Under the glaring clarity of the Arizona's desert sunlight, Phoenix Suns' diamond in the rough, Bradley Beal, was forced to step off the court last Friday night, the gripping vice of an ankle injury claiming him as its latest victim. The faces of fans in the New York Knicks crowd reflected an ending to a basketball symphony that had barely begun, like the chilly rain that interrupts a once sunny day.
The Suns' luminary trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Beal, possessing the celestial grandeur of Orion's Belt in the league's night sky, have harmoniously graced the court together for a solitary game this season. Their previous constellation occurred in their Wednesday night eclipse by the Brooklyn Nets.
In his thirties prime, Beal attempted a beautiful arc of a 3-point shot, guiding the ball towards the basket like the north star streaking across the cosmos. And connect it did. But the comet's tail of joy was short-lived as Beal's landing came to an abrupt crash onto the foot of the Knicks' very own Donte DiVincenzo. It was a hasty meeting of two worlds that resulted in a flagrant 1 call against DiVincenzo for denying Beal his safe descent back to earth.
Beal found himself star-gazing on the court's surface, trapped in agony's firmament for minutes that felt like light-years. His strength finally propelled him upright to score the consequent free throw, before pulling his curtain of performance to a close and retreating into the concealed nebulae of the locker room.
In his constellation of six games unfurled this season, this is the latest flicker of physical struggle for the three-time All-Star. A nagging back pain twined around his play for two months, much like how injuries have eclipsed Beal's partners in cosmic prominence, Durant and Booker this season.
Before his untimely exit, Beal contributed a stellar six points against the Knicks, leaving their rhythm disrupted and star-crossed fans longing for his swift return.
