Durant, who was sluggish with the worst performance in the 6th game, where the playoff elimination was decided, opened his mouth.
The Phoenix Suns lost 100-125 to the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of the 2nd round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs held at the Phoenix Footprint Center in Arizona, USA on the 12th (Korean time). With this loss, Phoenix went 2-4 and was eliminated from the playoffs.
It was the most important game of the season, but Phoenix’s performance was disastrous. Phoenix, which showed the deterioration of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant’s stamina in Game 5, showed the aftermath of Game 6 as well.
Starting in the first quarter, Phoenix had no control over Denver’s offense and allowed 44 points. On the other hand, the score was only 26 points, and there was a large score difference with 26-44 in the first quarter.
Even in the second quarter, Phoenix did not change, conceding 37 points and only scoring 25 points, and at the end of the first half, 51-81, a 30-point gap. In fact, the game is decided in the first half.
Game 6 was played at Phoenix’s home footprint center. In front of home fans, Phoenix was eliminated from the playoffs with a disastrous performance.
The shocking fact is that Phoenix went through the same experience last season. In the game against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs last season, Phoenix was virtually decided in the first half with a terrible performance despite the home game.
Phoenix only changed the opponent team for two consecutive seasons, but the same result came out. This season, it seems that the blow will be bigger because they challenged for the championship by acquiring Durant at the trade deadline.
In a post-game interview, Durant criticized, “It was terrifying and embarrassing. I feel pretty bad. We sucked.”안전놀이터
He added, “I hate to make excuses. We have to do better next year.”
As Durant said, Phoenix’s performance on the day was a mess. The problem is that Phoenix does not see much of a rebound. Excluding Ace Booker, who has a promising future, Chris Paul and Durant will grow one year older next year. Deandre Ayton is getting underrated. It is difficult to recruit free agents due to the existence of four players with high salaries. Phoenix has more than one problem to solve this offseason if it wants to challenge for a championship.
Durant’s first season, which moved from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix through an all-time great trade, ended in failure. Will Durant be able to challenge for the championship in Phoenix next season?