In his last five appearances, Kevin Durant is averaging four turnovers per game. Over that stretch, the Slim Reaper has also had two outings with eight turnovers a piece, including the 105-109 loss against Golden State last night. He led the Suns in scoring with 31 points but it wasn’t enough to make up for the team’s looseness with the ball.
Advertisement
“I know everybody in Phoenix, fans and everybody is going to blame the turnovers, but you look at how hard we played all game on the defensive side of the ball, there’s something we can take from that,” Durant said during a locker room interview.
“But we want championships here in Phoenix so maybe, moral victories don’t matter,” the 14-time All-Star added. “We just gotta win games and my turnovers are the reason why we lost.”
"I know everybody in Phoenix, fans and everybody is going to blame the turnovers, but you look at how hard we played all game on (defense), something we can take from that, but we want championships here in Phoenix. Moral victories don't matter." Kevin Durant as Suns 15-16. #Suns pic.twitter.com/Hdus9PWoXu
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 29, 2024
KD did lead the charge on defense, blocking four shots in 37 minutes. Ryan Dunn, Josh Okogie and Bradley Beal also contributed two blocks each, bolstering Mike Budenholzer’s 22nd ranked defense. But despite the strong showing on that side of the floor, Durant understood that tenacity alone cannot stow the ship in Arizona.
After a blistering hot 8-1 start to their campaign, the Suns are playing below .500 basketball for the first time this season. Their drop off has been, for the most part, due to their poor luck with injuries.
Devin Booker missed his fifth straight game due to a left groin strain, and in his absence, Durant is seeing more of the defense’s attention focused on him. He argued that teams are finding it easier to help off of his teammates and swarm him late in the shot clock.
“What you think a team’s going to do when I get the ball, four seconds left in the game? They’re gonna all just sell out to try to stop…So that’s why I feel like a lot of my turnovers came from trying to make something happen. And I’m gonna have more turnovers trying to make something happen,” KD explained.
The 2014 MVP is understandably frustrated after losing five of his last six games. However, as the leader of his team, KD also made sure to highlight the positives in their loss at Chase Center.
He was highly appreciative of the team’s cohesiveness on defense last night as they recorded a season-high 12 blocks. It was a particularly impressive effort considering the suspension of Phoenix’s starting center, Jusuf Nurkic. Speaking on their improvements on that end of the floor, Durant said:
“I love what we’re doing on the defensive side of the ball. We’re going to figure the offense out, but defensively, especially after a stretch when we weren’t playing well on that side at all, for us to come out and the last three games and play great ball on the defensive side, it’s encouraging.”
"We're going to figure the offense out, but defensively, especially after a stretch when we weren't playing well on that side at all, for us to come out and the last three games and play great ball on the defensive side, it's encouraging." Kevin Durant after loss to GSW. #Suns pic.twitter.com/4slyhdCnHB
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 29, 2024
Over the last three games, the Suns are holding their opponents to just 108.9 points per game — which is 8th best in the league . They’ve been tied for fourth place in steals per game and second place in blocks per game during this stretch, limiting teams to just 44 points in the paint on average.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t helped them make up for the loss of Booker’s offense. Phoenix’s net rating over those games is -1.4. Even with Bradley Beal averaging 21.8 points per game in his last six appearances, he doesn’t boast the same gravity he once had. Defenses are comfortable leaving him with space to zone in on KD, and that is making all the difference.
