Suns' Kevin Durant exits victory because of sprained left ankle
PHOENIX -- Kevin Durant left shortly before halftime of the Phoenix Suns' 104-93 NBA Cup win over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday because of a sprained left ankle, and Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said his team's medical staff planned to reevaluate the star forward Wednesday morning.
"I think he stepped on somebody's foot in transition, and I think at halftime it stiffened up," Budenholzer said. "We will have to evaluate him again in the morning, see how he feels coming out of it, see how he does overnight. I don't really know a whole lot more than the report at halftime."
Sprinting downcourt in transition with 4:30 left in the second quarter, Durant drove to the basket and attempted to cut between Spurs defenders Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell. Durant stepped on Champagnie's left foot as he rose to take a shot.
Durant immediately fell to the floor, landing flat on his back before grabbing at his left ankle. Ryan Dunn helped Durant back to his feet, as officials whistled Champagnie for a foul on the play. Durant remained on the court and made the ensuing free throws.
After the game, Budenholzer said the team had yet to perform imaging on Durant's ankle.
"It's part of our league," Budenholzer said. "We're not any different. There's not a team in the league that's not dealing with some in-and-out of the lineups and hopefully we teach and start to learn a way of playing that's good for everybody, regardless of who's healthy and who's not. Other people have opportunities to get more minutes. So, we'll just see how Kevin is, and you've just got to keep playing."
After spraining his left ankle, Durant remained on the court long enough to knock down a 14-foot jumper just 22 seconds after connecting on the foul shots, before Royce O'Neale replaced him with 3:51 left in the first half.
Durant headed to the bench and didn't return the rest of the first half.
By then, he had scored a game-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2 of 2 on 3-pointers as the Suns led 52-39 at intermission. Grayson Allen replaced Durant in the lineup to start the second half.
Durant made a brief appearance on the court at the start of the third quarter before walking back to the locker room.
"That is the game," said Bradley Beal, who finished with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. "Can't really be mad at it, can't blame anything, can't feel a way. It is just the next up. We have plenty of depth to get it done."
A 14-time NBA All-Star, Durant had already sat out seven games because of a right calf injury with the Suns posting a record of 1-6 in his absence. Durant had played in Phoenix's past four games since returning on Nov. 26.
The Suns entered Tuesday with a record of 10-2 in games in which Durant participated.
The injury setback occurred on a night Devin Booker passed 15,000 career points with a 15-foot stepback jumper 23 seconds into the game. Booker finished with a game-high 29 points, joining Walter Davis as the only players in franchise history to reach 15,000 career points.
At 28 years and 34 days old, Booker became the ninth-youngest player in NBA history to reach the milestone.
"All teams, at some point through the season, have to deal with it," Booker said of the team's current injury situation. "I think it's a special time for more opportunities for other people to get a chance. Because you never know what's going to happen later in the season or even the playoffs, to where you just have to figure it out. No one talks about injuries after a season ends."
