Getty Kevin Durant blocks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
After the Phoenix Suns defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2, Suns head coach Monty Williams had high praise for superstar small forward Kevin Durant.
“There’s not a way that he can’t score,” Williams said about Durant. “Those kind of players, they want those shots. They’re so used to having the ball in their hands. I wouldn’t call it a luxury because I don’t want to disrespect those moments. Guys work their tails off to be ready for those shots and he and (Devin) Booker are a case in point. That’s what Kevin does.”
Durant scored 35 points against the Thunder, including 13 in the fourth quarter. The 13-time All-Star shot 13-of-21 from the field, 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Durant had a plus-minus of +5 in 35 minutes.
“I just thought we played at a really high-level today and they were just a better team on this day,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said after the game.
The Suns Are Rolling
The Suns have won five games in a row. They are 6-0 with Durant in the lineup and 43-35 overall on the season. Phoenix is in fourth place in the Western Conference standings with four games left.
“The Suns are now three games up in the loss column on the Clippers (41-38) and Warriors (41-38) with three games to play for the two latter teams and Phoenix in possession of both tiebreakers, thanks to conference record with the Clippers (24-25 to Phoenix’s 28-20) and head-to-head record with the Warriors (Suns were 3-1),” Kellan Olson of ArizonaSports.com wrote on April 2. “That means one more Suns win locks in a finish above both teams or a loss for either cements the fate for that specific team of being unable to pass Phoenix.
“Outside of the top-6 in the seventh and eighth positions, the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers are both 40-38 with four games remaining, like Phoenix. The tiebreaker with New Orleans is to be determined, as it would go to conference record and the Suns are 28-20 while the Pelicans are 28-21. So instead of a magic number of one, that would be a two for now. Phoenix already owns the tiebreaker over the Lakers because of Los Angeles’ 5-9 division record to Phoenix’s 9-5 mark, so one more Suns win or Lakers loss would wrap that up as well.”
The Suns face the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers to close out the regular season.
Monty Williams Doesn’t Understand Why Thunder Fans Still Boo Kevin Durant
Thunder fans booed Durant every time he touched the ball. KD played nine seasons for the OKC franchise before signing with the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2016.
Thunder fans will likely boo Durant every time he comes back to town. The two-time champion joined the Warriors after Golden State won an NBA record 73 games during the 2015-16 season.
OKC had a 3-1 series lead over the Warriors in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. However, they lost the series in seven games. A few months later, Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors.