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After the Phoenix Suns finished practice on April 12, Kevin Durant talked about going up against Los Angeles Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook for the first time in the playoffs.
Durant and Westbrook were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder for eight seasons.
“I think Russ is competitive against any player he plays against,” Durant said. “I don’t think it was just specific to me. I think a lot of the fans and the people that were watching, it was high-intensity for them, it was entertainment for them. So for us players, it’s just another game, it’s regularly scheduled programming, but Russ is that way. I’ve played with him for so long and watched him for so long, he was that way against everybody. So I don’t expect anything different.”
The Suns and Clippers face each other in the first round of the 2023 postseason. Durant has yet to lose a game with Phoenix, as the Suns went 8-0 with the future Hall of Famer in the lineup after acquiring him from the Brooklyn Nets. Durant averaged 26.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 57.0% from the field, 53.7% from beyond the arc and 83.3% from the free-throw line.
“I’m a true vet,” Durant said. “I’ve been in the league 15 years playing, but 16 years around the league. I played with so many different players under so many different coaches. I know a few coaches here before I got here and I know I had a couple of teammates that I played on some teams with before I got here. So I think that stuff adds (up) and helps with speeding that transition up, just getting used to your teammates.”
Russell Westbrook Says He Has No Beef With Kevin Durant
Westbrook told reporters on April 12 that he doesn’t have any beef with Durant. Westbrook and Durant got into a few back-and-forths after KD joined the Golden State Warriors in 2016.
However, the two MVPs seemed to have patched things up.
“I think people still think like there’s some beef or something. There’s no beef of any. So I think that’s the good narrative for media for people to talk about, but there’s no beef,” Westbrook said. “I got nothing but respect for him and things he’s done with his career and happy to see him back from injury. There’s no beef at all, but he knows I’m gonna compete and I know he’s gonna compete and that’s all it is.”
Westbrook, who began the season with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaged 15.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists with the Clippers after signing with them. The NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles is looking to win his first championship, while Durant is searching for his third.
The Suns have home-court advantage in their series versus the Clippers. Game 1 is on April 16.
NBA Analyst: The Suns Are Under Pressure
Dan Bickley of ArizonaSports.com believes the Suns are under pressure in this year’s postseason since they got embarrassed by the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals.
“There is also a great deal of pressure in Phoenix, where Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Monty Williams all carry playoff albatrosses of varying weight,” Bickley wrote on April 11. “Paul has never won a championship in his Hall of Fame career, and his postseason legacy is beset by injuries, misfortune and Scott Foster. Booker must atone for his shoddy performances in Games 6 and 7 against the Mavericks, where he was anything but legendary. And Williams has largely skated for his disastrous performance in last year’s playoffs, where he was badly outcoached by a former assistant (Willie Green); where he was cornered into unseemly checkmate from former Suns star Jason Kidd, who winked at me on his way out of Footprint Center, keenly aware of the wreckage he left behind. Williams couldn’t rein in a 64-win team gone astray; repair bridges; match wits; settle on a rotation; or save a celebrated culture gone wrong. He will surely be under the new owner’s microscope in the coming weeks.”
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