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Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton only sat the first quarter of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder after missing the start due to his failure to complete a coronavirus test on Sunday.
After testing negative Monday morning, he returned to the team in time to play. It wasn’t in time to prevent an early Oklahoma City Thunder lead.
Even without starting center Steven Adams and backup Nerlens Noel, guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder, or starting power forward Danilo Gallinari, the Thunder jumped to a 37-23 first-quarter lead.
The Suns, who cannot afford a single loss if they want to remain in playoff contention, could wait no longer before putting Ayton in the game.
They hope the 6-foot-11 big can take advantage of the absence of Adams and Noel down low.
Oklahoma City built its first-quarter lead off forcing turnovers and converting those into baskets, and will look to keep up the aggressive defense in the second quarter.
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