Phoenix Suns forward Jae Crowder called for a sub and hobbled off the court to the locker room early in Sunday’s 111-101 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
With under six minutes to go in the first quarter in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, Crowder was attempting to pass the ball when he went down with an apparent right leg injury after making contact with Mavs guard Luka Doncic.
Hopefully Jae Crowder is Okay! pic.twitter.com/qmHt3JKY5P
— Zach Masters (@M0untainMan28) May 8, 2022
He could not put any weight on it initially and went straight off the court. Dallas hit a three with Crowder unable to get back on defense.
Crowder was later seen on the ESPN broadcast walking in the tunnel on the way to the locker room, but with a noticeable limp.
He returned to the bench with just over two minutes to go in the first quarter and eventually checked back in.
Amid a flurry of Dallas three-pointers, Crowder hit three jumpers — two from deep — in the second quarter to keep Phoenix from falling too far behind.
Jae Crowder is a beast. Comes back from a sprained ankle. Scores 12 points. Gets in a couple of physical shots on Luka + wisely tries to goad him into a second technical foul. Suns would be getting blown out without him in Game 4. This is why you tolerate the shooting slumps.
— Dan Bickley (@danbickley) May 8, 2022
He scored 12 points in the first half, second on the Suns behind Devin Booker’s 19. Crowder finished second on the team with 15 points behind Booker’s game-high 35.
Dallas hit 14 three-pointers in the opening 24 minutes, and the Suns trailed 68-56 at halftime. The Mavericks went 20-for-44 (45.5%) from three while going 18-for-41 (43.9%) from inside the arc.
Suns point guard Chris Paul had four fouls going into the second half after picking one up in the final tick of the second quarter and fouled out with 8:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.
With the series tied 2-2, Phoenix hosts Game 5 on Tuesday night at Footprint Center.
The action starts at 7 p.m. You can tune in on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.