitely want to make the playoffs and not the play-ins. We’re going to try to win every game,” Booker said.
Green, making his eighth start in a season interrupted by hamstring and hip injuries, led the Suns with 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, against the Kings.
Booker scored 17 points and hit four 3-pointers in his return after missing the previous four games and 12 of the previous 15 games due to hip and ankle injuries in Sacramento.
“There’s nothing better than playing basketball,” Booker said. “It’s hard to watch from the sidelines. I think I took a month off.”
The preseason plan for Booker and Green is to “always have one of them on the floor,” Ott said. “We will see what happens next. In the meantime, we have developed solutions to some things that were completely unexpected.”
Booker, Green and NBA Most Valuable Player candidate Colin Gillespie each played 31 minutes when the Suns started a three-guard lineup against Sacramento with guard Grayson Allen (18 points) as a reserve.
Reserve center Oso Ighodaro, whose agility and mobility make him a good fit for Ott’s system, had 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds off the Sacramento bench. He recorded his third double-double in the last eight games.
“It’s good to have (Booker) out there,” Igodaro said. “Seeing how much he cares about him and how unselfish he is makes our offense run a lot smoother.”
–Field level media
