The Phoenix Suns stand as one of the favorites to take home the 2023 NBA championship, by virtue of their blockbuster trade deadline move to add Kevin Durant alongside their Devin Booker-Chris Paul core. Nevertheless, the Suns, despite already clinching a playoff berth, aren't resting on their laurels, playing their stars heavy minutes in a closer-than-expected 119-115 win against a depleted Denver Nuggets team to build chemistry.

However, the Suns' inability to dispatch of the shorthanded Nuggets led to a heavier-than-ideal workload for their stars. Durant ended up playing 40 minutes, with Booker and Paul not too far behind with their 37.

As a result, head coach Monty Williams hinted that the Suns may err on the side of caution on the second game of their back-to-back set against the Los Angeles Lakers. According to Duane Rankin of AZ Central, Williams failed to give a definitive response to the question of whether their big three suits up tomorrow night. If they do, there's even a possibility that the Suns pull a Kawhi Leonard and just play them for the first half of action.

Given Kevin Durant's knee troubles over the past few years as well as his recent ankle injury, it's clear why the Suns wouldn't want to overwork their star man. After all, given the depth they relinquished for his services, their championship hopes go out the window if he ends up missing a few postseason games.

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Moreover, it's not like Devin Booker and, most especially, Chris Paul have managed to stave off the injury bug. Booker missed a stretch of games around late December and early January due to groin issues, while Paul dealt with hip and heel problems earlier this year. Paul has also had hamstring issues in past playoff runs before, most notably in 2018, when his Houston Rockets were on the brink of dethroning the Golden State Warriors.

This would definitely be good news for Lakers fans, for they will want to claim a huge win over the Suns to stay alive in the top-six race. In addition, it also gives them some breathing room over the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team they will not want to finish with the same record with due to tiebreaker rules.