The Suns had to finish Friday’s loss to the Nuggets without Dillon Brooks, who was ejected midway through the third quarter after kicking Jamal Murray in the groin area while taking a jumper, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Brooks was assessed a flagrant 2, which carries an automatic ejection, but his teammates and coach Jordan Ott don’t believe it was warranted.

“I know players’ feet swing all the time,” Ott said. “It was a couple of possessions before that I was trying to tell the officials they are national team teammates. Like, they were going back and forth. It’s nothing malicious. They’ve played together. Probably played together forever. We’ll see if we can find another flagrant 2 on that play around the league. I hope reputation doesn’t play into that, but it was just competitive guys going at it and they probably have for 10 years. Just unfortunate we get the short end of the stick on some of them.”

Murray acknowledged that he and Brooks had been trash talking each other throughout the game, which he said is normal whenever they square off. He also doubts that his fellow Canadian meant to do anything malicious.

“I don’t think he really tried to kick me in the (expletive) though,” Murray said. “That’s what he did.”

There’s more from Phoenix:

• Jalen Green remained in the Suns’ starting lineup on Friday, but he looks increasingly out of place in the offense, finishing with two points on six shots in 25 minutes, Rankin states in a separate story. Collin Gillespie, who started last season while Green was injured, came off the bench with 16 points and 10 assists in 33 minutes. However, Ott indicated that the team is going to stick with Green, and Gillespie agreed, saying they’re “riding with JG 100 times out of 100 times.”
• Oso Ighodaro made an impact after missing two games with an oblique strain, contributing nine rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes, Rankin adds. However, Rankin contends the team should keep starting 2025 lottery pick Khaman Maluach at center to continue his development.
• Ryan Dunn brought energy off the bench in 11 minutes as a small-ball center, and Ighodaro believes they can combine to improve the team’s reserves, per Kellan Olson of Arizona Sports. “I can’t wait to play with him,” Ighodaro said of Dunn. “He can do all of that stuff from the four, too. … I’m excited for what that second unit has.”