A simple road game for the Phoenix Suns was magnified by one person — Kevin Durant. The Suns will now be leaning on Durant’s expertise with less than 25 games remaining in the season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Hornets were sure to give the Durant and the Suns a healthy amount of competition in the first quarter. Charlotte was without their leading star guard, LaMelo Ball , who will be out for the remainder of the season.
The Suns were able to take care of business in the first half, leading the Hornets .
Durant’s Debut
Even with Durant gracing the court, the superstar forward will be on a minutes restriction for the foreseeable future. Still, that didn’t stop the 6’10” forward from having his impact on the Suns’ lead in the first half.
Through only minutes of play, Durant was able to put together 12 points on of shooting 5-of-8 from the floor. He also grabbed three rebounds while recording two blocks.
Phoenix’s mesmerizing with the future Hall of Famer has been talked about dating back to the offseason. As such, watching him contribute instantly while on the road is easily the best highlight of the Suns’ season thus far.
Booker, A Jack of All Trades
Devin Booker has primarily been known as a go-to scorer his entire career. Even before Durant’s debut, that narrative may have slowly began to change.
Booker scored 12 points in the first half while shooting 6-of-11 from the floor. The more intriguing part of his game, however, has been his improvement from a playmaking aspect.
Booker was able to dish out seven assists for the half, which is extremely impressive given his style of play. Coming into Wednesday, he’s averaging 6.4 assists in his last five games.
To make the subject even better, Booker was able to dish out five of those assist in the first quarter alone.
To say the Suns look like a completely different team would be disrespectful. Each player is still carrying their respective weight and roles alongside Durant. Now, Phoenix simply became more dangerous, as is evident against Charlotte.
