Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić and wing Josh Okogie are listed as probable for Wednesday’s road game against the Rockets.
Nurkić missed the last two games due to personal reasons. In Friday and Monday’s losses, Drew Eubanks started at center in Nurkić’s place.
Before missing the last two games, Nurkić started in the first 27 games for the Suns. The Bosnian center is averaging 12.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field and 26.6% at 3-point range.
“It’s a human element,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said Sunday about Nurkić’s absence. “I mean you have to treat people the right way. And when you have something like this, you just want to be there for them and help them and make them understand that basketball is secondary to life and just be supportive. We expect him back soon and in some situations, basketball is definitely secondary.”
Before returning Monday, Okogie missed the last five games because of a right hip strain. He was limited to 12 minutes in the loss against the Mavericks and was 0-for-5 from the field, including 0-for-3 for behind the arc.
Before leaving Phoenix’s win over the Warriors on Dec. 12 with his injury, Okogie started in 11 games this season.
The small forward out of Georgia Tech is averaging 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists while averaging 21 minutes per game.
