Kevin Durant had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 block as the Suns lost 128-114 to the Mavericks.
Durant’s body language left some wondering if he had been vetted. The Phoenix Suns are currently sliding down a slippery slope and superstar forward Kevin Durant’s body language has been called into question. Durant looked disengaged and didn’t put in much effort during the 128-114 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, leading some to wonder if he checked out.These are just a few clips, but they certainly don’t give a good impression of Durant and he’s not the same player we saw earlier in the season. The 35-year-old carried the Suns on his back, but now it almost looks like he’s given up. He doesn’t get involved in defense and tends to be careless with the ball.Durant only had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 block against the Mavericks and shot only 4-11 from the field. He faced a lot of double teams, but we wish he could be a little more assertive on offense at times. His numbers for the season still look great with averages of 30.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, but something is off right now. Kevin Durant says his poor play held the team backTo Durant’s credit, he admitted he needed to play better after the game. During his postgame media session, the 13-time All-Star said his turnovers were holding the team back.“I have to get better. I think it slows the team down.Durant is averaging 3.6 turnovers per game this season and after recording six against the Mavericks, he now has 18 turnovers in his last three games. It’s just terrible, but I put some of the blame on the Suns. Their decision not to have a true point guard on the team led to Durant and Devin Booker taking on this burden. Although they are both skilled directors, they will inevitably change things up a bit.The lack of a natural attacking midfielder seriously hurt this team even in the fourth quarter of the game. The Suns have a -96 quarter point differential this season, the worst in the NBA.Here against the Mavericks, they led 92-91 entering the final period, then were outscored 37-22 before falling to 14-15. These collapses have been Phoenix’s theme all season and you see no reason why that should change unless some moves are made.Kevin Durant’s frustrations are well known to the SunsWhat lends credence to the idea that Durant verified is that this performance comes from an interesting report from NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Woj said Durant’s frustrations with the difficult start to the season are well known to the Suns. “Let’s start with Kevin Durant. He talked to people in the Phoenix organization. We feel the frustration with Durant. Part of that is because Bradley Beal missed a game. This team was built around these three stars… They lack the ability to improve this team. They need to do this in Phoenix with Kevin Durant. This is a stark reminder of how short the window of opportunity is. This team must achieve big things, and quickly. With Kevin Durant still playing at an All-NBA level and healthy, the stakes are high for this organization. “Durant should have known what to expect when the Suns traded for Bradley Beal. His last injury was serious, but before that, Beal missed significant time due to his back problem, which had been present for some time. His injury history and huge contract were why the Suns didn’t have to give up much to acquire him. So if that’s the case, you can’t really be frustrated by his long absence, as it was always a very real possibility. You can sympathize with Durant to a certain extent, but he should have seen this coming.For those who missed Durant’s performance, you can watch it below.
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