Kevin Durant’s ultimate bucket on Tuesday night put him into even rarer ancient air. At the 1:03 mark of the fourth quarter, Durant blew by way of Keldon Johnson for an emphatic two-hand slam that put the Suns up 5 and gave Durant 27,001 issues for his occupation.
He joins LeBron James as the simplest lively gamers in the 27,000-point membership.
Unfortunately, Durant and the Suns, who held a lead as top as 20 in this recreation, melted down from there.
After Victor Wembanyama carded a midrange jumper and a follow-up dunk to chop Phoenix’s result in one with six seconds to play, Durant took the inbound go in the coffin nook, wound up trapped, and had the ball ripped away from him by way of Keldon Johnson, who proceeded to complete what would turn out to be the game-winning bucket in a 115-114 Spurs win.
Durant got here up with scratch marks and blood on his face after this turnover. It’s beautiful transparent that touch was once made, but it is controversial whether or not that touch got here prior to, all over, or after the thieve, which would not necessitate a whistle. Don’t be stunned if you happen to see this addressed in the league’s Last Two-Minute Report on Wednesday. Even if the document says Durant was once fouled, that, after all, would possibly not do the Suns any excellent. Losses do not get reversed.
That stated, the Suns do not have been in this place in the first position. Never thoughts coughing up a 20-point lead; that occurs in nowadays’s NBA fairly slightly. All Frank Vogel needed to do was once name timeout after the Wembanyama dunk, and the ball would’ve complex to half-court.
OK, so Vogel did not name timeout as a result of there was once a chance to briefly inbound to Durant, who is an automated free-throw shooter. It’s nonetheless dangerous in the backcourt, for causes we noticed play out, but cheap.
In this situation, Durant nonetheless may’ve, and will have to’ve, known as timeout himself the speedy he felt himself trapped in the nook. He did not. And he did not make the game-winning try he had on the different finish, both, despite the fact that it was once a shockingly tough shot.
In the Western Conference, the place vital seeding goes to be made up our minds by way of one or two video games, losses like this harm as badly in October as they do in March and April. There’s no method the Suns will have to’ve misplaced in this way, and one thing tells me Durant is extra disillusioned about this than he’s satisfied about becoming a member of LeBron in the 27K membership.