Kevin Durant, a standout for the Suns, makes his home debut and scores 16 points.
Phoenix: Long before Wednesday night’s 107-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves had even begun, the tone for Kevin Durant’s much anticipated home debut for the Phoenix Suns was established.
Durant, who stumbled during warmups before a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 8, suffered an unbelievable sprain to his left ankle. Despite this setback, he was relieved to have made it through pregame warmups on Wednesday night. With a message for the waiting staff, he cheerfully ran into the Suns’ locker room and into the team’s training area.
He said, “We got through that s—!” with a mix of relief and accomplishment.
The same may be said after seeing Durant put on an incredibly low-scoring, 5-for-18 shooting performance and scoring 16 points in 29 minutes. After that, Durant acknowledged that he was a little anxious before his Phoenix home opener.
Despite shooting 0-for-6 at the beginning of the game and failing to score a field goal until 5:23 remained in the second quarter, Durant’s coach and teammates were unaffected by his lack of experience. All they wanted was for him to be back on the court.
“This has been anticipated by the entire city,” Suns player Devin Booker remarked. “It’s a really special night and a big night in the history of the organization, and the fans showed the love that was deserved, so I’m happy it came in a win.”
Booker and seasoned guard Chris Paul talked about the opportunities Durant provided for the other players just by walking around the court. Durant reported that his ankle “felt great,” therefore they are certain he will discovern
into groove quickly, which is encouraging for the Suns, who are currently 41-35 and sit fourth in the Western Conference with six games remaining in the regular season.
“You look at the shooting numbers, you’re like, ‘That’s not Kevin,'” Monty Williams, the Suns’ coach, said. “He played for the fourth time in, well, I’m not sure how long. I believed that he engaged in dual combat. His cardio needs to return to where he wants it, in my opinion. We’ll see the familiar Kevin once he receives that.”
Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat landed on Durant’s knee in early January, causing him to suffer a right MCL strain. Durant missed more than a month of action while still a member of the Brooklyn Nets. While waiting for his ankle to recover, he missed nearly another month of work. He dismissed the notion that the failures meant he was cursed by the injury bug considering the erratic nature of his most recent wounds.
“Look at my life — somebody cursed me?” Durant grinned as he spoke. “My life seems to be going well. But you can’t say that, dude. After I exit this stadium, my life appears to be going well. It’s only an aspect of the game, though. That’s just the way things are. It’s regrettable. Although it’s not how I had hoped to play 82 games this year, things happen. I gained knowledge on how to master various game elements. One of them is rehabilitation, so I simply try to give it my all in that area and return to where I left off.”
Throughout the game, Williams and his new teammates sensed some nervousness that Durant was attempting to get over.
