Kevin Durant will make his return to action Wednesday when the Phoenix Suns host the Minnesota Timberwolves, CBS Sports' Bill Reiter confirmed. Durant suffered a sprained ankle during warmups ahead of a game against his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and has been out recovering from that injury ever since. He missed almost two months earlier in the season while recovering from an MCL sprain.
Durant has played only three games for the Suns since being traded from the Brooklyn Nets in February. If he plays in all seven of Phoenix's final games starting with that Wednesday tilt with the Timberwolves, that will boost his Suns total to 10 games.
This creates the potential for a bit of history. No NBA champion has ever been led by a player who gave them more playoff games than regular-season appearances. Even if Phoenix swept through all four rounds of the playoffs, they'd have to play a minimum of 16 postseason games.
The Suns are currently holding on to the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, but they have struggled since Durant went down. They won that first game against the Thunder, but have lost six of nine since and are now just 1.5 games ahead of the seventh-place Golden State Warriors in the chaotic race for a top-six spot in the West.
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The theory of adding Durant, specifically is that he fits in with pretty much any team. He shouldn't need too much time to acclimate himself within the Suns, and he looked great when he returned from his last injury. We've never seen a player of his stature win a championship after just 10 regular-season games with a new team, but if anyone could be the first, it would be him.
