Maybe too much is being made of Kevin Durant being out with a left ankle sprain that will be re-evaluated in three weeks as Phoenix (37-29) faces Sacramento (39-26) Saturday at Footprint Center.
“We’ve played more games without KD than with him,” Suns All-Star point guard Chris Paul said. “It’s a lot of dramatics going on right now. I know you got to do your jobs and ask questions, but we’re still going to have a basketball game tomorrow night.”
Yes, Durant has played just three games with the Suns, who just beat Oklahoma City by 31 points Wednesday without the 13-time All-Star, and Phoenix can continue starting Torrey Craig, who has a career-high 50 starts this season, for him.
“We come to work and practice and get ready for the games every day,” Paul later said. “I think we’re going to be OK.”
Still, the Suns traded Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, key contributors to this season and the previous two during this successful stretch for the franchise, along with Jae Crowder, four first round draft picks and pick swap to Brooklyn for T.J. Warren and Durant right before the Feb. trade deadline.
So, this isn’t the same team what won most of their games this season.
Then, just when Phoenix was developing some chemistry with Durant, he’s out with an injury suffered during a pregame workout Wednesday before facing the Thunder in what would’ve been his Suns home debut.
However, the results of the injury could’ve been worse as Durant badly twisted his ankle while driving the baseline, lost the ball and fell to the floor. He got up and continued the workout, but Durant was a late scratch for the game and ended up in a walking boot Wednesday.
“We’re certainly are grateful that it wasn’t something that was long, long term,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “You don’t want to see guys get hurt, but based on the way it looked, when I got the news (Thursday), we were pretty happy that it wasn’t a break or anything like that. We’re just glad that he’s here and getting a ton of care around the clock.”
Based on the three-week timetable, Durant will miss at least 10 games before being re-evaluated.
The Suns will have eight more regular-season games after that. Durant likely will require a ramp up since he hadn’t played since Jan. 8 in Miami, where he suffered a right MCL sprain, before making his Suns debut March 1 at Charlotte.
That ramp up could occur during the three weeks or after.
Either way, Williams didn’t want to address the potential plan for Durant. The playoffs will start early to mid-April.
“I don’t want to speculate on all that stuff,” Williams said. “We’re just going to re-evaluate when the time allows.”
The Suns have had 23 different starting lineups mostly due to injuries. So, they haven’t had a consistent rotation, which changed when Durant started playing.
With Durant out, the rotation has changed again as Williams is also still trying to figure out how to use fellow newcomers Terrence Ross, Darius Bazley and Warren.
“It’s something I have to have any open mind about,” Williams said. “Sometimes the game shows you, sometimes a player shows you that he can do more than you thought he could, or he shouldn’t be doing as much as he’s trying to do. You just have to wait and allow for players to teach you sometimes.
“I try not to go into the game thinking I have everything figured out. For me, I think that’s pretty prideful and arrogant even though I can do that more times than I want to admit, but I try to go into the game with a level head as far as being open minded about the things that can come up and try to learn from it.”
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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