So Greg Moore from the Phoenix Arizona Republic says the Suns are now worried that Kevin Durant's injury is a Grade two ankle sprain. Grade two ankle sprains are six weeks for full recovery. Reports suggests that the Sons will reassess him in three weeks, which would only give him about three games to get the rust off if he plays. But I think at this point Kd's done for the season. He'll be back for the playoffs. Maybe he'll sit out the first part of the playoffs like Luka Doncis did
in the series against the Utah Jazz. Or they thought maybe Steph Curry would last year in the first round with his ankle injury. Bad stuff, though, I want to give you fair warning that you might not see KD for the rest of the season in Dallas. It's also bad MAVs are worried about lucas Thai. Looks like Luca and Kyrie are both dealing with nagging issues. We should worried mostly about Luca because he said that the thigh injury that has been bugging him for a week or
so is not good. There's an MRI happening. We should know more moving forward. Bad news though for a MAVs team that has fallen to eighth and is only one game in front of four teams right now to be in the play in tournament or maybe out of the play in They are three and seven in their last ten. They are in desperate need of Luka Doncic back over in the Bay. We move over there to our dubs.
Steve Kerr now gives an update on Andrew Wiggins. Kerr told the local reporter, I think there's hope that Wiggins might return this season, but it is not a foregone conclusion. Wiggins has now missed eleven straight games with a quote family matter that is not good. Missing eleven games for personal reasons not good. Apparently this is way bigger than basketball. According to Kerr, not going to get into the rumors that I've heard about what those family matters might be,
but one thing is dead certain. I do not know how this team wins without him on the court in the playoffs. Before his injury on December tewod he was averaging nineteen five and two with a steal in half of a block per game. Defensively, he was plus ten point three in his last ten games. That's why they need him right. That's why our Dubs need to figure out a way for Andrew Wiggins to get back onto the court. Quick update in New Orleans on Zion Williamson.
Pelicans are holding out hope that he can still play this year. Of course, very dependent on whether the Pelicans have a play in spot or not. That is now very much in doubt. New Orleans is currently in the ninth spot with five other teams logjam city. Zion is reevaluated in two weeks. Hopefully he can be healthy because this Pelicans team is trash without him. Yeah, things are so messy in New Orleans. They needed forty points from Trey Murphy last night to beat a Portland Trailblazers team
that was without Dame. He's played two twenty nine games this year, as Zion has only one hundred and fourteen in four years. Sad stuff. Probably weren't going to see him the rest of the way. Probably not going to see him in the playoffs. It's probably shutdown city time out. In Philly, Joel Embiid, one of the greatest quotes in the league, put the entire NBA on blast by saying
he thinks he's unguardable. It's all about using that and trying to make my teammates better with that comes to a lot of doubles and triple teams every single game. So it's about how to may make my teammates better every game, which is one of the most savagely confident comments I've heard an NBA player say in a long time. But I don't think he's wrong. I think Embiid is truly unguardable in the post, especially on the perimeter when he's cooking as well, which begs the question to me.
I was thinking about it. Who are the most unguardable players in the NBA? Went on one. I think number one it's probably Yannest just because he's so big, so strong. He can put the ball in his hands, pick it up, pick up his dribble, and be at the rim in two dribbles, no matter if he's at half court. So impossible to stop someone that strong, that fast. Devin Booker is is up there. I don't know if he's two, but he's up there. He's on my list. He has
incredible footwork, great handles, he can shoot from everywhere. He's a three level scorer English around the rim. His package is ridiculous. Pause Dame Dame shoots from forty. Dame's got right to left, step hop, left to right, step hop. He can shoot from half court. You're in basically have to drape all over him in order for him not to shoot from forty. So you give him any bit of separation, he's gonna shoot you. Don't give him any separation, he's gonna blow by you. Pretty much. The same goes
for Steph Curry all the exact reasons. Just can shoot faster, quicker release. Probably Jason Tatum as well. His footwork is insane. He can raise up and elevate above you, just like KD can, which is why Kd's on the list as well. And then because he's so big, so strong and can shoot Luca. Those are my seven outside of embat But speaking of Embid, Zach los Low posted this on ESPN and I thought it was worth mentioning as well. No one has had more pressure on him to win this
year than Jokic, right everybody's talking about it. Well, if Yokis doesn't win, doesn't go to the Western Conference finals, doesn't go to the finals, doesn't win a title this year. It's a failure. Three straight MVPs and no postseason success, whack. His legacy is gonna be in jeopardy. But as Low points out, which is totally true and totally fair, Jokis has actually have more playoff success than Joel Embiid. Actually, nobody is saying Joel Embiid needs to do anything more
in the postseason for his legacy. Nobody is saying Joel Embiid has pressure on him this year. I get that Jokich has two MVPs is about to get a third one. But Jokich has reached one conference finals and Joel Embiid has never been that far. So what are we talking about? And then if you look at individual postseason numbers, they
are better as well. So I look that up and Jokich averages twenty six point four eleven point five rebounds and six point four assists in forty eight games and Bid twenty four points eleven rebounds and two point eight assists in four less games. So yeah, I al would say Zach Lowe is onto something here. If you're gonna hate on Yolkic in terms of his playoff success, you need to hold Embiid to that same standard. You need to let him know, hey, you are not winning enough.
And finally, did you see this, Our Sacramento Kings are now tied for seconds in the West. I remember it clear as day. I was sitting right here in this chair, and I said, am I crazy to think that this team could be an easy playin team to be in the eight seed? Coming out? People were saying I was crazy. This is a team that won twenty something games. They might win fifty games this year. We've been on em all year, as you know. But just let you know.
They are not only holding off their arrivals in the toughest division in basketball. They are eight and two in their last ten. They are nine and two in this last month against really good teams. Here is the reason why their top eight players by minutes have played in at least fifty nine of their sixty six games so far this year. So no load management, no significant injuries. In fact, their top eight players have only lost a
total of twenty four games this year combined. Lebron just for comparison, has missed twenty one games by himself this year. Anthony Davis has also lost over twenty games this year. This team is healthy and that is gonna be so huge for them this time in the playoffs. Healthy teams win championships. Folks, just saying, that's all the time that we have for the episode of the Heat Check. Check back Friday for an all new episode. Do you not forget to watch the feed? Maybe more interviews will be
coming depending on what pops so far this week. Please follow us on social media at this heat check on TikTok at trist to crik on TikTok at tris to underscore Crik on Instagram, at trist to crik on Twitter. I think that's what it is. Just search my name and follow us because the heat Check never sleeps, not even when I've lost my voice. We'll see you next time.