Kembali
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have revealed Jordan Goodwin's status ahead of Monday night's matchup against the San Antonio Spurs after he missed the past three games with a calf injury.
Goodwin has been upgraded to questionable against San Antonio with right calf injury management, while Mark Williams (left shoulder surgery) remains out for the Suns (3-5) on the official injury report.
"Goodie's good. Continues to progress. Seems to be more and more on the court ... taking everything day by day," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of Goodwin before last night's 102-99 victory over the Houston Rockets.
The Suns have given Ryan Dunn more minutes in Goodwin's absence, and he has taken full advantage of the opportunity. Dunn was a team-best plus-25 in the win over Houston.
Getting Goodwin back would still provide a huge boost for Phoenix with his energy on both ends of the floor.
The Spurs (8-2), who have won eight games in a row, listed Devin Vassell (left adductor tightness) as questionable and will continue to be without Tobias Harris (left calf strain) and Jayden Quaintance (right knee surgery).
The Suns enter Monday's game coming off back-to-back wins for the first time all season and will try to build more momentum against one of the hottest teams in the league.
Phoenix is starting to find its footing defensively over the past two games after major struggles to start the year, allowing a season-low 99 points against Houston.
"It's something we can build on. We found some stuff in that Orlando game (on Thursday)," Suns coach Jordan Ott said after the win over the Rockets. "Starts again, guarding the basketball. We've talked a lot about. How do you stay out of rotations.
"If you can stay out of rotations, you can rebound better, but if we do have to go into rotation, just be better in our closeouts and our communication and then taking the challenge."
The biggest challenge against the Spurs will obviously be containing Victor Wembanyama, especially given that Phoenix has struggled against centers all season long.
The Suns did do a great job against Alperen Sengun Saturday, holding him to 5-of-16 shooting, and will try to carry over this defensive effort to Monday night.
"We keep chipping away," Ott said of their defense. "It's obviously not where we want to be defensively to start the season. The last two nights we took some steps, but it's going to be an ever-evolving process. We have to shift.
"We understand that we're a little undersized. We have to shift and then get to the ball and then rebound. In stretches, I thought that was some of our best defense of the year."
Monday's game is scheduled to tip off shortly after 7 p.m. MST.