Kevin Durant will miss at least a week with ankle injury, Suns say
Dec 4, 2024, 12:13 PM
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant will be reevaluated in a week after spraining his left ankle Tuesday in a win against the San Antonio Spurs, the team said on Wednesday.
Durant played 16 minutes in the first half before turning his ankle on an opponent’s foot and grabbing at it. He remained in the game briefly and even knocked down a shot before he exited. Durant didn’t return for the second half.
He’s battled left calf and ankle issues since mid-November. Durant missed seven games from Nov. 9-25 with a left calf strain, and the Suns went 1-6 in that span.
The forward returned on Nov. 26 against the New York Knicks but a week later against the Brooklyn Nets tweaked his calf again. That didn’t take Durant out of any games.
The Suns begin a road trip on Thursday with a visit to New Orleans. They face Miami (Saturday) and Orlando (Sunday) before a potential Durant return.
After that, the Suns play at Utah on Friday, Dec. 13, which could come after the All-Star is reevaluated.
Durant is averaging 25.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season.
Phoenix is 11-2 when he has played but 12-8 overall.
The Suns will also move forward without starting center Jusuf Nurkic, who is also in the middle of a one-week period before he’ll be reevaluated for a thigh contusion.
How will the Suns fill in for Kevin Durant as he rehabs his sprained ankle?
During Phoenix’s first stretch without Durant, head coach Mike Budenholzer to a large degree tweaked his rotations based on matchups.
Rookie Ryan Dunn could receive a boost in minutes as a jumbo perimeter defender at forward. He has nine starts in 19 appearances, though his surprising shooting competency has fallen back to earth (41% overall, 31% 3-point) since a red-hot preseason.
Budenholzer’s small-ball lineups to space out San Antonio on Tuesday led to backup point guard Monte Morris playing eight minutes, all in the second half, while Royce O’Neale ended up the biggest beneficiary by playing 30 minutes off the bench, oftentimes as an undersized 4.
Rookie big man Oso Ighodaro got the start Tuesday and played 28 minutes to complement veteran center Mason Plumlee’s 19. They will likely receive minutes boosts by default and even saw some time together in the starting lineup when Durant and Nurkic were both out Nov. 18 against the Orlando Magic.
