Getty Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns.
Everything changed for the Phoenix Suns at this year’s trade deadline. After fighting through injuries and struggling a bit for the majority of the season, they made a huge trade for Kevin Durant, pushing all of their chips on the table in an attempt to win a championship.
However, with Durant out, the rest of the team needs to step up. And on Sunday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, they failed to do so, losing by a score of 124-120. After the game, head coach Monty Williams spoke about the loss, name-dropping Chris Paul and Devin Booker in the process.
“Yeah, we had control of the game, but the turnovers that led to points and the fouling, that’s a huge separator,” Williams said via the Jump View YouTube channel. “They had more turnovers than us, but they converted. And the fouling is just something that we have to figure out. We have to do a much better job. I mean, Book goes for 46. Chris played a solid game. You can look at those numbers and say- we scored 120 points. We have to defend better. Doesn’t matter who’s on the floor. The defensive system hasn’t changed. We have to be able to defend better.”
Paul played fairly well against the Thunder, but it wasn’t enough to earn his team a win. The veteran point guard finished the night with 14 points, six rebounds, 13 assists, and three steals on 5-of-15 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting from behind the three-point line.
As for Booker, he had a monster game. The Suns star ended the game with 46 points, three rebounds, and one assist on 18-of-28 shooting from the floor and 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
Kevin Durant Sends Message to Bronny James
In other news, during a recent edition of his podcast, The ETCs, Durant sent a message to Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ son, Bronny James.
“There’s still some amazing talent in college right now,” Durant said. “With so many different routes — the OTEs, going overseas, guys going to Australia — all that stuff is cool. But still going to college, I feel like that’s a great route because it’s still on the big stage. You still got to show who you are on that big stage and the tournament is still a huge thing. … I would love to see Bronny in college instead of going the other route. Yeah, disappearing basically. That’s really what it is. I wanna see Bronny hoop. I wanna be in real-time, see what he’s doing and follow his journey.”
Monty Williams Discusses Kevin Durant Injury
With Durant out, the Suns’ top priority should be getting him healthy. Williams recently provided an update on Durant’s injury, noting that he is now taking standstill shots.
“It’s just part of his progression,” Williams said via Duane Rankin of AZ Central. “He hasn’t done anything outside of that. We obviously have to not just be careful, but a lot of boxes need to be checked. So we’ll see how he responds to standard shooting today, we’ll re-evaluate tomorrow and every day is a progression. That’s what he’s done. It’s a normal progression to this type of injury and that’s just where he is right now. Now he’s just doing standstill shots.”