Kevin Durant’s Phoenix Suns experienced another defeat, this time at the hands of the La Lakers, who played without LeBron James.
Kevin Durant scored 21 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes of action, but his efforts were in vain as Luka Donsic and Austin Reeves wreak havoc on the Suns’ defense with a 107-96 loss.
The team was 16 points behind Purple and Gold right after the first quarter.
Durant appeared visibly annoyed during the game, and a clip appeared to appear to be animated with coach Mike Budenholzer during the timeout.
Skip Bayless shared that he shared his views on Durant’s stint with the Suns.
Durant called out Bayless for his “semi-retired” comment, but the veteran journalist didn’t retreat and shared another strong tweet after the Suns’ loss.
He said:
“KD’s Sands play life, urgent, without defense.
“KD/Book/Beal’s team is currently 31-37. Coach Bad, who coaches Dad, will be the first to go.”
He also called out Durant on his poor show in the first half, where he went 1-9 from the floor.
“The Suns sink early here in Los Angeles and are half 54-37. 3-2-18.
“Kevin Durant, 1-9 from the floor (with dunk), three turnovers, little or no defense.
“There’s no tone settings. There’s no leadership. Kevin? Kevin!!! LeBron doesn’t even play for the Lakers,” Bayless tweeted at halftime.
The Western Conference is stacked from top to bottom, with many teams competing for playoff spots.
However, the Suns struggled with consistency and are now considering the possibility of missing a play-in spot.
They were 31-37, just 1.5 games with the 10th seed behind the Dallas Mavericks, and they still managed to make the postseason.
However, Durant and his team are shocking on the defensive side and seem to be struggling to play as a unit.
They had the NBA’s fourth worst defensive rating, and their performance against the Lakers was another evidence of how poor they were to defend their opposition.
With 14 games remaining, the Suns will need to run to enter the play-in spot.
They have three best players in the NBA, but obviously that’s not enough. Others on the roster need to step up for the team to achieve success.