Is Kevin Durant playing tonight? Latest injury update for Suns vs. Timberwolves

Kevin Durant played only three games for the Phoenix Suns before suffering an ankle sprain. Will he be back on Wednesday, March 29 against Minnesota?

The Phoenix Suns had to wait essentially a month to see prized trade deadline acquisition Kevin Durant take the floor for his new team. He was recovering from an MCL injury suffered in January but, once he got on the floor, he seemingly fit right in with his new team.

Durant averaged 26.7 points per game and shot 69% from the floor in three games with the Suns and seemed primed to push Phoenix firmly into the playoff race. But during warmups on March 8, he suffered a freak ankle sprain from a wet spot on the floor that caused him to miss that contest against the Thunder and the last nine games since.

With the playoffs closing in and the Suns still jockeying for positioning, though, fans and the team are ready for Durant to be back. So entering Wednesday and Phoenix’s home matchup against the Timberwolves, fans are asking, is Kevin Durant playing tonight?

Is Kevin Durant playing tonight vs. Timberwolves?

After targeting this week for his return, Kevin Durant is set to return to the Suns lineup on Wednesday night in Phoenix against the Minnesota Timberwolves, as first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Durant fit seamlessly into the lineup when he made his debut for three games with his new team and the Suns are certainly hoping for more of the same with only seven games remaining in the regular season.

Phoenix is currently in a good spot overall, sitting at the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference entering Wednesday. However, the margin for error is slim, especially against a team like the Timberwolves. Minnesota is in the No. 7 seed in the West — currently slotted to be in the play-in tournament — but only trails the Suns by 1.5 games in the playoff race.

In fact, the Dallas Mavericks, outside of the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker right now, are only 3.5 games back of Phoenix. The West is a dogfight going down to the wire, so getting Kevin Durant back is exactly what this team needs to solidify their postseason spot and, more importantly, then set themselves up to make a run in the playoffs.