The Dallas Mavericks are in a close fight to make the Play-In Tournament with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. Dallas is currently in the 9th seed in the West with a small advantage over both teams, but both Phoenix and Sacramento own the tiebreaker over the Mavs. However, Sunday night brought some bad news to one of their competitors for these spots.
The Phoenix Suns had a brutal loss on Sunday night, falling 148-109 to the Houston Rockets. But in that loss, Kevin Durant left the game with what looked to be a pretty significant left ankle injury and wouldn’t return.
Kevin Durant rolls his ankle on this play — Hope he is OK. 🙏
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 31, 2025
Nothing definitive has been revealed about the severity of Durant’s injury, but Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said that Durant would stay back to have an MRI instead of flying to Milwaukee. They’ll then figure out a timeline after the MRI, but the Suns have a brutal stretch of games coming up and only seven games left to play.
While the Durant injury news is unfortunate, some people have started to wonder if that’s the last we’ll see of him in a Phoenix uniform. That will impact their chances of making the Play-In Tournament, and they’re currently two games back of the Mavericks.
Dallas also has a much easier remaining schedule compared to the Suns, as the Mavs’ remaining opponents have a combined .502 winning percentage, while Phoenix has the hardest remaining schedule in the NBA at .606.
While the Suns have been a discombobulated team all year, losing Durant will significantly hurt their chances for this last stretch of the regular season, especially if he doesn’t return. Dallas now has no excuses of at least making the Play-In Tournament.
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