{"id":110553,"date":"2024-12-04T11:58:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T16:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=110553"},"modified":"2024-12-04T11:58:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T16:58:48","slug":"suns-star-suffers-another-injury-blow-as-he-exits-game-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/04\/suns-star-suffers-another-injury-blow-as-he-exits-game-early\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns Star Suffers Another Injury Blow as he Exits Game Early"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/03\/josh-okogie-suns-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">Phoenix Suns<\/a> star <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a> exited Tuesday night\u2019s NBA Cup <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/nba\/boxscore\/_\/gameId\/401703426\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">win<\/a> over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/06\/2024-25-nba-betting-preview-san-antonio-spurs-win-total-odds\/\" target=\"_self\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a> with an ankle injury. The injury occurred with four-and-a-half minutes to go in the second quarter as he rolled his ankle. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/onealro01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Royce O&#8217;Neale<\/a> replaced Durant shortly after his final sighting of the evening. He did convert a jump shot before his exit to take his tally to 13 points, which could suggest his withdrawal was nothing more than a precaution. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allengr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grayson Allen<\/a> started the second half in his place before he was soon ruled out for the remainder of the game with what the team called a left ankle sprain.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kevin Durant does not start the second half after appearing to grab at his ankle in the second quarter. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/knri7FtIC1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/knri7FtIC1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Arizona Sports (@AZSports) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AZSports\/status\/1864149388999729308?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Suns Star Kevin Durant Suffers Another Injury Blow as he Exits Game Early<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>The Suns Need Durant Healthy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Suns will hope that this will be a short absence, if any absence at all, for Durant. After a relatively healthy season last year in which he missed just seven games, the forward has already missed that amount this campaign with a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/10\/kevin-durant-re-evaluated-in-2-weeks-calf-strain\/\" target=\"_self\">calf injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>His side struggled without him, posting just a 1-6 <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/suns-record-without-durant-this-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">record<\/a>, though <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bealbr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bradley Beal<\/a> was also missing for most of this stretch. The Suns can ill afford another extended period without their main man, especially in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/02\/nikola-vucevic-trade-destinations\/\" target=\"_self\">Western Conference<\/a> with several serious competitors. Durant has been performing at an MVP level and is not showing any signs of decline despite his growing age. Not including their victory over the Spurs, the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/suns-record-with-durant-this-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Suns<\/a> are 10-2 with Durant. This record has allowed them to keep pace with the best of the West despite the mounting losses when he is out.<\/p>\n<p>Through 13 games, Durant has <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.co.uk\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/3202\/kevin-durant\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">averaged<\/a> 25.8 points on 53.6% shooting. He has been strong from deep, converting 44.9% of his three-point attempts. It is not only his offense that has proved crucial to the Suns\u2019 success but also his anchoring defense and tutelage of rookies <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dunnry01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Dunn<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/ighodos01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oso Ighodaro<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Ahead?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Head coach <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/budenmi99c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Budenholzer<\/a> did not have any update on Durant\u2019s status postgame. He mentioned that the ankle stiffened up at halftime, preventing his return. He said the star will be re-evaluated the following morning to determine his availability going forward.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Suns coach Mike Budenholzer didn&#39;t have any update on Kevin Durant as I asked him moving forward as Phoenix Suns begin three-game road trip Thursday against New Orleans.<\/p>\n<p>Said Durant&#39;s ankle stiffened up on him at halftime. <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Suns?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Suns<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9tiaOjHnw3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/9tiaOjHnw3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuaneRankin\/status\/1864168693347045654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 4, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Should Durant miss any more time, the Suns will have to lean on Beal and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bookede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin Booker<\/a>. At 12-8, the Suns are sixth in the Western Conference, just 3.5 games behind the leading <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/02\/alex-caruso-extension\/\" target=\"_self\">OKC Thunder<\/a>. Potentially alongside Durant, the Suns will be without <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nurkiju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jusuf Nurkic<\/a> for at least a week due to a <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GeraldBourguet\/status\/1863682068544172363\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">right thigh contusion<\/a>. However, Ighodaro and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/plumlma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mason Plumlee<\/a> have performed well in his place.<\/p>\n<p>They now face a three-game road trip against the injury-hit <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/25\/new-orleans-pelicans-season\/\" target=\"_self\">New Orleans Pelicans<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/14\/adebayo-believes-herro-is-all-star\/\" target=\"_self\">Miami Heat,<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/25\/magic-jalen-suggs-banchero-carter-injuries\/\" target=\"_self\">Orlando Magic<\/a>. The Suns have already played the two Florida sides, beating the Heat and losing to the Magic at home.<\/p>\n<p>The Pelicans have endured a nightmare season, sitting bottom of the conference with a 4-18 record. This is due to several key absences, including <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willizi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zion Williamson<\/a>, who has played just six games so far. The Heat have also struggled, holding a losing 9-10 record, so the Suns should be favored in these two matchups. Orlando presents a much tougher task, with their <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/defense?dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">top two<\/a> defense primed to cause the Suns issues. While it is still early in the season, the Suns need to record wins. Even without Durant, they should still be able to deliver with both Beal and Booker on the court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant exited Tuesday night\u2019s NBA Cup win over the San Antonio Spurs with an ankle injury. The injury occurred with four-and-a-half minutes to go in the second quarter as he rolled his ankle. Royce O&#8217;Neale replaced Durant shortly after his final sighting of the evening. He did convert a jump shot [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5293,"featured_media":110576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,28],"tags":[311,352,69,550,49745,49305],"class_list":["post-110553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-suns","tag-bradley-beal","tag-devin-booker","tag-kevin-durant","tag-mike-budenholzer","tag-oso-ighodaro","tag-ryan-dunn"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110553"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110577,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110553\/revisions\/110577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}