UPDATE: Deandre Ayton's Official Injury Status For Nuggets-Suns Game
UPDATE: Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reports that Ayton will be ruled out.
On Thursday evening, the Phoenix Suns will host the Denver Nuggets in Arizona for Game 6 of their second-round playoff series.
For the game, they could be without their starting center, as Deandre Ayton is on the injury report listed as questionable.
Via Underdog NBA: "Deandre Ayton (rib) questionable for Thursday."
Ayton has averaged 13.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists per contest while shooting 55.0% from the field through the first ten games of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
The former first-overall pick is in his fifth season in the league (all with the Suns) and has helped them make the NBA Playoffs three years in a row.
In 2021, the Suns made the NBA Finals (and last season, they lost in the second round after having the best record in the league during the regular season).
This year, they finished as the fourth seed in the Western Conference and defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in five games.
Currently, the Suns are down 3-2 to the Nuggets, so they will need a victory to avoid getting eliminated.
In Game 5 (on Tuesday in Denver), the Suns got blown out by a score of 118-102.
Each team has gone undefeated on their home floor, so if the trend continues, Game 7 will be back in Denver on Sunday.
Whoever wins the series will advance to the Western Conference Finals and face off against either the Los Angele Lakers or the Golden State Warriors (the Lakers lead 3-2).
