The Phoenix Suns finally got their schedule for the first-round playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers. After the final regular season game, Kevin Durant and the Suns learned that they’d play Kawhi Leonard and co. in the first round. They had to wait from Sunday, all the way to last night, to learn the schedule for their games.
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🚨 The Official Clippers-Suns first round schedule:
Game 1: Sunday at 5:00PM PST
Game 2: Tuesday at 7:00PM PST
Game 3: Thursday at 7:30PM PST
Game 4: Saturday at 12:30PM PST
Game 5*: Tuesday
Game 6*: Thursday
Game 7*:Saturday pic.twitter.com/K770t4cOYN— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 12, 2023
Both the Clippers and the Suns have some time to prepare for the series while the Play-In Tournament is going on. After one of the team practices, Kevin Durant sat with the media and answered some questions.
Kevin Durant spoke up about Charles Barkley
KD is one of the most popular basketball players. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s one of the most prolific scorers the game has ever seen. A generational talent, KD is what people like to call a unicorn. While he shows great respect to the previous generation, KD has received nothing but hatred from Charles Barkley.
It all started with ‘bus driver‘ comments, and currently, they’ve moved on to calling Durant soft. After the Suns’ practice, KD was asked about being on the same pages as Charles Barkley, who will be part of the TNT crew covering the playoffs. Durant replied and said,
“I probably wouldn’t sit down with Charles, I respect Charles put to the game of basketball, and I try to emulate all the greats in some form or fashion. … I think we’re all cut from the same cloth and we’ve been through this journey.”
“I probably wouldn’t sit down with Charles.”
A smiling Kevin Durant on Charles Barkley as he addresses their back-and-forth. #Suns pic.twitter.com/xqitH5yAa3
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) April 12, 2023
He talked about how they’re both ‘superstar-caliber’ players and have accomplished and experienced similar things in the league. However, Durant mentioned how he didn’t like what Chuck does over at TNT.
“I wouldn’t say we’re not on the same page, we may disagree on some stuff. But if you watch TNT, those guys disagree every day. But to the core of it, we’re all ball players, we grew up ball players and we went through the journey as ball players. So I say we’re on the same page on that one.”
Can KD lead the Suns past Kawhi?
The Los Angeles Clippers come into the series without the services of Paul George. PG got injured in March, and was initially expected to return during the first-round of playoffs. However, a recent update told us that he will miss the whole first round.
Now, the Suns have the firepower of KD, Devin Booker, and the deadly pick-and-roll of Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. Without PG, it will be hard for Kawhi and co. from stopping the Suns run past them.
