PHOENIX — Kevin Durant had not played in 18 days, a stretch in which the Phoenix Suns won one game in seven tries, falling from the top of the Western Conference to the middle. Teammate Bradley Beal had not played in nearly as long, both stars sidelined with left calf strains.
Tuesday night they returned, and it was fitting that on the first play against the Los Angeles Lakers, they reminded fans at Footprint Center just what they had missed. After the ball danced around the perimeter, Beal penetrated and fired a crosscourt pass to Durant on the left wing. First shot of the game. First shot in three weeks.
Swish.
“Any time your first shot after a little layoff is open, it just gives you some confidence, for sure,” Durant said.
Although the Suns beat the Lakers 127-100 in this NBA Cup game, snapping a five-game losing streak, the bigger story was the return of Durant and Beal, a Phoenix team back in full. For the season’s first three weeks, the Suns had looked like a contender, opening 8-1 with Durant and Beal playing starring roles alongside Devin Booker. Then Durant and Beal got hurt and the Suns suddenly looked fragile.
Tuesday they hit “reset.”
“We needed a game like this,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. “This was 48 minutes of what you want and what you strive for.”
Welcome back to the floor, Kevin Durant! pic.twitter.com/RJVOLa8zAM
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 27, 2024
Phoenix’s strength is in its “Big Three” of Durant, Beal and Booker. Against the Lakers, the Suns (10-7) flexed that muscle. Booker had 26 points and 10 assists, while Durant and Beal each scored 23 points. A team that had not won a game by more than 12 points outscored the Lakers by 25 in the second half. It was the Suns’ best win of the season.
The effort was overdue. This had been a difficult seven-game stretch for the Suns, one in which Budenholzer tried four different starting lineups, including one with rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro. In Phoenix’s last outing, a 138-122 home loss against the New York Knicks, the Suns had not even been competitive. For Durant and Beal, it had been difficult to watch.
On Nov. 8, Durant strained his left calf in the third quarter of a win at Dallas. The 14-time All-Star jumped for a rebound and felt a slight pull when he landed. It wasn’t a huge deal; Durant played the rest of the game before sitting out the next two weeks. But it was the 36-year-old’s second calf issue in five months. He had strained his right calf before the summer Olympics.
“I just wanted to be out there with the guys,” Durant said outside the locker room before Tuesday’s contest. “Wanted to travel. When you’re injured, you’re still a part of the team, you’re still on the roster, but there’s a level of separation you have (with guys who are playing). I just wanted to be part of the group again.”
Beal wasn’t exactly sure when he hurt his calf muscle. Sometime in the second half of Phoenix’s Nov. 12 win at Utah, he said, a few days after Durant was sidelined. For Beal, who had played well through the season’s first nine games, it continued a run of misfortune. Last season, his first in Phoenix, the three-time All-Star battled through back, ankle and nose injuries. Entering Tuesday’s contest, Beal had played in only 62 of 98 games with the Suns.
Asked whether it was hard not to get frustrated after his latest setback, Beal said “100 percent, man.” But he also said he’s in a better place to handle such adversity. He said his teammates know he’d battle through nearly any health issue to keep playing if necessary. “It’s going to take a lot for me to not be out there,” Beal said.
He tried to focus on the positive. “There’s always a blessing in something negative,” Beal said. “I always just try to keep that mindset — eliminate the negativity. That’s part of the healing process, too. If you’re negative, your body is not going to heal, it’s not going to respond properly. Just taking care of your mind, man. Your mind is very powerful.”
Without Durant and Beal, opponents loaded up on Booker, double-teaming him and blitzing him. Anything to get the ball out of his hands. Against the Lakers on Tuesday night, this wasn’t possible. The Suns were too balanced. A defining stretch came in the third quarter. Booker had space to operate. He pulled up and hit a transition 3. He sank a 12-foot fadeaway. He drilled a 17-foot jumper. Phoenix outscored Los Angeles 36-18 in the third.
Book doing Book things. @PayPal | #SunsUp pic.twitter.com/2Qba5vuHrS
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) November 27, 2024
“You can’t double-team him when all three of us are on the floor,” Beal said of Booker. “There’s too much versatility on the back side and high-powered weapons. We love it. Obviously, we got to be healthy and make sure our availability is our best ability. But that’s just a testament to how we can play.”
With the team healthy, it will be interesting to see how Budenholzer manages minutes, especially Durant’s. Before his injury, Durant had averaged 38.8 per game, more than two above his career average. This goes against Budenholzer’s nature. Over 10 years as an NBA head coach — five seasons each with the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks — no player on Budenholzer’s teams averaged more than 34 minutes. Even Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo never averaged more than 33.
Durant made it clear he wants to play as much as possible. He said he loved how Budenholzer “subs the games” and how the coach doesn’t predetermine rotations. If the Suns pull away as they did Tuesday night, Durant knows he will sit. But he’s told Budenholzer that if games are tight, he wants to be on the court.
“I’m 36, so I don’t know how much time I have left,” Durant said, slightly joking. “I want to be out there as much as I can.”
GO DEEPER
NBA Power Rankings: Giving thanks for returning vets, sharp coaches and … Elfrid Payton?
(Photo of Kevin Durant dribbling during Tuesday’s game against the Lakers: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
