{"id":111901,"date":"2024-12-13T06:30:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T11:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=111901"},"modified":"2024-12-13T05:00:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T10:00:12","slug":"suns-provide-good-news-kevin-durant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/13\/suns-provide-good-news-kevin-durant\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns Provide Good News Regarding Kevin Durant\u2019s Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/10\/the-stark-differences-in-the-suns-play-without-kevin-durant\/\" target=\"_self\">Phoenix Suns<\/a> have certainly had a Jekyll and Hyde season. Whether they are Jekyll (good) or Hyde (not good) has been fully contingent on if <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01\/gamelog\/2025\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a> is playing for them.<\/p>\n<p>The Suns have played 23 games thus far in the season. They are an excellent 11-2 when Durant has played. When he hasn\u2019t? They are an atrocious 1-9, giving the team a barely over-.500 record at 12-11.<\/p>\n<p>While the 36-year-old has missed the last three games, Phoenix likely will see Kevin Durant return on Friday.<\/p>\n<h2>Suns Provide Good News Regarding Kevin Durant\u2019s Return<\/h2>\n<h3>Kevin Durant Expected To Return On Friday<\/h3>\n<p>In the Suns victory over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/25\/spurs-additions-paul-castle-barnes\/\" target=\"_self\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, Durant sustained a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/42777498\/sources-kevin-durant-least-1-week-ankle-sprain#:~:text=Phoenix%20Suns%20All%2DNBA%20forward,the%20Suns&#039;%20victory%20Tuesday%20night.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">left ankle sprain<\/a> after he landed on the foot of Spurs player <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/champju02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julian Champagnie<\/a>. The injury has caused him to miss the last three games, all Phoenix losses. It was expected that the 6-foot-11 forward would be able to return in 1-2 weeks. It has been 10 days since the injury, which is about halfway between one and two weeks. The latest injury report makes it seem as if Durant will be suiting up Friday against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/30\/nba-rumors-jazz-pelicans-brandon-ingram-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">Utah Jazz<\/a>. He has been upgraded to probable for Phoenix.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Full Suns at Jazz injury report: <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:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Jazz?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Jazz<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/N9JQOdUhqo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/N9JQOdUhqo<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/56eRuInjUS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/56eRuInjUS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DuaneRankin\/status\/1867369412808126610?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It would be a huge boon for Phoenix who currently sits 10th in the Western Conference with their 12-11 record. This isn\u2019t the only injury that has caused Durant to miss action. The two-time Finals MVP sustained a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/kevin-durant-suns-calf-strain-injury#:~:text=Kevin%20Durant%2C%20who%20leads%20the,suffering%20a%20left%20calf%20strain.&amp;text=The%20Phoenix%20Suns%20have%20relied,else%20for%20the%20foreseeable%20future.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">strained left calf<\/a> in a game against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/06\/klay-thompson-dallas-mavericks-fit\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a> on November 8. That ailment caused Durant to miss seven games. The team went 1-6 in that span, only securing a win against a Jazz team that is currently 5-18.<\/p>\n<p>In his 13 games this season, Durant has posted averages of 25.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.5 blocks. The 17-year veteran has shot 53.6% from the field, 44.9% from beyond the arc, and 80.0% from the foul line. If Durant can remain on the court and not get hurt again, he should become the eighth member of the NBA\u2019s 30K point club. He has 29,259 career points, meaning he needs 741 more to reach the milestone.<\/p>\n<h3>Differences With And Without Him On Court<\/h3>\n<p>The records with and without Durant this season truly show his value to the team. Taking a look at the numbers with and without him further confirms that. The Suns have outscored opponents by 5.1 points per game when Durant plays. When he hasn\u2019t? Phoenix has been outscored by 8.6 points per contest when Durant is unavailable.<\/p>\n<p>The Suns have an offensive rating of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask?q=suns+offensive+rating+when+durant+plays+in+2024-25\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">116.7<\/a> when Durant plays, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask?q=suns+offensive+rating+when+durant+does+not+play+in+2024-25\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">114.4<\/a> when he doesn\u2019t. The larger difference in Phoenix\u2019s play has come on the defensive end. They have a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask?q=suns+defensive+rating+when+durant+plays+in+2024-25\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">111.5<\/a> defensive rating in the 13 games that Durant has played. In the 10 he hasn\u2019t, that defensive rating number skyrockets to <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask?q=suns+defensive+rating+when+durant+does+not+play+in+2024-25\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">123.3<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even though it\u2019s only been slightly over a month since the Suns were 8-1, it seems like that was ages ago. While it\u2019s concerning how much Phoenix\u2019s play craters when Durant doesn\u2019t play, it also shows how much they need him to be able to stay on the court. Kevin Durant\u2019s likely return on Friday is hopefully the start of a long stretch of him being available to play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Phoenix Suns have certainly had a Jekyll and Hyde season. Whether they are Jekyll (good) or Hyde (not good) has been fully contingent on if Kevin Durant is playing for them. The Suns have played 23 games thus far in the season. They are an excellent 11-2 when Durant has played. When he hasn\u2019t? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5060,"featured_media":111907,"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":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,3,28],"tags":[69,4745],"class_list":["post-111901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-suns","tag-kevin-durant","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111901","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\/5060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111901"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111910,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111901\/revisions\/111910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}