Kevin Durant was stunned for several seconds. Without moving, hands ready to collect the leather that Keldon Johnson had just confiscated from him. There were seven seconds left when the throw-in was taken.
With a one-point lead against the Spurs, the Suns had the cards in hand to push back the Texans who came out of nowhere, even though they were trailing by 20 points in this game. The foul on “KD”, to keep the hope of equalizing at 3-points on the next possession, seemed inevitable.
“ The best part is that they were aware of the situation. They knew we were going to have to make a mistake. We spend some time talking about doing a two-hander first to see if we can intercept. There is enough time to do it and they were patient on the two-way take “, congratulates Gregg Popovich.
Victor Wembanyama didn’t believe it
His players applied the instructions brilliantly. If the Suns superstar was able to get rid of Keldon Johnson’s marking, Tre Jones came to the rescue to stop him, while Jeremy Sochan was also in the mix to stop his progress.
Keldon Johnson, who had just tried to cut the pass line on the throw-in, was able to return behind the opposing player’s back. “ I played the interception first and saw Tre holding it in the corner and figured the worst that could happen was they called a foul. We had to do something », says the hero of the evening, according to whom his team never stopped fighting and remaining united “ whatever happens “.
He then took the bull by the horns by authoritatively stealing the ball from Kevin Durant’s hands.
“ Keldon just… There was a two-way, three-way take on Kevin. He caught the ball and he scored, it’s that simple (laugh). He managed a difficult finish. From my point of view, a lot of time has passed. When he got the ball, I wasn’t sure if there was enough time for him to finish », Describes Victor Wembanyama in turn.
Frank Vogel did not like
His less than obvious finish, with a big hang time in front of Josh Okogie, was synonymous with victory. Even if his interception made people cringe, including those of Frank Vogel, convinced that his player was at fault.
“ The referees did not whistle her. They hit him on the arm before the ball was knocked out of his hands. No whistle. In such a situation, we try to make a quick throw-in to our 90% free throw shooter, and that’s what we did. »
But Keldon Johnson has been there. His winning action ended a great evening overall for him.
The Spurs winger, who remained in a 5-point match (1/9) on the Clippers floor, also finished top scorer of the meeting with his 27 points (10/20 on shots including 4/9 from away), 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
“ Things weren’t going well for us and he moved us forward. I don’t know how many consecutive points he scored, but he brought the energy we needed. People don’t talk about him. Keldon Johnson is a beast and he really kept us in it in the second half », greets Devin Vassell at the end.
| Keldon Johnson | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2019-20 | SAN | 17 | 18 | 59.6 | 59.1 | 79.5 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 9.1 |
| 2020-21 | SAN | 69 | 29 | 47.9 | 33.1 | 74.0 | 1.4 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 12.8 |
| 2021-22 | SAN | 75 | 32 | 46.6 | 39.8 | 75.6 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 17.0 |
| 2022-23 | SAN | 63 | 33 | 45.2 | 32.9 | 74.9 | 0.9 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 22.0 |
| 2023-24 | SAN | 3 | 30 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 71.4 | 1.3 | 4.7 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 14.0 |
| Total | 227 | 30 | 46.7 | 36.2 | 75.1 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 16.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
