Kevin Durant exposes Suns’ mental errors in defeat against Nets

The second half of the Phoenix Suns‘ back-to-back set highlighted a variety of mental lapses, especially on the defensive side of the ball. In the 127-117 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Suns let them shoot 51% from the field, 43% from three, and 95% from the free-throw line.

Despite Brooklyn coming in as a top-five three-point and free-throw shooting team, they were down a plethora of players. Most notably, Cam Thomas was hit with a hamstring strain and was ruled out for weeks. Although they were undermanned, the Nets stepped up in a big way.

Not to mention, this was the Suns’ second consecutive game with the Big 3 playing. While they were on the second game of a back-to-back, Kevin Durant made no excuses. Even with Durant’s three-word admission after Tuesday’s big NBA Cup win over the Los Angeles Lakers, it wasn’t the same on Wednesday. He spoke to reporters postgame and explained some of his team’s mental lapses throughout the game.

“They got to the paint, they ran a lot of good action for the shooters and they looked to hunt for threes when one of the top teams in the league in shooting threes,” Durant said. “They had a lot of little wrinkles in their set that made it a cut to the basket or get a quick look from three. You have to give them credit for that. I think we were a little late on some stuff, I think. Once we started, I feel like we went to the switch, and maybe a little later in the game and I think we put together like two or three build on defense.”

Suns’ mental lapses were shown in their three-point defense

By that time, it was too late. The game was tied 63-63 at halftime but Brooklyn came out of the gates hot, in part to Tyrese Martin. He scored 30 points and made eight threes in the win. However, he really made his impact felt in the first half, as he hit five of his eight threes.

Regardless, that set the mark for the rest of the game. The three-point shooting forced defense into a bit of a desperate defense. As a result, their slashers took advantage. The 22 free throws were a byproduct of Phoenix overcommitting to the three-ball. Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer looked at the tape and told reporters postgame how his feeling about Brooklyn remained the same, as it was before the game.

“I felt the way I did before the game,” Budenholzer said. “Having gone through it now for 48 minutes tonight, they caught it and just let it fly probably more than what we described going into the game and pregame.

“The drive game, I’m sure we’ll look at it and see where that created maybe some threes. I thought the drive game created more free throws for them, to be honest with you. The threes, they had a willingness to just kind of catch and let it fly, with or without a drive tonight.”

Nets’ performance gets respect from Suns

In addition to the Nets’ surprising win, the Suns dealt with some potential injuries. Bradley Beal landed awkwardly on his left leg, the same leg that gave him a calf strain. While there was no update, he didn’t play for the final five or six minutes of the game.

The game was out of reach at that point, but it wasn’t a good look. Also, Durant was tripped by Nets forward Ben Simmons toward the end of the game. He said that it was an accident and a little tweak.

Still, the loss, mixed with potential injuries, leaves little to be thankful for. However, Budenholzer reiterated the same message he’s shared throughout the season following a loss.

“We were not our best,” Budenholzer said. “I give credit to Brooklyn, you give credit to their players, they played well. We need to be better. I would like to be better, we would like to be better.”

Luckily for Phoenix, they have two days of rest until they play again. Once Saturday comes, they’ll remain at home against the Golden State Warriors, who coincidentally enough, also lost to the Nets earlier in the week. Those mental lapses will need to disintegrate or be extremely limited if the Suns hope to get back in the win column.