On a night that saw him enter the NBA’s prestigious top-10 scoring list, Kevin Durant’s second-half struggles became a pivotal factor in the Phoenix Suns’ unfortunate loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!While KD did end the night with 30 points, 13 came from the free throw line, and, remarkably, he did not make a single shot that was not a free throw in the final two quarters.
Durant shot 0-5 in the 3rd quarter, followed by an 0-5 in the 4th quarter, which drastically hurt the Suns chances whenever they had an opportunity to take the lead.
Compounding the challenge for Phoenix was the absence of key players Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, making Durant’s off-shooting night an additional setback they couldn’t afford.
Instead, keeping the Suns within striking distance was Jusuf Nurkic, who scored a season-high 31 points.
Nurkic also held the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, limiting him to 21 points—a significant dip from his usual season average of 29.
Unfortunately, the Suns were without Nurkic in the final crucial minute as he fouled out for throwing his elbow in an “unnatural” manner.
The elbow was ruled a technical foul, which set the Nuggets to the free throw lone plus awarded them possession of the basketball.
While there was no question that the elbow was an offensive foul on Nurkic, the decision to rule it as a technical was questionable.
This call was one of many eyebrow raising calls that were made in the final quarter.
Nevertheless, the Suns shot 26 free throws compared to only 12 by the Nuggets, so it would be extremely hard to blame the officials for the loss.
Instead, the Suns’ subpar shooting display in the fourth quarter, where they only converted six of their 20 attempts, emerged as a significant contributor to their narrow loss.
The Suns will now have to shake off this loss quite quickly as the Memphis Grizzlies come to town tomorrow night, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
