Phoenix remains a team under construction, capable of sinking in the first quarter at home against the Bulls, and being up to 23 points behind (56-79) in the third quarter.
Except that if the Suns remain on six consecutive victories, and have returned to the Top 5 of the Western Conference, it is because they have enormous individual talents, with Bradley Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. It was the latter who took the match into his own to overthrow Chicago, with 43 points on 16/32 shooting, 8 assists and 6 rebounds.
Above all, he scored 30 of his 43 points from the moment the Bulls were 23 points ahead. In 17 minutes on the floor, 12/17 shooting including 6/9 behind the 3-point line…
“It was a hell of a performance, one of the best performances I’ve ever been a part of.” blurted Frank Vogel. “It was special. Especially the “game winner”. A two-step shot, six meters from the basket…”
Kevin Durant makes the impossible possible
“Special” was also the adjective used by Devin Booker to describe this final shot by Kevin Durant, who broke his move to avoid Alex Caruso's counter, but still found the net!
” It is special. I don't know if you've tried a “double clutch” (a two-step shoot) but it's not easy. Either we airball it because it's too short, or we send it to the basket because it's too long. To be able to make that adjustment in the air, and still make the shot, it shows how strong he is. »
Grayson Allen explained for his part that he was gradually getting used to seeing Kevin Durant hit these impossible shots.
“We fall back and say to ourselves: 'Okay, so I expect him to make a shot off the dribble from 9 meters with an inside that hinders him'. But this is Kevin Durant, one of the greatest scorers of all time. People expect him to take these very, very difficult shots. And he does it, very consistently. »
“Kevin Durant did Kevin Durant” summed up Coby White in the opposite camp…