Kevin Durant slipped and sprained his ankle during the pregame warmups before the Phoenix Suns’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
About an hour before tipoff, the new Suns player was performing an individual drill when he lost his balance while jumping to take a shot. Although he managed to get back up and continue training, Durant’s ankle began to show swelling once he returned to the locker room, leading to the Suns ruling him out for the game.
“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.”
Despite the disappointment of Durant being unable to make his home debut for the team, the Suns were able to progress without him, pulling off a 132-101 win. Devin Booker turned up as the Suns’ key player on the night, scoring 44 points on 17-of-23 shooting in just 28 minutes.
Booker finds himself in strong form, being named the Western Conference Player of the Week.
