Devin Booker 'feels better' after bloody collision, may need to wear mask over injured nose
Both Devin Booker and Patrick Beverley had to leave the Phoenix Suns’ wild Game 2 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night after butting heads late in the third quarter.
Though both returned, the brief scary moment left a significant amount of blood on both players and forced Booker to quickly get stitched up in the locker room.
Booker needs stitches after headbutt with Beverley
Booker, in the final minutes of the third quarter, had the ball on the wing and went to make a move to get past Beverley and into the lane.
As he dribbled the ball behind his back to make a cut to the right, however, Beverley reached in — which sent their two heads straight into each other.
Booker seemed to take the worst of it, and a significant amount of blood was seen coming out of his nose. Beverley stayed on his feet, but had a lot of blood on his jersey.
Beverly & Booker bonk heads pic.twitter.com/ZH7yoDKV6c
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) June 23, 2021
Ouch. Beverley and Booker bumped heads and both of them got pretty banged up. pic.twitter.com/LfwLCrmYnR
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) June 23, 2021
Booker eventually stood up and walked off the court under his own power. He and Beverley — who was called for a common foul on the play — both went to the locker room to get checked out.
Suns coach Monty Williams said Booker received a few stitches just before the fourth quarter started. He was able to return to the game in time for the period to start, a couple minutes before Beverley checked back in, but did so with a bandage on his swollen nose.
"He was probably playing with a great deal of pain," Williams said after the game, via USA Today's Mark Medina. "I thought he broke his nose when I saw it. I was worried about the blood continuing to flow."
Booker might need mask moving forward
Booker told reporters after the game that he "feels better" and that the Suns don't believe that he broke his nose. He'll undergo further evaluation Wednesday and may need to wear a mask in future games.
Booker finished the night with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds. Beverley added six points and four rebounds for the Clippers.
Phoenix edged out the Clippers in the final second for the 104-103 win in Game 2 on Tuesday night, thanks to a clutch tip-in from Suns big man Deandre Ayton. They now lead the series 2-0 heading into Game 3 on Thursday night.
More from Yahoo Sports:
