CHARLOTTE – Kevin Durant shook off pre-game jitters to score 23 points and “fit in pretty well” on his Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday.
He helped his new team to a 105-91 road victory against the Charlotte Hornets, who were on a five-game National Basketball Association (NBA) winning streak.
Durant was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster trade three weeks ago but was sidelined until Wednesday with a sprained knee ligament.
“I’ve played in almost a thousand basketball games, but today I was nervous,” admitted Durant, who scored his first points as a Sun with a silky lay-up less than two minutes into the contest.
“A new team, new group, I want to do well, want to play hard for them and be coachable.
“So I was thinking about all of that today. But once the ball was tipped, my teammates were incredible in making me feel comfortable and I just tried to go out there and play my game... I feel like I fit in pretty well.”
He had plenty of help from Devin Booker, who was 15-for-26 from the field, en route to a game-high 37 points. Said the 26-year-old three-time All-Star of his new teammate: “This is one of those moments that doesn’t really feel real.
“I mean, it’s just every time he shoots the ball, it’s just so effortless. You can see defenders trying their hardest to contest or fight over a screen and he just looks unbothered, unfazed.”
As Durant announced his arrival in the Western Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics continued to jockey for dominance in the East.
Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 31 points, seven rebounds and six assists to fuel the Bucks as they beat the Orlando Magic 139-117, their 16th straight victory, which keeps them half a game ahead of the Celtics atop the conference.
The Celtics, with 41 points from a resurgent Jayson Tatum, beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-113 in Boston. They survived a 44-point performance by Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, who scored 29 points in the second half.
Durant was efficient playing restricted minutes, scoring 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting in less than 27 minutes. He added six rebounds, a pair of assists and a couple of blocked shots.
Phoenix are in fourth place in the West, 10 games behind conference leaders the Denver Nuggets and three behind the third-placed Sacramento Kings.
Even as he continues to return to full fitness, Durant showed what an asset he can be, scoring 12 points in the first half as the Suns took a 16-point lead.
He might become the Suns best player once he settles in but coach Monty Williams is not expecting a leadership role as well. “There’s too many players in the NBA that get too much pressure to lead,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s necessary. It’s my job to lead.
“The players do it in spots, but that’s the one thing I told him. I said, ‘I’m not looking for you to lead. We just want you to be yourself and hoop’, and that’s where he’s the most free to be himself.”
The Hornets, whose own franchise player LaMelo Ball had season-ending surgery on a broken ankle earlier on Wednesday, had trimmed the deficit to six points going into the final quarter.
But Durant started the period and helped the Suns pull away.
“Man, I missed the game,” he said. “I’m glad my knee’s back right, I’m glad I’m on the road to playing more and more minutes each game.
“I’m looking forward to what we can build from this.” AFP, REUTERS
