Kevin Durant misses potential Phoenix Suns home debut after slipping during pre-game warmups and injuring ankle
By Ben Morse and Jacob Lev, CNN
Kevin Durant missed the opportunity to make his home debut for the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night after he slipped and injured his ankle during pre-game warmups.
Ahead of Wednesday’s NBA clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Suns’ Footprint Center, Durant was seen on video slipping while going up for a shot near the basket, rolling his ankle in the process.
The 34-year-old was able to get up and continue his workout but moved gingerly throughout the rest of it, and minutes later, Phoenix announced he would miss the game, being replaced by Torrey Craig in the starting lineup.
After the Suns had comfortably beaten the Thunder 132-101, Phoenix head coach Monty Williams provided an update on Durant’s injury status.
“We don’t have anything official to report,” Williams told reporters.
Williams said there will be more tests done on Thursday and the team is calling it an ankle sprain for the time being.
“He’s out there working his tail off, getting ready for the game and he twists his ankle,” Williams added. “Can’t get frustrated about that. It’s life, you know what I’m saying? I feel bad for him because he feels bad. He feels like — I saw his face and I’ve been around him so many times. I know what he’s feeling.”
When Durant arrived in Arizona in February — in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets for a huge haul — he was recovering from an MCL sprain which had seen him miss more than a month of action.
The 13-time All-Star finally made his debut for the Suns last week against the Charlotte Hornets and the team has won all three of their games with Durant in the lineup — the 2014 MVP has averaged 26.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in those three games.
In his absence though, the Suns never had to get out of fourth gear to beat the Thunder, being led by a game-high 44 points from guard Devin Booker.
As a result, Phoenix improved to 37-29 and moved to within two games of the second and third seed in the Western Conference.
“Our group has adapted to a number of things all year long from the summer until now. This is no different. We will do our best to get him healthy and get him back out there on the floor,” Williams said.
Phoenix is next scheduled to host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday before heading on the road to play the Golden State Warriors early next week. The Suns then return home to host the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic on March 14 and 16 respectively.
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