The Phoenix Suns hosted the Los Angeles Lakers at the Footprint Center tonight. Coming into the contest, the Suns were on a five-game losing streak, but they managed to turn their fortunes around. A big reason for the same was Kevin Durant making his return from injury. During the halftime break, when the Suns had taken a two-point lead over the visitors, Charles Barkley heaped praise on the franchise on Inside The NBA.
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Barkley went all out with the praise while discussing the team’s performance and the presence of Kevin Durant. He claimed that KD is one of the greatest scorers of all time and that the Suns are the second-best team in the Western Conference.
Chuck said, “He can miss a month, a week, half the season, he’s gonna be able to come back and shoot that thang, like Shaq says. He’s just a professional, great scorer.” The NBA legend sees KD’s scoring as “effortless” which is what makes him an exciting player to watch.
For Barkley, one of the key improvements for the Suns, as compared to last season, is the addition of Tyus Jones. The 6′ 1″ point guard has helped the Suns play a team style of basketball, instead of one-on-ones. He noted that they’ve made a lot of important changes to their game this year and are able to finish plays.
“Last year, when they were playing just one on one, that was not gonna work…This is why I think this year [they are] the second-best team in the Western Conference in my opinion,” Barkley added.
"This here is the second-best team in the Western Conference" 👀
Is Chuck right about the @Suns? ☀️ pic.twitter.com/XDu36HaWUM
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 27, 2024
Chuck praising Kevin Durant is pleasantly surprising because they have had a longstanding beef with one another. But it also speaks to the improvement that the team has made. KD scored 23 points with six rebounds and two assists against the Lakers. Devin Booker and Bradley Beal also joined the party with 26-2-10 and 23-2-2 respectively to beat the Lakers 127-100.
The Suns are currently in fifth place in the West with a 10-7 record. This could have been much better if their Big 3 played more games together. With these three on the floor together, the Suns have only lost one game out of eight. Going deeper into the season, the franchise will need them to stay healthy as it’s the only way they can hope for a deep playoff run.
