Stephen A. Smith (C) attends a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks at Crypto.com Arena on March 06, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Then to make matters worse, Kevin Durant suffered a left ankle sprain in the third quarter, didn’t return and won’t fly out with the team Monday to Milwaukee. The Suns begin at three-game road trip Tuesday against the Bucks in Mike Budenholzer's return to Milwaukee to face the team that fired him after the 2022-23 season.

The Rockets are fighting to hold on to the No. 2 seed in the West while the 11th-place Suns are fighting to qualify for the NBA play-in tournament.

The Phoenix Suns host the Houston Rockets Sunday in 11th place in the West, one game out of the 10th and final play-in spot.

The Phoenix Suns went from bad to worse in Sunday’s 148-109 loss to the Houston Rockets before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at PHX Arena. The Suns not only dropped a third straight game and suffered their worst margin of defeat of the season, they lost Kevin Durant to a left ankle injury with 6:57 left in the third quarter.