Suns, Kevin Durant don't have time for chemistry experiment

If the Phoenix Suns are to gel with Kevin Durant, they better get to it.

Durant, who has missed the Suns' past 10 games with a sprained left ankle, is expected to return Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves (39-37). In his absence, Phoenix (40-35) went 4-6 but remained in fourth in the Western Conference.

The Suns acquired Durant in a mega-trade with the Nets in February. Now, they only have seven regular-season games remaining before the playoffs begin on April 15.

Durant, 34, averages 29.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists and shoots 56.6 percent from the field. He's a future Hall of Famer.

But future Hall of Famer or not, he must gel with his teammates as team chemistry means everything come playoff time. In the West alone, the core of the sixth-place Golden State Warriors (40-37) has played together for a decade. The second-place Memphis Grizzlies (48-27) have been building for years; the same can be said of the first-place Denver Nuggets (51-24). 

Per FiveThirtyEight, the Suns have a two percent chance of winning the title.

"These last seven games are so massive for the Suns to get chemistry with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, [Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul] on the floor," NBA insider Shams Charania said via FanDuel, adding, there is "a lot riding on it."

The Suns are just 1.5 games out of the play-in tournament, so there's a possibility of them falling into that bracket for the seven- through 10-seeds -- especially if they lose to Minnesota at home.

Phoenix has a tough schedule to finish the season, including the Nuggets (twice), Los Angeles Lakers (37-38) and Clippers (40-36). 

It's nearly impossible for Phoenix to move up in the standings, as the Sacramento Kings (45-30) hold a five-game cushion for the three-seed. But holding onto the four-seed and securing homecourt advantage for the first round could do wonders for Phoenix.

In a heavily competitive Western Conference, team chemistry could be the difference between flaming out in the first round or making a championship run.