The Phoenix Suns have suffered some bad injury luck this season, as two members of their Big Three–Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant–have already gone down earlier in the season, contributing to a five-game skid. While the team has mostly recovered, including a blowout win over the Lakers, the injury bug has struck Durant again during the Suns’ NBA Cup matchup against the Spurs. Near the end of the first half, he left the game due to a concerning ankle injury, after which the team ruled him out of the game entirely.
“Looked like Kevin Durant turned the ankle a bit there on that hard fall,” reported Suns writer Gerald Bourguet. “He stayed in for a bit after free throws, but then checked out for the last few minutes of the half. Still sitting on the Suns bench, at least, in his warmups.”
Then came another report before the third quarter.
“Left ankle sprain for Durant,” reported NBA writer Brett Siegel for ClutchPoints. “He won’t return to tonight’s NBA Cup game against the Spurs.”
Likewise, further details arose regarding the incident that caused Kevin Durant’s injury during the Suns-Spurs game.
“Durant appeared to step on a player’s foot when twisting his ankle,” according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, quoted here via Donnie Druin of Sports Illustrated. “He then landed hard on his right side while hitting the floor as Spurs forward Justin Champagnie was called for the foul with 4:30 left in the half.”
Then, the report continued, “Royce O’Neale replaced Durant with 3:51 remaining in the first half. Durant did hit a jumper in between the foul and being taken out, but didn’t return for the remainder of the half after going to the bench.”
Prior to this game, the Suns have won two of their last three games to improve to an 11-8 record. However, they severely need Durant to stay on the floor, as they’ve gone 1-6 without him this season.
Be the first to comment