With this final basket, Devin Booker could have symbolically passed the 50 point mark. But Anthony Edwards, followed closely by Rudy Gobert, pushed him back to the circle in the final moments. And that’s how the Suns’ season sadly ended. By a dry elimination in the first round.
“ It's disappointing. There's no worse feeling in the professional world than being swept out of the playoffs. I've never experienced that. Now, I want to say directly to our fans that I share your passion. I'm as disappointed as all of you “, expresses Frank Vogelwhich ensures that it is supported by its leaders.
Disappointment, the word is weak in view of the expectations generated by the formation last summer of this improbable but resonant “Big Three”, with the arrival of Bradley Beal in support of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. This night, only the latter two responded (82 points).
Bradley Beal's Evening Without
Where the former Wizards player got confused throughout the evening, between clumsy shooting (9 points at 4/13) and ball in hand (6), with very costly ball losses at the end , and concerns about personal mistakes (6).
“ Everyone talks about our firepower. But if you look around the league, (earn) plays on details “, notes Devin Booker, pointing to a key factor: communication among the Suns.
“ It trumps everything, and we haven't been good with it this year. I hope everyone feels the same pain, because this needs to be fixed. I have to be better, Kevin has to be better, Brad has to be better, the coach has to be better. If we are the leaders of the team, we cannot go there unprepared », Judges the historical framework of the team.
Better communication when it seems obvious that the acclimatization of Bradley Beal, whose change of role compared to his Washington years was the most obvious, was not a simple matter. At the press conference, the journalists also insisted on the technical progress in the relationship between Durant and Booker, excluding the third.
Kevin Durant frustrated by its use?
But that's not all. According to The Athletic, Suns players would have wondered throughout the season about the ability of Frank Vogel and his assistants to structure the attack and maximize the performance of this trio. Kevin Durant would not have always been delighted with the way he was used in attack.
“ As I said, we were inconsistent in our game and the way we wanted to play », underlines KD without further detail after the defeat, assuring that he does not want to make excuses in relation to the “ context », a word repeated several times, in reference for example to the injury absence of Grayson Allen.
Asked about his teammate's comments, he replied that the Suns can do better on all levels. “ I believe that in matches, we need to talk more together, we are ready to listen more », remarks Frank Vogel for his part.
So much for the hot reactions. In the weeks and months to come, it will be a question of making the necessary adjustments to relaunch this machine which seems to be well assembled. With what intentions? “ Experience is the best teacher. The more time you can spend together, feel this pain together, and face it, the better for the future », Gives Devin Booker as part of the answer.
A speech joined by that of Kevin Durant: “ Continuity is important, all the big teams in the league so far have been together for two, three years. Minnesota, Denver, Boston, the Lakers, OKC… I can’t wait to build that. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Kevin Durant | 75 | 37.2 | 52.3 | 41.3 | 85.6 | 0.5 | 6.1 | 6.6 | 5.0 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 27.1 |
| Devin Booker | 68 | 36.0 | 49.2 | 36.4 | 88.6 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 6.9 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 27.1 |
| Bradley Beal | 53 | 33.3 | 51.3 | 43.0 | 81.3 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 18.2 |
| Grayson Allen | 75 | 33.5 | 49.9 | 46.1 | 87.8 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 13.5 |
| Eric Gordon | 68 | 27.8 | 44.3 | 37.8 | 79.7 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 11.0 |
| Jusuf Nurkic | 76 | 27.3 | 51.0 | 24.4 | 64.0 | 2.9 | 8.1 | 11.0 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 10.9 |
| Royce O'neale | 30 | 25.1 | 41.1 | 37.6 | 69.2 | 0.7 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 8.1 |
| Bowl Bowl | 43 | 10.9 | 61.6 | 42.3 | 78.9 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 5.2 |
| Drew Eubanks | 75 | 15.6 | 60.1 | 100.0 | 77.4 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 5.1 |
| Chimezie Metu | 37 | 12.1 | 50.8 | 29.4 | 88.4 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 5.0 |
| Jordan Goodwin | 40 | 14.0 | 38.9 | 28.8 | 86.2 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 5.0 |
| Josh Okogie | 60 | 16.0 | 41.7 | 30.9 | 74.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 4.6 |
| Keita Bates Diop | 39 | 15.3 | 42.7 | 31.3 | 72.2 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 4.5 |
| Yuta Watanabe | 29 | 13.2 | 36.1 | 32.0 | 66.7 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 3.6 |
| Nassir Little | 45 | 10.2 | 46.0 | 30.0 | 85.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 3.4 |
| Saben Lee | 24 | 7.7 | 36.4 | 12.5 | 74.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| Thaddeus Young | 10 | 8.9 | 52.4 | 0.0 | 33.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 2.3 |
| Udoka Azubuike | 16 | 7.1 | 69.6 | 0.0 | 23.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| Isaiah Thomas | 6 | 3.2 | 30.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| David Roddy | 17 | 3.7 | 43.5 | 12.5 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.3 |
| Theo Maledon | 4 | 3.3 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 |
| Ish Wainright | 4 | 4.1 | 16.7 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
