One of basketball's newest and most heated rivalries is due another installment after Zion Williamson helped heighten existing tension between the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns on Friday. Too bad Devin Booker could be primed to miss Sunday's matchup between these contentious Western Conference powers.

Booker was spotted leaving Saturday's shootaround at Smoothie King Center with a noticeable limp. The reigning First Team All-NBA honoree insisted he was healthy when asked about a possible injury, but Monty Williams later clarified that Booker is dealing with tightness in his left hamstring that surfaced during the Pelicans' rousing Friday night win over the Suns.

“We're just going to see how he progresses,” Phoenix's head coach said of Booker's hamstring, per Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic. “Just got to wait and see. I would say he's day-to-day, some soreness there. We didn't want to push it too far.”

Booker struggled in the first of his team's consecutive games against New Orleans, scoring 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting. He was on the bench for the game's final one minute and 50 seconds, more a reflection of the Suns taking a cautious approach with Booker's nagging hamstring injury than their eight-point deficit being insurmountable.

Booker has staked a legitimate MVP claim over the first seven weeks of 2022-23, averaging 27.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game on solid shooting efficiency. The Suns sat alone at the top of the West before losing three straight games, a ringing endorsement of Booker's all-around impact considering Chris Paul missed a month with injury prior to returning in Wednesday's blowout loss to the Boston Celtics.

Phoenix ousted New Orleans from the first round of the playoffs last season, the underdog Pelicans pushing the league's top postseason seed to six games despite playing without Williamson. He dominated Friday's game, capping a 35-point performance on 13-of-17 shooting with a thunderous 360-degree windmill dunk just before time expired—and New Orleans' victory already assured.

Expect tempers to remain high on Sunday after the teams nearly came to blows following Williamson's “out of character” last-second slam. If Booker can't go, though, drama and intrigue surrounding another battle between the Suns and Pelicans will be relatively muted, and rightfully so.