Three games, three losses. This is the assessment of Suns against the Thunder this season and, this night, even without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the opposing camp, they were not able to win, being completely blasted by this team which definitely has the weapons to annoy the men of Frank Vogel.
“ It's a tough match-up for us » recognize on this subject the coach of Phoenix, still 7th in the West (43-31). “ These guys are young, fast, athletic, they shoot incredibly well and they defend. We haven't found the plan to beat them yet. »
However, even if OKAY gains discipline, chemistry and confidence as the season progresses, Kevin Durant is not the type to worry about a possible first round series against this opponent in three weeks. Depending on the ranking, and the outcome of the play-in in particular, the two teams could well find themselves at the start of the playoffs…
Basketball at the heart of success
“ I like our chances against any opponent, it doesn't matter. Who knows, maybe we'll see them again? But we have to take our hats off to them, they play excellent basketball » congratulate the Suns winger, who finds a response against him in defense, but who nevertheless maintains confidence in his troops, despite the psychological advantage taken by Oklahoma City in the regular season.
A Kevin Durant who was already not short of compliments towards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder, but also Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort and Josh Giddey, even before the start of the match.
“ I think the young teams that stay focused on basketball and don't worry about the spotlight, but just focus on the game, are the ones that are successful. » explained thus “KD”, in reference to Mark Daigneault’s group, today 2nd in the Western Conference (51-22).
NBA finalist (unfortunate) at only 23 years old, with an OKC team with an average age of just 25 years in 2011/12 (the same as that of this Thunder version 2023/24…), Kevin Durant is therefore rather well placed to discuss this subject. A series between Phoenix and Oklahoma City, from the first round, would in any case be enough to make us salivate…
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Kevin Durant | 66 | 37.2 | 52.9 | 42.2 | 85.5 | 0.5 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 27.6 |
| Devin Booker | 59 | 35.8 | 49.2 | 36.4 | 88.1 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 27.2 |
| Bradley Beal | 44 | 33.1 | 49.9 | 37.6 | 79.3 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 17.8 |
| Grayson Allen | 67 | 33.7 | 50.8 | 47.8 | 88.4 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 13.5 |
| Eric Gordon | 60 | 28.7 | 45.6 | 39.4 | 79.7 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 11.7 |
| Jusuf Nurkic | 68 | 27.2 | 51.6 | 24.1 | 63.2 | 2.9 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 11.3 |
| Royce O'neale | 21 | 25.5 | 42.0 | 38.9 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 8.7 |
| Bowl Bowl | 35 | 11.2 | 61.9 | 42.2 | 76.5 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 5.7 |
| Drew Eubanks | 67 | 15.8 | 62.3 | 100.0 | 77.0 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| 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 | 55 | 17.0 | 41.3 | 29.7 | 74.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 4.9 |
| 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 | 39 | 11.2 | 45.5 | 31.3 | 85.0 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 3.6 |
| Saben Lee | 21 | 8.5 | 34.0 | 12.5 | 74.4 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 3.2 |
| Thaddeus Young | 6 | 9.5 | 56.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 3.0 |
| Udoka Azubuike | 14 | 7.7 | 72.7 | 0.0 | 27.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 2.5 |
| David Roddy | 13 | 3.8 | 47.4 | 14.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| 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 | 3 | 5.1 | 16.7 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| Isaiah Thomas | 1 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
