Suns vs. Lakers Thursday NBA injury report, odds, props: Spread spikes with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal out

The Phoenix Suns upset the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night playing without offseason trade acquisition Bradley Beal thanks in large part thanks to 32 points, eight assists and six rebounds from fellow All-Star Devin Booker. Both of them, though, are expected to sit out Thursday's game at the Lakers, who opened at -1 on the SportsLine consensus for their home opener but are now -6. The total dropped from 230 to 225.5. Click here for model picks.

Beal missed Tuesday's opener with back soreness and is officially doubtful for Thursday. Booker was originally questionable Tuesday with left foot soreness but played through it. He's also doubtful for the second game of the TNT doubleheader – the first is 76ers at Bucks, Damian Lillard's Milwaukee debut. (Update: Both are out).

The NBA supposedly curtailed the resting of stars this season so we might see a lot more unique injury designations to give teams cover when they do sit them. Both Beal and Booker probably would play if this were a playoff game, but there's no reason to push matters this early. Fan-friendly owner Mat Ishbia surely would like his three stars available for one of the Suns' biggest home openers ever on Saturday vs. Utah.

Kevin Durant should see a monster uptick in usage tonight. He was fairly quiet in the opener with 18 points on 7-for-22 shooting but did have 11 rebounds. He opened at over/under 26.5 points against the Lakers but jumped to 30.5 with the injury news. Grayson Allen started Tuesday in Beal's place and should do so again, while Jordan Goodwin likely starts for Booker after playing just 14 minutes in the opener.

The Lakers clearly don't match up well with the Nuggets after being swept in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. Los Angeles lost 119-107 in Denver on Tuesday in the first game of this NBA season.

There was a lot of noise made about LeBron James playing only 29 minutes, but the superstar will be 39 soon and has played more minutes than anyone in league history. James was terrific in those 29 minutes with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers for a team-best plus-7 rating. He is set at O/U 20.5 points tonight.

"It's easy with him to get caught up in the emotion of the game and you tend to forget you want to play these long stretches, but in order for him to be as effective as possible, we have to be mindful of the minute output and how long his stretches are," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of limiting James' minutes.

Lakers starting forward Jarred Vanderbilt will miss a second straight game with a heel injury. Taurean Prince took his spot Tuesday and had 18 points.

Phoenix and L.A. split last year, each winning both home games. New Suns coach Frank Vogel was head coach of the Lakers from 2019-2022, winning an NBA title in the 2020 bubble.

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