Len unlikely to return this season

DALLAS — Brandon Knight now has a weightlifting buddy at US Airways Center until the Suns return for their season finale Tuesday.

Like Knight, Suns center Alex Len is now unlikely to play again this season due to injury. The Suns originally planned for Len to join the Suns today in New Orleans and possibly play against the Pelicans on Friday after being fitted for a mask.

Everything went well with Len’s surgery and recovery but the Suns decided that he would stay home and still use the mask for basketball-related activity over the next six weeks.

Brandan Wright made his sixth start at center. He averaged14.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and1.2 steals in his first five Suns starts.

“He’s a professional guy that comes out there to play every night,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said of Wright. “He’s going to be consistent. You know what you’re getting from him.”

Thomas: Suns ‘panicked’

Former Suns point guard Isaiah

Thomas criticized the Suns for quickly trading him to Boston but told bleacherreport.com that he did not hold a grudge against the franchise.

“With Phoenix, it’s just, I think they panicked a little bit,” Thomas told bleacherreport.com before scoring a career-high 34 points in a Celtics win Wednesday. “They thought it wasn’t working as well as they wanted it to work with a three-guard lineup.”

Thomas signed a four-year, $27 million contract with Phoenix in July was traded to Boston on Feb. 19 for Marcus

Thornton, whose contract is expiring, and Cleveland’s 2016 first-round draft pick. Thomas averaged15.2 points in 55 Suns games as a sixth man.

Thomas quickly fit into Boston’s scheme because the Celtics’ system also spaces the floor and puts Thomas regularly in pick-and-rolls.

“The difference between here (Boston) and there, they need me to do it more,” Thomas said. “They look for me to do it more and be aggressive. They count on me to go out and make a play.”