Wild Suns playoff stats are bad omens for Kevin Durant, Devin Booker
24/04/2024 05:58
The Phoenix Suns are facing an uphill battle against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Phoenix is down 2-0 after their 93-105 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker are struggling to get things going, and some key stats could signal a bad omen for the stars.
Tuesday night’s broadcast revealed that no duo has ever won a championship with each averaging 27 points or more for an entire season in NBA history, as provided by ClutchPoints. Elgin Baylor and Jerry West fit the scoring criteria during the 1964-65 season and came up short. In addition, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant failed to get a win in 2003 after their paired effort.
Will Kevin Durant and Devin Booker be able to break the curse and rally the Suns to a series comeback and a title? Their franchise’s history in the NBA Playoffs suggests a gloomy outcome.
The Suns are 0-14 when down 0-2 in a best-of-7 series. It will take a tremendous effort for Phoenix to overcome their deficit, but the team has it in them to rise to the standard.
Minnesota gave Durant and Booker a hard time on Tuesday night. Booker scored a team-high 20 points, while Durant ended with 18. Both stars’ totals were well below their identical season averages of 27.1 points per game.
Moreover, the Suns gave up 18 turnovers and lacked much-needed production from Bradley Beal. Beal ended the matchup with just 14 points and was on the receiving end of a highlight Anthony Edwards defensive play.
To make matters worse, sharpshooter Grayson Allen exited the game with with apparent ankle injury after contesting a shot on Mike Conley Jr. Allen has been pivotal to Phoenix’s offense. Hopefully, his injury is not serious and he will undergo a speedy recovery.
Despite the downward trend, Phoenix has every tool necessary to come back strong in Game 3.
Suns look to make massive counterattack in Game 3
Kevin Durant knew the series against the Timberwolves would be a dogfight. He warned his team of the intensity Minnesota would bring in the NBA Playoffs despite the Suns sweeping the regular season series.
"[The Timberwolves] have been a contending team since day one. They’re going to come in here with a different mindset, different intensity. The crowd is going to be different. The game is going to be referred different…we gotta get ready for a dog fight," Durant said before the series.
Durant understands his team must rise to another level to compete with the might of Minnesota. It would not be surprising to see Durant put on a two-way onslaught in Game 3 to will his team back into the series. At the end same time, he needs help from Phoenix’s other contributors.
Bradley Beal is understandably going through some woes. The 2023-24 season was his first with the team, and he battled injury issues for most of the year. For the Suns to be successful, they must put forth an improved team defensive effort.
It is hard for Jusuf Nurkic to handle the duo of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Suns must get help elsewhere to stop the frontcourt’s attack. If Phoenix can take a greater defensive stand, everything else will follow.
Can Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Suns core rally in this exciting NBA Playoffs Quarterfinal?
The post Wild Suns playoff stats are bad omens for Kevin Durant, Devin Booker appeared first on ClutchPoints.
