Kevin Durant had to take accountability amid the Suns’ loss to the Magic.
It has not been a kind stretch of games for Devin Booker‘s scoring outbursts. First, he notched 62 big points to boost the Phoenix Suns but they fell short against the Indiana Pacers. Then, they would come across the Orlando Magic with Paolo Banchero leading the helm. The shooting guard still popped off but had the same outcome. Kevin Durant may know the underlying reason for these struggles, via Duane Rankin of AZ Central.
“I put that all on me for starting the game off with a turnover. That inspires my team to do that. When I turned the ball over like that in the first quarter, it disrupted the momentum of the team. I took a few bad shots then in the third, turned the ball over there in transition,” Kevin Durant said about the Suns losing to the Magic.
Durant does make a huge point. His squad turned the ball over 22 times to the Magic’s seven. 12 of those came from steals which completely shifted the momentum and deflated the Suns’ offense. He still notched 15 points with five assists to keep them close but the Paolo Banchero-led squad eventually pulled away. The Suns would end up suffering their 20th loss of the season with a big 15-point deficit because of these.
Devin Booker’s spoiled scoring outburst
Devin Booker was doing all that he could to keep the Suns afloat. He knocked down 17 out of his 26 shots which netted the team 44 points. His nine free throws out of 11 attempts also helped these scoring numbers. However, none of these points mattered as the game clock started dying.
Banchero scored 26 points to start the scoring barrage for the Magic. Whenever the Suns would send multiple defenders in his way, the young star’s playmaking chops would also be on display which got him seven assists. More importantly, this got everyone in the Magic involved with their offense. It led to five players recording double-digit numbers while Wendell Carter Jr. and Jonathan Issac were also just a point short of joining the list.
It also does not help that the Suns only sunk 28.6% of their three-point attempts. There is still some time for this team to grow but one could only wonder if they will heat up en route to the playoffs.
Source link