The Phoenix Suns have been off to a fantastic start to the 2024-25 season at 8-1 under new head coach Mike Budenholzer. Kevin Durant’s play during the Suns’ hot start had his name in the early MVP race, but the team received disappointing injury news on Saturday. Durant suffered a calf strain during the team’s game against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday and will be sidelined for at least two weeks, as per Shams Charania of ESPN.
Losing Kevin Durant to injury is a major blow for the Suns who are in very early contention for the top spot in the Western Conference. As of publication, they have an identical 8-1 record as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Durant apparently suffered the strain sometime during the Suns’ 114-113 win against the Mavericks. He played 37 minutes and finished with a team-high 26 points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal and two blocked shots. He shot 8-0f-14 from the field, 3-of-6 from the three-point line and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
With the Suns’ leading scorer now sidelined for the next two weeks at minimum, the team will turn to Devin Booker and Bradley Beal to help shoulder some of the additional scoring load.
A one-time MVP Award winner, Durant had firmly placed his name into consideration for this season during the early goings. Through the Suns’ first nine games, he had been averaging 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 blocked shots with splits of 55.3 percent shooting from the field, 42.9 percent shooting from the three-point line and 83.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Over the past couple of seasons, Durant had made a remarkable comeback from an Achilles injury that kept him sidelined for the entirety of the 2019-20 season.
The 14-time All-Star is in his second full season with the Suns after arriving at the 2022-23 trade deadline in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets.