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Bradley Beal from the Suns is out, rookie Ryan Dunn will start against the Clippers

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INGLEWOOD – Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal will miss 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 in place of the injured Beal against Dallas.

Beal participated in an optional shootaround at UCLA on Thursday morning 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. “I got a small injection. I have to let this sink in, let it sink in, but I feel a lot better today than I have the last few days.”

Beal strained his right elbow during a timeout in Monday's 109-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Footprint Center. Admitting that the injury bothered him “significantly,” Beal scored 15 points, including the game-winning free throws with 0.8 seconds left, but managed just 1 of 7 from 3.

“It sucks because I shot flat,” Beal said. “Everything was flat and short, but it's just one of those things that gets the adrenaline going. This is hard because you did it, but you want to win. We have so many talented, versatile players that I don't have to worry about scoring all the time.

Beal wished he had shown his openness, but he took pride in helping the Suns get defensive stops after they erased an 18-point deficit in the first quarter. He showed an outstanding defensive performance in the first half when he parried Rui Hachimura in transition at the basket.

The Lakers had a score of 3-1 at the break, but the score was 6-3. Beal leapt high and devoured Hachimura's layup attempt 6-8 before falling out of bounds, much to the delight of the sellout crowd of 17,071.

“I know Rui is an aggressive rider and jumper,” said Beal, who was Hachimura’s teammate in Washington for four seasons (2019-23).

“My biggest concern was to make sure I got up in the air in front of him and stood vertically, because it could very quickly become a poster. I was just happy that I was in the right place at the right time. Just did a damn good job playing the ball.”

Beal missed last week's home opener against Dallas because of right elbow soreness after getting caught in a screen late in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

He also struggled with right shoulder pain this season. Beal played in just 53 games last season in his first year in Phoenix as he battled 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 didn't play in the regular season.

This is the second game in a row for the Clippers, who lost to Portland on Wednesday night. Kawhi Leonard and Mo Bamba were taken out of the game due to knee injuries.

Neither Leonard nor Bamba played this season.

Do you have any opinions on the current state of the suns? 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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