It was evident that Kevin Durant was coming to Phoenix to shore up a successful project in recent years, but one more step was missing to be a favorite for the ring. But from said to fact there is a stretch. However, all possible doubts have been banished by the forward. In eight games since February with his new team, he has signed as many victories, there are seven consecutive ones already for some Suns that gave an account last morning of the Denver Nuggets, leader of the west.
Although it is true that his rival reserved his starting five by having the first place in the conference under his arm, Durant's numbers are scary. The forward scored 29 points in 40 minutes, including six triples, to command the victory against the Nuggets (119-115). Monty Williams, coach of the Suns, tries to get Durant to join his teammates as soon as possible, which is why he gives him more and more minutes on the track. The answer could not be better. In the eight games he has averaged 26 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Added to Durant's success was that of Chris Paul, who scored seven triples, the best mark in his 1,213 games in the NBA. He finished with 25 points, six rebounds and just two assists. Devin Booker didn't have his night, shooting just 3-for-12 from the field to finish with 15 points. The next rival of the Suns will be the Lakers, who could see themselves doomed to play the play-in.
Denver, for its part, did not field Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Neither Nikola Jokic, with some discomfort in his calf, was able to participate in the match. "We're trying to be smart about injury management, talking to individual players and our coaching staff. Having played 79-80 games to this point, those guys have been dealing with these injuries for a while." acknowledged coach Michael Malone.
