Kevin Durant, Suns continue to be brilliant in crunch time

PHOENIX – For a game full of complexity and nuance, NBA basketball doesn’t have to be complicated, even in its most difficult moments.

The Phoenix Suns did two incredibly simple things at once: They replayed the play in crunch time to give Kevin Durant the ball in Wednesday’s 115-112 victory over the Miami Heat. And that was all they had to do.

“Sometimes you just have to get out of the players’ way,” Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Try to allow them to do their best.”

Great NBA teams are never afraid to spam a play call that works, and with the substitutions the Heat gave up, the Suns had Bradley Beal shield Tyus Jones to get Tyler Herro to defend the ball. From there, Durant threw a punch at Herro to either get him to defend him or to force his defender, Haywood Highsmith, to come back to him.

Durant hit his patented one-legged fadeaway over Herro to give the Suns the lead with 2:53 left. He then missed a deep three-pointer before a reset on the same play resulted in Durant finding space at the elbow and moving toward the baseline. This came right after Highsmith came over to get Herro away from Durant, which combined with the pass caused Durant to get into a slower rhythm. Credit to Devin Booker for the feed that allowed Durant to make his shot while Highsmith kept the other side in check on his rebound.

“He’s an all-world passer who can make those reads at any time,” Durant said of Booker’s feed. “Unselfishly, at the end of the game, I wanted to get the ball.”

Miami was done letting Herro get into that position, so on the next attempt Highsmith had to contain Jones’ lane before returning to Durant. That was too much room to cover, and Durant drew a foul on Highsmith’s free throw completion.

With less than 35 seconds left and the Suns leading by two, they returned to the well one final time. Highsmith did a much better job this time bringing Durant back. But Durant caught the ball at the top of the key, positioned himself slightly in the triple threat, and simply rose over him with the most Kevin Durant shot you’ll ever see. Money.

A look at all three buckets:

SLIM REAPER CLOSES THE DOOR.

Bucket after bucket after bucket for KD late to secure 6 straight wins for them @Suns! pic.twitter.com/pE9SsrykWZ

– NBA (@NBA) November 7, 2024

Free throw and Foul-Hi-Jinx made the final point. Miami actually had a chance to tie the game when Booker’s foul attempt was disallowed. But the Heat’s pass put Jimmy Butler inside the 3-point line with three seconds left due to a leaping Royce O’Neale. As Butler stepped back to the line, O’Neale flew in for a second big hustle in just a few seconds, forcing a pass that ended the game.

pic.twitter.com/kpZmGBs3tg

– Oh yes, I did (@OhYesIdid24) November 7, 2024

Durant is now shooting 10 of 15 in the final period this season, meaning the final five minutes when it’s a five-point game or less. Phoenix is ​​6-0 in those games, the only NBA team with at least five such wins.

“I think these moments are good, we played a lot of close, close games,” Durant said. “I’m sure Suns fans are nervous every game, but I think it’s good for our team that we can play these games in the fourth quarter and get an understanding of what it’s like in crunch time is. It’s a nice win for us.”

The Suns had a 20-21 record in crucial games last season, and the late execution is a dramatic turnaround from the nightly fourth-quarter terror moments a year earlier.

“I don’t want to compare it to last year,” Booker said. “I feel like we’re organized, we find what works, and Kevin Durant is one [expletive] to cope with.”

Durant scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half with eight rebounds, three assists and six turnovers. Two of those turnovers occurred midway through the third quarter when Phoenix truly lost the game. It trailed by 15 minutes and was starting to get shaky defensively before a 15-3 surge in the final 2:54 of the half brought the Suns back to within three points.

“That was huge,” Durant said of the end of the third quarter. “I think that was the right game. … We chipped away at that lead pretty quickly. Losses of the ball kept them in the game. They had 20 points less on our turnovers. This is the statistic that caught my attention. … Overall I think we did a good job on defense.”

They then took a four-point lead on a Durant 3 with 7:04 left and stayed in control from there.

This follows what has essentially become the playbook of a 2024-25 Suns contest: Play somewhere between below-average and above-average basketball for most of the game, make an elite burst somewhere in between, and then win the game in crucial time.

Jusuf Nurkic had his best game of the season with 20 points and 18 rebounds. He played a role in a terrible 5-of-21 shooting night for Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo.

Booker added 22 points and nine assists, and although Beal’s box score wasn’t great, this was another fantastic defensive game for him. He finished the game with seven points, two rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

Rookie Ryan Dunn knocked down his first two 3-point attempts, a great sign that his confidence wasn’t fading after failing to convert on his last nine shots from long range. However, Dunn sprained his left ankle in the second half. He will be evaluated on Thursday.

Herro was almost the star of the show with 28 points and was the standout performer before Durant’s final act.

This is the fourth time in franchise history that the Suns have started a season 7-1. Looking back at this franchise’s past is always fun because the Suns have had so many sneakily good iterations.

The 1980-81 season came in the middle of John MacLeod’s very successful tenure on a team that featured three All-Stars: Walter Davis, Dennis Johnson and Truck Robinson. The 2000-01 Suns only had Penny Hardaway for four games in January, but were still great with Jason Kidd in his prime, a rising Shawn Marion and the ever-underrated Clifford Robinson. After all, finishing in the 2009-10 Western Conference finalists was the last hurrah for Steve Nash’s Seven Seconds or Less era.

The 1980 team got off to the Suns’ best start ever at 11-1 and even went 23-4. All three of these teams have won at least 50 games.

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