Phoenix Suns and NBA Odds: Durant ready to Play

Superstar Kevin Durant was traded from Brooklyn to Phoenix more than a month ago yet hasn’t played a home game for the Suns yet due to two separate injuries. KD will return from that second one tonight and play in the desert for the first time as a member of the Suns as they host Minnesota.

NBA News: Kevin Durant Set To Make Suns Home Debut Vs. Timberwolves

When: Wednesday, March 29, at 10:00 pm ET
Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
TV / Streaming: ESPN, Bally North & AZ

Durant was set to make his home debut back on March 8 against Oklahoma City, one of his other former teams, but sprained his ankle slipping on a wet court pre-game and couldn’t go. He has missed the past 10 games after also missing a chunk right after the trade as he recovered from a knee injury. KD is averaging 26.7 points on 69% shooting in his three games with Phoenix, which won all three. It’s not clear if Durant will be on a minutes limit. Phoenix has seven games remaining in the regular season in a 12-day span. The Suns close the regular season April 9 versus the Clippers at home.

“Is he in a place where he can play against contact,” Coach Monty Williams said. “Is his cardio where it needs to be. Is the fatigue level where it needs to be once he’s fatigued, he’s not putting himself in harm’s way. I think those are the things that are hard to do this time of the year because we just don’t have the practice time.”

Fourth in the West (46-35), Phoenix is only a half game ahead of the Clippers (40-35) and just 1½ ahead of the T-Wolves, who are sixth in the West. The Suns come off their second win in a row, 117-103 in Utah on Monday. Devin Booker led Phoenix with 24 points but was 7-for-19 shooting as he shot worse than 40% from the floor for the first time since before the All-Star break. After missing four games injured, Deandre Ayton had 14 points and eight rebounds.

Booker thrived when Durant was healthy as the two combined for 188 points in their first three games together, the most points by a pair of NBA teammates in their first three games together since 1963-64. The Suns bench has scored 178 points over the last three games, their most over a three-game stretch this season and have recorded 50+ points in a season-long three consecutive games.

Over the last 13 games, Booker is averaging 32.7 points on 56.5 FG% (43.3 3FG%), 4.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds. Booker has now scored 425 points in the month of March this season in 13 games, the second-most in the league trailing only Joel Embiid (448 in 13 games).

Damion Lee enters tonight’s game ranked 4th in the NBA in three-point percentage, shooting a career-best 44.8 3FG% (108-of-241) this season, including a 43-of-82 (52.4 3FG%) mark from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter. The Suns picked up their 40th win of the season Monday, their third consecutive 40+ win season, which is the longest such streak since winning 40+ games in seven-straight seasons spanning 2004-05 to 2010-11.

Minnesota won its fourth in a row Monday 119-115 in Sacramento. Rudy Gobert tallied 16 points and 16 rebounds for his third double-double in as many games. Since the All-Star break (14 games), Gobert is averaging 15.6 points on 61.8% shooting from the field, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Jaden McDaniels paced the Wolves in scoring, finishing with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, three rebounds and two steals. It marked McDaniels’ seventh 20+ point game of the season (ninth career).

Karl-Anthony Towns sat out the second of a back-to-back but will play tonight. Jaylen Nowell and Taurean Prince are both questionable tonight and Anthony Edwards probable. The Timberwolves are 23-16 (.590) since the calendar turned to 2023. That leaves them with the fourth-best mark and fourth-most wins for any Western Conference team since the start of the New Year.

Phoenix is 2-1 vs. Minnesota this season. The Wolves snapped a six-game losing streak in the series with a 121-116 home win on Jan. 13. Edwards had 31 points. Lee led Phoenix with a career-high 31 points and Mikal Bridges had 24. Bridges is now in Brooklyn. The Suns were without stars Chris Paul and Booker, along with Cameron Johnson and backcourt backups Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet. Johnson is now in Brooklyn, too. Booker scored 43 points vs. Minnesota on Feb. 28, 2021, the most points by a Suns player vs. the Timberwolves. Booker and Towns were teammates at Kentucky in 2014-15, starting 38-0 before finally falling in the Final Four.

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