PHOENIX — Kevin Durant slipped and sprained his left ankle during pregame warmups Wednesday, knocking him out of what was supposed to be his first home game with the Phoenix Suns.
The team is hopeful Durant avoided a serious sprain, but he is scheduled for an MRI 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.
Devin Booker, who is on one of the hottest streaks of his career, still gave the disappointed crowd a show by exploding for 44 points on 17-of-23 shooting in just 28 minutes, leading the team to its fourth consecutive win.
“I feel bad for him because he feels bad,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “I saw his face and — I’ve been around him so many times — I know what he’s feeling and I don’t want him feeling that way at all.”
A little more than an hour before tip off, Durant was doing an individual drill with coaches when he lost his balance as he lifted off to shoot. After briefly laying on the court, he was able to get up and finish his pregame workout.
But after he returned to the locker room, Durant experienced some swelling and was ruled out. Some teammates didn’t realize what happened until they were ready to take the floor and saw Durant on the training table.
“In this league you been around for a while, you realize some people like to play. Some people love to play. Kev is one of the people that just love to hoop,” said Chris Paul, who scored 18 points with nine assists. “Obviously knowing this was going be his first home game, we was all excited.”
The focus of the night quickly shifted to Booker, who scored 30 points in the first half and was up to 35 just two minutes into the second half when foul trouble forced him from the floor.
The current Western Conference Player of the Week, Booker became the first player in team history to score 35 or more points in four consecutive games. He’s shooting a sizzling 60% overall during that stretch and 53% on 3-pointers.
“We’ll reschedule the party. I’m sure they’ll be back, people that missed out on tonight,” Booker said. “I tried to give them a little something to make it better.”