Suns: Kevin Durant’s extremely honest assessment on what sank them against the Pacers.
The Phoenix Suns entered their Friday night matchup against the Indiana Pacers having won their previous seven games. Following a difficult midseason stretch, Kevin Durant and his teammates appear to have found their groove, with the Suns relying on Devin Booker as their primary option. However, the Suns were defeated 133-131 by the Pacers on Friday, despite Booker having a good encore to his 46-point performance against the Dallas Mavericks, dropping 62 points.
For the majority of the game, it appeared that the Suns were in control. However, in the fourth quarter, the Pacers increased the effort on defense, double the pick-and-roll ballhandler and forcing the Suns to rely primarily on the perimeter. This, in turn, crippled the Phoenix offense when their shooting fell silent.
Kevin Durant pointed out that Indiana’s coverage forced them to play passively (the Suns got zero team fouls from the Pacers in the fourth quarter), which resulted to a devastating two-point loss.
“We need to be more aggressive and make them call the fouls. Turnovers and offensive rebounds are a losing combination. Regardless of how good you shoot. According to Duane Rankin of AZ Central, Durant stated in his postgame news conference that losing 20 possessions and 20 offensive rebounds, as well as 19 turnovers, would not result in a win.
