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By Connor Moreno
Cronkite News
PHOENIX – Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant grabbed at his left calf as he checked in with 7:39 remaining in a recent neck-and-neck game against the Dallas Mavericks.
In that moment, pain meant nothing to Durant.
Phoenix trailed by six and with the help of Durant’s team-high 26 points – six in the fourth quarter – stormed back to win 114-113 Friday and notch an eighth mark in the win column.
“(Durant) didn’t share anything before going back in and finishing the game,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “So there was no awareness from us. Credit to him for finishing and finding a way to help us win that game.”
The Suns announced Saturday that Durant was out with a left calf strain – the same injury he sustained on his right calf heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics – and would be re-evaluated in two weeks.
The 18-year vet was instrumental in the team’s 8-1 record that matched the Suns’ best nine-game start in franchise history. In that stretch, Durant averaged 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists. This production placed Durant at sixth on the NBA’s early-season MVP ladder.
Durant serving as a cornerstone of the Suns’ early success sheds light on the team’s upcoming stretch without him. Before taking on a four-game road stretch that starts in Utah Tuesday, Sunday was a dress rehearsal of what the next two-plus weeks might look like without Durant in a 127-118 overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings.
“He’s such a big part of what we really do defensively and offensively,” Budenholzer said of Durant during pregame availability. “Down the stretch we’ll have to find the right combination and find ways to win games.”
Winning games down the stretch will be the biggest challenge in Durant’s absence. In the nine games before injury, Durant led the NBA in clutch scoring with 35 points on 63.2% (12-for-18) shooting. Six of the Suns’ eight wins were decided by at least five points.
While the Suns looked better than expected sans Durant, they could’ve used his prowess in the clutch to sustain a 14-7 Sacramento run to end regulation and force overtime.
“We’ll have to go back and look at it,” Budenholzer said postgame of their performance in the fourth – a time where they are used to Durant taking over. “I’m sure there’s a little bit of both of us learning how to play without Kevin (Durant) at the end of the game, another close game put us in the cooker pressure. I think we had some good possessions and I’m sure we’ll look at some possessions and feel like we could have been better.”
The Phoenix offense looked visibly different throughout the game, but not in a bad way. When a team has Durant on the floor, it can afford to finish offensive possessions with an isolation. In his absence, however, the Suns generated various open shots through more player and ball movement than usual.
Phoenix finished the game with 57 3-point attempts, the most in a game in franchise history. They were able to keep pace with a Kings team that has stellar offensive players like De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis.
However, Bradley Beal (28 points), Devin Booker (23) and Tyus Jones (22) were the only players to finish in double-figures. Even though the offense still looked good and players kept pace with a healthy Sacramento, Durant’s absence was still felt and the players acknowledge it.
“You can never replace what (Durant) brings to the table,” Booker said. “Everybody just has to do a little bit more. It’s a different style of basketball without him out there. Tough to cover up everything he does.”
Beal, reflecting on how the team can adjust offensively without Durant, added, “Our aggression on the offensive end, we’ve got to go. We ain’t got K out there, so we’ve got to go and be aggressive and keep the ball moving, bodies moving. We do that, we’re really good, really hard to stop.”
Of all the talk about Durant’s impact offensively, it was the Suns’ lack of defense that did them in Sunday. And Durant’s skill in that area are just as important.
It’s an impact that isn’t represented in the box score. Between guarding skilled wings and often closing games as Phoenix’s center, Durant has often been the most important defender on the court at all times, and it has required tremendous amounts of sacrifice for a player of his age and status.
“For good reason, everybody talks a lot about what Kevin can do offensively,” Budenholzer said. “But I think we’ve put a lot on him defensively. We’ve had some high expectations and he’s delivered – blocked shots, rebounding and communication.
“So, that leadership on defense, collectively we’re going to have to find a way to keep it at a good place and do the things that he was doing.”
Durant has been thrown into MVP conversations early this season for a reason: He is tasked with doing so much and producing at a high level, and it’s leading to winning. Even with the loss, the Suns sit atop of the Western Conference with an 8-2 record.
This next stretch of games without Durant will be telling in a particularly stacked West.
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