Phoenix Suns superstar forward Kevin Durant exited shortly before halftime of Tuesday night’s 104-93 NBA Cup win over the San Antonio Spurs because of a sprained left ankle.
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant sprained his left ankle when he stepped on a player’s foot in transition
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said his team’s medical staff planned to reevaluate the 16-year veteran Wednesday morning.
“I think he stepped on somebody’s foot in transition, and I think at halftime it stiffened up,” Budenholzer said. “We will have to evaluate him again in the morning, see how he feels coming out of it, see how he does overnight. I don’t really know a whole lot more than the report at halftime.”
With 4:30 left in the second quarter, Durant drove to the basket and attempted to cut between Spurs defenders Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell.
Kevin Durant rolled his ankle on this play and has not returned to the game yet. Something to monitor. pic.twitter.com/SuqcXetevW
— Michael Fiddle (@FiddlesPicks) December 4, 2024
Durant stepped on Champagnie’s left foot as he jumped to attempt a shot. Durant immediately fell to the floor, landing flat on his back before grabbing at his left ankle.
Ryan Dunn assisted Durant back to his feet, as officials whistled Champagnie for a foul on the play. Durant remained on the court and made the ensuing free throws.
Durant has already missed seven straight games this season due to a right calf injury
Following the victory, Budenholzer said the team had yet to perform imaging on Durant’s ankle.
“It’s part of our league,” Budenholzer said. “We’re not any different. There’s not a team in the league that’s not dealing with some in-and-out of the lineups.
“… Hopefully, we [can] teach and start to learn a way of playing that’s good for everybody, regardless of who’s healthy and who’s not. Other people have opportunities to get more minutes. So, we’ll just see how Kevin is, and you’ve just got to keep playing.”
After spraining his left ankle, Durant remained on the court a little while longer to drain a 14-foot jumper just 22 seconds after connecting on the foul shots. Royce O’Neale replaced him with 3:51 left in the first half.
Durant headed to the bench and didn’t return the rest of the first half.
By then, he finished with a game-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-2 on 3-pointers as the Suns led 52-39 at intermission. Grayson Allen replaced Durant in the lineup to start the second half.
The 36-year-old Durant has already missed seven games because of a right calf injury this season. Phoenix went 1-6 during his absence from Nov. 10-20. He had played in the Suns’ past four games since returning on Nov. 26.
The Suns entered Tuesday with a record of 10-2 in games in which Durant played. Phoenix is now 12-8 and ranks sixth overall in the Western Conference standings.
