Suns star Kevin Durant leaves loss to Rockets early after rolling ankle, scuffle with Dillon Brooks

Kevin Durant left the Phoenix Suns’ blowout loss to the Houston Rockets early on Sunday night time after rolling his ankle arduous within the second half.

The harm got here only a quarter after the Suns star bought into it briefly with Rockets ahead Dillon Brooks — who was then ejected from the sport after the scuffle.

Durant was driving to the basket within the third quarter on the Footprint Middle when his left foot landed fully on Jabari Smith Jr.’s foot within the lane. Durant’s left ankle rolled arduous, which despatched him all the way down to the court docket awkwardly, clearly in lots of ache.

He was helped up and limped off the ground and again to the locker room. He didn’t return.

Durant will endure an MRI on Monday, Suns coach Mike Budenholzer mentioned. He’s anticipated to stay in Phoenix when the staff leaves Monday for a three-game journey that begins in Milwaukee. 

Durant drew a foul on the play he was injured, however he didn’t stay within the sport to shoot the free throws. He ended his night time with 11 factors and 7 rebounds.

The harm got here after an incident with Brooks within the second quarter, although Durant was removed from the aggressor there. Brooks was referred to as for a easy foul whereas attempting to protect Durant on the high of the important thing late within the first half. However effectively after the preliminary whistle was blown, Brooks stored making a play for the ball — which led to a little bit of shoving between Brooks, Durant and Nick Richards.

However when Brooks didn’t let it go and began yelling on the official, he was rapidly hit with a pair of technicals and thrown out of the sport. As soon as the official ejected Brooks, he briefly tried to cost on the official. An assistant held him again, after which the 2 left the ground for the locker room.

Brooks completed with eight factors, one rebound and one help in 11 minutes. He now has 15 technical fouls this season. He additionally entered Sunday’s sport main the league in fouls this season with 235.

The Rockets, regardless of Brooks’ ejection, nonetheless took an enormous 29-point lead into halftime. They outscored the Suns by 21 factors within the second quarter alone. Issues did not get any higher for Phoenix within the second half, both. Houston cruised to a 148-109 win behind a 33-point night time from Jalen Inexperienced, pushing the staff to 49-26 on the season. The Rockets have gained 12 of their previous 13 video games, and are preventing to hold on to the No. 2 spot within the Western Convention standings.

The Suns, alternatively, dropped to 35-40 and are sitting eleventh within the standings — which has them lacking the playoffs completely — with solely seven video games left within the common season. Durant’s future with the Suns is unclear, too, after it appeared he was going to be traded on the deadline earlier this 12 months. Durant has one 12 months left on his four-year, $194 million take care of the Suns. 

Durant will keep behind when the Suns go away for a three-game highway journey on Monday whereas he undergoes additional testing on his ankle. The Suns are again in motion on Tuesday night time towards the Milwaukee Bucks, and will not be residence once more till April 8. 

If Durant’s ankle harm is important and the staff finally ends up shutting him down for the remainder of the common season, it will be troublesome for the Suns to make a push to get into the playoffs. And if Durant’s time with the group is really coming to an finish this summer time, it is potential that Sunday night time was the final time followers see Durant in a Suns jersey.