Devin Booker’s ankle injury, if serious, could put the Phoenix Suns in a

PHOENIX — This feels familiar. A sprained ankle to a key player in March. A shadow of uncertainty as the Phoenix Suns approach a key stretch of their season.

Devin Booker didn’t play in Sunday’s 118-110 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The All-Star guard sprained his right ankle in Saturday’s loss to the Houston Rockets. The Suns have not commented publicly on the injury’s severity other than to say initial X-rays were negative. Coach Frank Vogel said before Sunday’s game that Booker still was getting evaluated. He planned to have an update Tuesday.

On its own, this is not a huge deal. Ankles get turned and twisted on every basketball court, playground or professional. It just stings a little more in this market. Nearly a year ago to the day, Kevin Durant, warming up before his first home game after getting traded to Phoenix from Brooklyn, sprained an ankle. He missed three weeks, robbing the Suns of time needed to build chemistry. They lost in the Western Conference semifinals.

Booker’s situation is different because, unlike Durant, he’s been here awhile. It’s not like he’s finding his way with a new team. But this is also worse for the simple reason Phoenix cannot survive for long without Booker. He’s too important as a playmaker, a fact underscored by the Suns’ topsy-turvy performance against the Thunder.

Big man Jusuf Nurkic grabbed a franchise-record 31 rebounds — the most by an NBA player in a game this season, an effort Vogel called incredible.

Jusuf Nurkic set a franchise record with 31 rebounds Sunday. (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)

Bradley Beal scored 31 points and the Suns rallied from a 24-point deficit, taking a 6-point lead early in the fourth quarter. But the Thunder (42-18) settled, later pulling away with a 10-0 spurt.

“That s— dwindled quick,” Beal said of the Phoenix lead.

The Suns (35-26) sit in seventh place in the Western Conference, but they are 2-4 since the All-Star break with two puzzling losses to the Rockets. Making matters potentially worse is the remaining schedule. It’s brutal. Starting with Tuesday’s game at Denver, the Suns have 21 remaining contests. Fifteen are against teams that entered Monday seeded fifth or better in their respective conferences. The Suns face Boston twice. Denver twice. The Clippers twice. Minnesota twice. And Cleveland twice.

This would be a tough task at full strength. Being without Booker for a week or two — if that ends up being the case — would make it more difficult. The Suns are 4-7 this season without Booker, who averages 27.5 points and 6.8 assists.

Sunday’s loss left Phoenix fuming. The frustration was clear. Vogel was mad at the officiating.

“They fouled the s— out of Kevin Durant all night,” he said. “Whether he has the ball and he’s getting stripped three or four, maybe five times. And then every time he tries to get open, he’s being held, which is something I really want the league to look at.”

Said…