Suns forward Kevin Durant, who is second in the NBA in 3-point percentage (47.7), is out for the second straight game for the team.
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is out for the second straight game Wednesday versus the Los Angeles Clippers due to right hamstring soreness, the team said in a press release.
Durant suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Suns’ 112-107 win over the Orlando Magic Sunday on New Year’s Eve, coach Frank Vogel said. Durant is day-to-day with the injury.
Phoenix played without Durant Monday on New Year’s Day against the Portland Trail Blazers and won 109-88. The Suns had two of their big three available, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
Phoenix has had Booker, Durant and Beal on the floor with one another for just three games.
Durant is averaging the sixth-most points in the NBA (29.9) this season. He was traded to Phoenix in February for forwards Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder plus draft capital with the expectation to be a piece to help the Suns win their first-ever championship.
Durant in 28 games is shooting 52.5 percent, including the second-best 3-point percentage in the league (47.7) and 87.4 percent from the free-throw line.
The Suns returned Beal, who missed all but six games previously due to a low back strain, from a right ankle sprain last Friday and is 3-0 with him in the lineup.
Phoenix is on a four-game winning streak and plays the Clippers, who have a superstar quartet with Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Paul George and Russell Westbrook. The Suns defeated Leonard, who missed the last three games of a series due to a meniscus tear, and the Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs this past season.
