The Phoenix Suns dropped their Saturday night contest to the Indiana Pacers in 126-108 fashion.

Dropping to 15-18 on the season, the Suns have now lost four in a row and seven of their last eight.

It was tough sledding for Phoenix while they missed some key pieces in the lineup – all of Royce O’Neale (ankle), Tyus Jones (illness), Oso Ighodaro (illness) and Jusuf Nurkic (suspension) were unavailable vs. Indiana.

Bradley Beal was questionable with a hip contusion but pushed through to play. He finished with eight points on 3-12 shooting.

Devin Booker (20) and Kevin Durant (25) led the way in scoring for Phoenix while no other Suns player scored more than 13.

Indiana led by as much as 20, though they took control in the second half after Phoenix played them close in the first two quarters.

The Suns got down to a 7-0 deficit very early in the first quarter before battling back to just a one-point deficit at the end of the first, trailing 30-29. Phoenix shot a tremendous 58% from the field, though five turnovers ultimately held them back.

The second quarter saw the Suns take their first lead of the evening, 42-40, and eventually evened the score at 56-56. Kevin Durant led all scorers at halftime with 14 while Indiana still played strong despite making just 6-22 attempts from deep.

Indiana saw their lead hit double digits halfway through the third quarter, which was carried into the final quarter with Phoenix trailing 96-84. The Suns – typically an awful team in the third quarter this season – allowed 40 points in the period.

Despite flirting with a comeback, the Suns ultimately ran out of gas and couldn’t escape their 10+ point deficit. Mike Budenholzer emptied the bench with 54 seconds remaining before the final buzzer sounded.

The Suns are on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, Jan. 6.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Offensive line was a position of need for Indiana in the transfer portal, and coach Curt Cignetti addressed that by landing Ohio State transfer Zen Michalski.

The 6-foot-6, 319-pound offensive lineman has signed with Indiana, as first reported by On3, bringing Indiana’s incoming transfer class to 14 members. Michalski is the first offensive lineman to transfer to Indiana this offseason, and he joins the Hoosiers with one year of eligibility.

Michalski spent the last four seasons at Ohio State, where he played 260 snaps at left tackle and right guard and 208 snaps on special teams, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).

He committed to Ohio State as a four-star recruit ranked No. 208 nationally, No. 21 among offensive tackles and No. 2 in Indiana among class of 2021 recruits, according to 247Sports. Michalski attended Floyd Central High School in Floyd Knobs, Ind.

In 2024, Michalski played 158 snaps at left tackle across eight games for Ohio State and made his first-career start against Nebraska. Among Ohio State offensive lineman, he had the ninth-highest grade for offense (61.8), second-best run-blocking grade (73.8) and 13th-best pass blocking grade (33.2), per PFF.

Michalski suffered an injury Oct. 26 against Nebraska and did not play the rest of the regular season. He returned for Ohio State’s first-round College Football Playoff game against Tennessee and played nine snaps, but he did not play in the Buckeyes’ win over Oregon. He was a backup offensive lineman for Ohio State from 2021-23.

Indiana offensive line coach Bob Bostad has a few key spots to fill going into the 2025 season. Indiana starting center Mike Katic and right tackle Trey Wedig are out of eligibility. Michalski’s playing time came almost exclusively at left tackle for Ohio State, but he could be a candidate to fill in for Wedig at right tackle.

Along with Katic’s departure, there is some uncertainty in the interior of Indiana’s offensive line. Starting left guard Drew Evans suffered a season-ending achilles injury before the Michigan game, and Indiana has not publicly stated a timetable for his return. Nick Kidwell was expected to start at right guard in 2024, but he suffered a knee injury during fall camp and missed the whole season. He would need a medical redshirt to return for an eighth collegiate season.

Indiana left tackle Carter Smith and Bray Lynch are two other offensive lineman returning in 2025 with starting experience. Bostad and the Hoosiers made significant improvements on the offensive line from 2023 to 2024, and now they welcome Michalski to the mix in 2025.

GARY, Ind. (WLS) — A family member in the Chicago area is remembering the life of 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, who was killed in the devastating Bourbon Street truck attack in New Orleans this week.

Most of Dedeaux’s family lives in Mississippi except for her great-aunt Ahmyryah Israel, who has lived in Northwest Indiana for more than 30 years. She tells me she’s left to grapple with this tragedy weeks before her niece was set to start nursing school.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Dedeaux’s high school graduation pictures are special to Israel, who lives in Gary, Indiana. But pictures of her niece now represent a promising future ripped away.

“She had her whole life ahead of her,” Israel said. “It’s just everything is lost, right now. She was going to start nursing school, because her mom is a nurse, to push the family tradition on.”

That tradition is now broken after Israel says the 18-year-old Mississippi native, who graduated high school last May, had went to New Orleans with friends to celebrate New Year’s Eve, against her mother’s wishes.

“It hurts me that… she went,” Israel said.

What was supposed to be a celebratory night, less than two weeks before the teen began nursing school, ended in tragedy.

Dedeaux became one of 14 people killed when, police say, an alleged terrorist plowed through holiday crowds on Bourbon Street in a speeding truck.

“Can you imagine you have a job, you’re an honor roll student, you kept your grades up, you’re up for the challenge, but you can’t beat this truck?” Israel said. “You can’t beat this truck that’s coming at you. What is that? Who does that?”

Dedeaux was supposed to start her nursing program at Blue Cliff College in Mississippi on January 13. Her family is now planning her funeral.

Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux’s death was originally confirmed to ABC News by her mother, Melissa Dedeaux.

Melissa Dedeaux remembered her 18-year-old daughter as a kind and outgoing young woman who was excited to attend nursing school this year.

“She was a sweet person. She was outgoing, she was very loved,” said Melissa Dedeaux, who said goodbye to her daughter for the final time Tuesday night.

Melissa Dedeaux said she begged her daughter not to go to Bourbon Street for New Years’ Eve like she had done the year prior. She said she was worried about the danger of the area, and she needed her daughter to pick her up from her overnight shift at work at 7:30 a.m.

When another family member picked her up from work, she said she sensed something was wrong. She said her brother-in-law broke the news to her once she got home.

Melissa Dedeaux said she hopes others remember her daughter as a kind person.

“She was a good person, and even though she was loved by many, it can happen to anybody,” she said.

ABC News contributed to this report