Suns' Devin Booker to Return from Hamstring Injury for Game 6 vs. Pelicans

Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker will make his return to the court in Thursday's Game 6 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

"[Devin Booker] will be playing tonight," head coach Monty Williams told reporters. 

Williams indicated Booker could be on a minutes restriction but did not say what the limit would be, via Andrew Lopez of ESPN.

Booker was initially expected to miss 2-3 weeks due to a hamstring strain suffered in Game 2, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The guard has missed the last three games, but he will return only nine days after suffering his injury.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, he wanted to test the injury pregame and will be back on the floor "assuming all goes well."

Booker was initially ruled out for Thursday's game on the 3:30 p.m. injury report, but Wojnarowski reported that the Suns later upgraded him to questionable.

Phoenix heads into Game 6 with a 3-2 series lead and can clinch a spot in the next round with a win in New Orleans. 

Booker should provide Phoenix with a significant boost upon his return. He was the squad's leading scorer during the regular season, averaging 26.8 points per game. No one else on the roster averaged more than 18 per game.

The three-time All-Star was off to a hot start to the postseason as well, scoring 25 in a Game 1 and 31 points in only 25 minutes in Game 2. The Pelicans won Game 2 in come-from-behind fashion and eventually evened the series 2-2, putting pressure on the Western Conference's No. 1 seed.

The Suns had the best record in the NBA this season at 64-18, winning eight more games than anyone else in the league.

While losing Booker certainly hurt the Suns, they had other established players who can take over offensively in Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. Mikal Bridges also came through with 31 points in the Game 5 win.

Bringing Booker back into the fold should help the Suns try to close out their first-round series against the hard-fighting Pelicans.