PHOENIX — Kevin Durant slipped and sprained his left ankle during pregame warmups Wednesday, sidelining him for what was supposed to be his first home game with the Phoenix Suns.
The team is hopeful Durant has avoided a serious sprain, but he is scheduled for an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the injury. Durant left the Footprint Center in a walking boot after the Suns beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 132-101.
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“I feel bad for him because he feels bad,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “I saw his face and, I’ve been around him many times, I know what he feels and I don’t want him to feel that way.”
Devin Booker, who is riding one of the best streaks of his career, gave the disappointed crowd a show by exploding for 44 points on 17-of-23 shooting in 28 minutes, leading the team to its fourth straight victory.
A little over an hour before kickoff, Durant was doing a one-on-one drill with the coaches when he lost his balance while going up to shoot. After briefly staying on the court, he was able to get up and finish his workout.
But after returning to the locker room, Durant experienced some swelling and was ruled out. Some teammates didn’t realize what had happened until they were ready to take the court and saw Durant on the practice table.
“You’ve been in this league for a while, you realize some people like to play. Some people love to play. Kev is one of the people who love to play,” said Chris Paul, who scored 18 points with nine assists. “Obviously, knowing that this would be his first game at his home, we were all excited.”
