Kevin Durant Misses Suns Debut, Suffers Ankle Injury During Warmups
It will take a little longer for Kevin Durant to make his Phoenix Suns home debut. The 13-time All-Star injured his left ankle after tripping during pregame warmups against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
Durant has appeared in Suns three games since his trade, although all of them were away from home, and last night's game was supposed to be Durant's home debut with his new team, NBA News reported.
The Suns' head coach, Monty Williams, has promised that further testing will happen on Saturday.
"Right now, it's just an ankle sprain, and we don't have anything official to report," he noted.
In a clip from pregame warmups, Durant can be seen driving to the basket before rolling his left ankle while jumping. He got up and returned to his pregame preparations, but the Suns eventually announced that Durant would not be playing.
Following Kevin Durant's ankle injury, the Suns' star did not even sit on the bench at any point during the game.
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Kevin Durant and Phoenix Suns
When the NBA trade deadline approached in early February, the Phoenix Suns acquired Kevin Durant in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
However, the injury to his MCL forced him to sit out 20 games, according to Yahoo Sports. He played his first game with the Suns against the Charlotte Hornets on the road on March 1.
The Suns went on to defeat the Chicago Bulls and the Dallas Mavericks on the road and win all three games. Phoenix fans' optimism in the Suns' title chances has been boosted by Durant and fellow All-Star Devin Booker on the floor together.
Durant was supposed to make his home debut with his new team on Wednesday when the Suns played against the Thunder.
However, he and the Suns' supporters will have to sit tight for at least another game and cross their fingers that the injury is not too severe so he can join the Suns on Saturday when his team will host the game against Sacramento Kings.
Devin Booker's 44 Points Save the Suns Following Kevin Durant's Ankle Injury
Devin Booker, a star guard for the Suns, felt compelled to cheer up his team's supporters on Wednesday.
Suns' fans and players alike were caught off guard when forward Kevin Durant was ruled out of what was supposed to be his home debut with the team less than 20 minutes before tip-off of the 132-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Footprint Center, SB Nation reported.
Fans of the Suns were notably silent during the opening six and a half minutes of the game, except for a few ovations for veterans Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, the team's center, when they were announced as members of the starting five.
Fans were disappointed and shocked when Durant got injured before making his highly anticipated debut. When the Suns celebrated their 58th consecutive sellout, Booker re-energized the team's passionate fan base with another historic feat.
With his 44 points against the Thunder on 17 of 23 shooting (6 of 10 from 3-point range), four assists, and three rebounds, he became the first player in the history of the team to have four straight games with at least 35 points.
"The city's been waiting on this," Booker said of Kevin Durant's debut. "It's a big day. We'll reschedule the party. I'm sure they'll be back. The people that missed out on tonight, I tried to give them a little something to make it better."
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Written by: Bert Hoover
WATCH: KD Is Fine, It's Just a Roll - Devin Booker on Kevin Durant's Pregame Slip - From NBA on ESPN