The Phoenix Suns are already playing with a depleted roster with several players sidelined. Now, star forward Kevin Durant will also be unavailable for their game on Friday against the Sacramento Kings due to a sprained ankle. Aside from Durant, Grayson Allen is out and will join guards Bradley Beal and Damion Lee on the injured players list.
This will be the third game the 35-year-old will miss this season, with the first two being on November 24 and 26 against the Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks, respectively.
Frank Vogel said Kevin Durant (ankle), Bradley Beal (back) and Grayson Allen (groin) OUT Friday vs. Kings. #Suns
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 7, 2023
The Suns won both the games that Durant missed earlier thanks to Devin Booker and Eric Gordon shouldering most of the load on offense. Meanwhile, Keita Bates-Diop received an increase in minutes to fill in for Durant.
Fans can expect Bates-Diop to receive more playing time with the star forward out, while Nassir Little and Josh Okogie will also be expected to step up.
When he is healthy, Kevin Durant has been leading the Suns in scoring with 31.0 points per game, the third-best in the entire NBA. He has also been valuable for his team in other areas for his squad, as he is second in rebounding (6.5), assists (5.7), and blocks (1.2).
Kevin Durant doesn’t think that the Suns’ loss to the Lakers was referee’s fault
The inaugural In-Season Tournament quarterfinal pitted the Suns against the LA Lakers in what proved to be a very intense matchup that went down to the wire. The Suns ended up losing 106-103, but there was a controversial moment near the end of the game.
With the Lakers up by two with under 10 seconds left, they inbounded the ball to Austin Reaves, who was immediately hounded by Booker and Durant. He appeared to lose control of the ball just as LeBron James signaled for a timeout. The Lakers were granted the timeout even though Reaves appeared to have lost the ball already.
After the game, Durant was asked about this specific incident and he replied:
“That’s not the game, that’s one play,” Durant said per Mark Medina. “It’s a 48-minute game. I don’t like complaining about calls. Sometimes the ref ain’t gonna get it right all the time, sometimes it’s on us to play through all of that stuff and not worry about putting the game in the ref’s hands… It is what it is, we can’t put ourselves in that position.”
Kevin Durant didn’t want to blame the Suns’ loss on the timeout call pic.twitter.com/JWagSb5v1R
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) December 6, 2023
While the game went down to the wire, the Suns faced several problems. The most glaring issue was their inability to take care of the ball, as they ended up with 20 turnovers as a team.
Kevin Durant led his team with 31 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
