Kevin Durant’s historic night cannot mask Suns -Meddler vs. Grizzlies

On By Littum

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Kevin Durant made history but it wasn’t enough to prevent Phoenix Suns From falling under .500 with less than 50 games left in the regular season.

Durant only became the eighth player in the NBA story to reach 30,000 career points with a game-high 34-point effort in Tuesday’s 119-112 loss to Memphis Grizzlies (36-17).

Suns (26-27) is 11Th In the West. If the playoffs started today, they would miss play-in, making it one of the most disappointing and under-producing seasons in the franchise history.

Suns plays on Wednesday in Houston in the second of a back-to-back before entering the All-Star break. Here are takeaways from Tuesday’s loss:

Historical evening for Durant can’t hide the team’s matches

The crazy part of this milestone is Durant is on a team that does not show signs of competing for a championship. It leads to more questions about his future with Suns and dampens the lens a bit on his historical performance.

Durant was asked for Tuesday’s match if he wants to end his career in Phoenix after being part of the trade negotiations just before last week’s trading deadline.

A laugh Durant said, “I will focus on Houston tomorrow. Won’t go there right now. “

Durant should be able to ride this implementation of all times for a few days, even in today’s 4K 24/7 news cycle.

He just joined LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain as the only NBA players who scored at least 30,000.

Instead, Durant will continue to find himself in the middle of conversations about Suns’ match and where he will play next season.

The fans gave him a resounding ovation. Video tribute was well done.

His teammates showed him love. TNT television played.

All the elements were in place, but Suns pulled Grizzlies, 93-82 with 1:11 back in 3rd quarter after being down with as many as 19 points in the first half.

Durant is still a big player who will move up the scoring list if he remains healthy but this season has been a mess.

Suns is a bad team. The guard schedule has holes that masked in Phoenix’s 8-1 start. They have the toughest remaining schedule. Suns run out of time to fix this.

Durant’s historic evening does not change it.

Bol Bol shines in the start, rotations that remain surprised

Coach Mike Budenholzer continues to lean on the idea of ​​finding the right combinations.

He took it to an unforeseen place Tuesday night.

While Bol Bol played well the previous two matches, Budenholzer, who chose to start him after hardly playing him in the first 50 games of the season, is wild.

Bol delivered a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds to go with four blocks. He has earned extended minutes, but fought in transitional defense, just as the whole team did with allowing 19 transitional points.

Bol also tried more shots than booker (16 to 13) when he launched 10 3s (made three).

Budenholzer is about generated 3s when Suns only went 12-of-44 on Tuesday, but in which world does Bol try more shots than the franchise’s leading goal scorer?

Yes, Booker eased to end with nine assists, but he could use more shot attempts to help increase the chances of scoring more than 17 points.

Budenholzer wants more bol and says Suns will “push this envelope” but to stay engaged in the idea if the player is fighting is something he hasn’t done much of this season.

Budenholzer started Royce O’Neale instead of Big Nick Richards in the second half less than a month after putting Richards in the starting lineup in just his second game with the team after acquiring him in a trade.

He played two -way player Tyty Washington Jr. 13 minutes and rookie Ryan Dunn only five. Washington Jr. pushing the pace, but he went 0-for-6 from 3 by scoring two points.

Dunn has played some of this team’s better defense is the guy who replaced Bradley Beal in the starting lineup, but Tyus Jones, who continues to fight defense, logged 32 minutes.

Rookie Oso Ighodaro has fallen out of the rotation after being part of the three-man big rotation with Mason Plumlee and Jusuf Nurkic, which has since been traded. Igodaro just returned from a G -League assignment.

The rotations can be interpreted as Budenholzer who just tries something, but nothing works or doesn’t work well enough to help Suns climb out of this mess in a season.

Damage Update

Suns don’t have Cody Martin or Beal against Rockets. Beal missed his third straight match with a left -wing big toe stew, while Martin has been out with a sports hernia.

Phoenix acquired Vasa Micic, Martin and a 2026 second round election from Charlotte in Trade that sent Nurkic and a 2026 election in the first round to Hornets.

MICIC was sitting out on Tuesday with a left ankle sprain but is working to be available Wednesday. He is a tough nose competitor playing with physical, qualities that Suns could use.

Martin is proud of the defense, but he can also knock down 3s. He could turn to Phoenix’s circumference defense, which has been missing all season.

Durant returned from the missing three matches with a left ankle stew, and Grayson Allen played after sitting on Saturday’s loss to Denver with left knee soreness. While Durant had a strong return, Allen succeeded only nine points and hit 1-of-4 from 3, in 20 minutes.

Budenholzer approached Beal’s status and said, “I think (all-star) break will be good for us and good for Brad as far as his health and his toe. I would not say for sure, but I think there is a lot of hope that he will come out of the break, he will be in a good place. “

Beal has played only 37 games this season. He has already been excluded Wednesday.

If he plays the remaining 28 games after the break, it will set him at 65. Beal has not played more than 60 games in a regular season since playing all 82 games in 2018-19.

Suns would definitely take it. Whether they get it is far from a given.

What Suns said after loss

Mike Budenholzer at Bol Bol: “I think he will bring something or can bring something to us. Shot blocking, rebounding and then an ability to place the floor and make 3. Impressive how he remained clear and impressive about what he has done with this option. “

Kevin Durant at 30k Point: “All the people who helped me out through this journey, I always talk about them how much they mean to me and how much they affected to help me get to this point just grateful to my teammates, coaches , family, friends who have supported me and invested in me as a basketball player.

Bol Bol on options: “Get ready. Keep doing what you need to do for the court. So when your number is called, you’re ready to play and then just play with a big effort. These are two things I have been going on. “

Do you have opinions about the current sunshine? Well Suns Insider Duane Rankin on [email protected] Or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, on @Duanerankin.

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