Struggling Suns need wins facing 7th toughest remaining NBA schedule
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Phoenix Suns are considered a championship contender with Kevin Durant.
Without him, they’ve lost their last three games and are in danger of falling out of playoff contention. Durant is scheduled for a re-evaluation of his sprained left ankle in late March.
Fourth in the Western Conference, Phoenix (37-32) has the seventh toughest remaining schedule according to Tankathon. The Suns should get a home win Thursday over the rebuilding Magic (28-41), but they lost at Orlando back in November.
While James Jones, team president of basketball operations and general manager, said last week Durant would play if the playoffs were taking place now, the initial timetable the team gave on March 9, the day after Durant twisted his ankle in a pregame workout, has the 13-time All-Star up for re-evaluation March 30.
They announced he’d be re-evaluated in three weeks.
“Kevin wants to play,” Suns coach Monty Williams said before Monday’s loss at defending NBA champion Golden State. “I hate answering stuff like that because if I say anything, it becomes a thing, right? I think it speaks to how badly he wants to play. I haven’t gotten many reports outside of he’s progressing.”
However, Jones also gave a timetable that suggest Durant could return sooner than later.
“In 16 games, we’re going to be in the playoffs regardless,” Jones said before Phoenix lost last Saturday to Sacramento. “Kevin being with us for 10 of those or six of those, Kevin knows how to play. We’re not concerned about Kevin forgetting how to play basketball over the next eight games.”
Durant watched the second half of Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee from the bench in street clothes. He even picked up the basketball during the timeout and dribbled the ball a little bit in regular shoes.
Phoenix traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a pick swap right before the Feb. 9 traded deadline to Brooklyn for T.J. Warren and Durant. The Suns are 3-0 with Durant on the floor, but have gone 1-3 since he injured his ankle.
The Suns have six games left after March 30 with two at home against West-leading Denver, one at the Los Angeles Lakers (34-35) and another at home versus the Los Angeles Clippers (36-33) to end the regular season. The other two are at Oklahoma City (34-35) and against San Antonio (18-50).
They have seven games between now and March 30, four against teams within four games of them in the Western Conference:
- Sunday at Oklahoma City (34-35).
- March 22 at L.A. Lakers (34-35).
- March 27 vs. Minnesota (35-34).
- March 29 at Utah (33-36).
The other three games are Thursday versus Orlando, March 24 at Sacramento (40-27) and March 25 at home against Philadelphia (45-22).
The Suns have 13 games remaining, but they are only a game ahead of the Warriors and Clippers, who face each other Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The Suns are just two games ahead of the Timberwolves and three ahead of the Thunder, the Dallas Mavericks (34-35) and the Lakers.
The…
Read More: Struggling Suns need wins facing 7th toughest remaining NBA schedule 2023-03-15 23:07:39