A blowout loss on Sunday further hurt the Phoenix Suns' chances of making the playoffs. An injury to Kevin Durant could make that goal even more difficult.

Durant was helped off the court after injuring his left ankle in the third quarter of Phoenix's 148-109 defeat to the Houston Rockets. Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said after the game the four-time NBA scoring champion will undergo an MRI on Monday and will not travel with the team to Milwaukee for Tuesday's contest against the Bucks.

The 15-time All-Star appeared to twist his ankle in a collision with Houston's Jabari Smith Jr. with 6:57 left in the third quarter. Durant finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Expected to contend in the Western Conference, the Suns have now lost three straight and fell 1 1/2 games behind the 10th-place Sacramento Kings for the final spot in the West's play-in tournament.

Houston, meanwhile, moved two games clear of the third-place Denver Nuggets in the West with their third straight win and 12th in 13 games. Jalen Green sparked the Rockets' rout with 33 points while Amen Thompson just missed a triple-double after compiling 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Devin Booker was the Suns' lone bright spot in a game Houston dominated from the second quarter on, as he amassed 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting.

After ending the opening quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 32-24 lead, the Rockets put the contest out of reach before half-time.

They outscored Phoenix by a 16-6 count during a four-minute stretch in the second quarter to expand their advantage to 53-35 midway through the period, then later closed out the first half with a 23-9 surge to own a commanding 78-49 lead at the break.

SUNDAY'S FINAL SCORES

Jalen Green and the @HoustonRockets stay red-hot, winning 12 of their last 13 games!

Alperen Sengun: 16 PTS, 9 REB
Fred VanVleet: 13 PTS, 3 3PM, 7 AST
Amen Thompson: 12 PTS, 10 REB, 9 AST https://t.co/krlJGOO2bh pic.twitter.com/3RdFMuGMCJ

— NBA (@NBA) March 31, 2025

The Suns trailed 92-57 at the time of Durant's injury and never got their deficit under 32 points thereafter. 

Cavaliers hold off Clippers to reach 60-win mark

Jarrett Allen's 25 points and 12 rebounds helped steer the Cleveland Cavaliers to their 60th win of the season, a 127-122 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Eastern Conference leaders built a lead as large as 18 points early in the fourth quarter, then held off a late comeback attempt to reach the 60-win mark for the third time in franchise history. The other two such seasons, 2008-09 and 2009-10, came during LeBron James' first tenure with the Cavs.

Cleveland also received 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists from Donovan Mitchell and 22 points from Evan Mobley to bounce back from Friday's 133-122 road loss to the Detroit Pistons.

Norman Powell put up 34 points for the Clippers, who rested star forward Kawhi Leonard with a game at Orlando on tap for Monday. James Harden added 24 points while Ivica Zubac notched a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The Cavaliers were in control early, as they ripped off a 16-0 run to open up a 34-17 lead late in the first quarter. The Clippers outscored Cleveland by a 17-8 margin over the final four minutes of the second quarter, however, to get within 68-64 at half-time after Powell knocked down a jumper at the buzzer.

Cleveland was able to expand its advantage once again in the third quarter, though, as Mobley racked up 15 points for the period and the Cavs outscored Los Angeles 37-24 during the frame to take a 105-88 lead into the fourth.

The Clippers fought back late, however, as they hit four 3-pointers during a 14-5 flurry Harden capped with two free throws that closed the gap to 125-122 with 19 seconds left.

Cleveland's Darius Garland was able to seal the victory, though, by making two free throws on the ensuing possession.

We have reached the 60 win mark for the third time in franchise history! #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/acbWuqvhIj

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) March 30, 2025

Risacher stars as Hawks deal Bucks fourth straight loss

Rookie Zaccharie Risacher amassed a career-high 36 points in 35 minutes as the Atlanta Hawks extended the Milwaukee Bucks' current slump by rolling to a 145-124 victory.

Risacher, the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft, went 12 of 21 from the field to lead one of the Hawks' best offensive performances of the season. Atlanta shot 53.2 per cent for the game and scored a season-high 82 first-half points, with Dyson Daniels also on the mark by netting 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting.

Daniels added five steals to bring his NBA-leading total to 213, which surpassed the Hawks' single-season franchise record of 212 set by Mookie Blalock.

Trae Young was just 4 of 16 from the field for Atlanta, but the All-Star guard dished out 19 assists to go along with 19 points.

THE GREAT BARRIER THIEF

NEW FRANCHISE RECORD FOR STEALS IN A SEASON pic.twitter.com/yXCQLNXbC5

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 31, 2025

Still without star guard Damian Lillard due to a blood clot in his calf, the Bucks also didn't bring their defence as their losing streak reached four games. Milwaukee is now 4-9 since March 8 and has dropped to sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Giannis Antetokounmpo paced the Bucks with 31 points and nine rebounds. Milwaukee also received a season-high 28 points off the bench from Kevin Porter Jr. and 25 points from Kyle Kuzma.

Kuzma had 14 points during a first quarter in which the Bucks shot a scorching 85 per cent (17 of 20) to take a 44-37 lead after 12 minutes. Kuzma made all six of his field goal attempts for the period, while Antetokounmpo was 5 of 6 while tallying 11 points.

The Hawks then caught fire in the second, with reserve Georges Niang recording all 17 of his points during the quarter. Atlanta put together an 11-0 run to go up 72-65 with under 4 1/2 minutes left in the period, and maintained a seven-point lead at the break at 82-75 following Niang's three-point play with 1:09 remaining.

Milwaukee couldn't keep up in the third quarter, as it went a poor 4 of 20 from the field while being outscored by a 36-17 margin for the period. The Hawks opened up a 118-92 advantage by the end of the quarter and remained ahead comfortably throughout the fourth.