The Kings lost nine of their last 12 games to open the door for the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference play-in race, but that door might have slammed shut Sunday.

Suns star Kevin Durant went down with a left ankle sprain in the third quarter of a 148-109 loss to the Houston Rockets. Durant will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of the injury.

The Kings (36-38) are 10th in the West, a half-game behind the Dallas Mavericks for ninth with eight games remaining. They will visit the Indiana Pacers on Monday in the second game of a six-game road trip after suffering a 121-91 loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday.

The Suns (35-40) fell 1 ½ games behind Sacramento for the final play-in spot in the West with Sunday’s loss to the Rockets. If Durant is sidelined for any period of time, the Suns will have a hard time catching the Kings.

Durant is averaging 26.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 blocks while shooting 52.7% from the field and 43.1% from 3-point range. The Suns are 2-11 in the 13 games Durant has missed this season.

Phoenix has the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA with seven games remaining. They will face the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs before playing the Kings in the regular-season finale April 13 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. That game could determine whether Sacramento or Phoenix gets into the play-in tournament, but the Kings control their own destiny.

The Kings have the 14th-most difficult remaining schedule. They still have to play the Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, but they have a chance to create some separation when they play the Washington Wizards on Wednesday and Charlotte Hornets on Friday.