Phoenix – For the second consecutive season, the Phoenix Suns Humiliatedly thrown out of the house.
of Phoenix 125-100 loss As far as denver nuggets Thursday night’s Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals was very similar to the Dallas Mavericks’ Game 7 dominance at the Footprint Center in the same round.
The halftime deficit — 30 points — was even more similar. So was the reaction of Suns fans, many of whom booed loudly at the half and walked out with plenty of time remaining in the fourth quarter.
“It sucked,” said Kevin Durant, whose arrival in a mid-season trade made the Suns the betting favorite to win the West. “It was a bad feeling. Embarrassing.”
devin booker Left the arena without speaking to the media, a highly uncharacteristic move for the face of the Suns’ franchise.
After the season, Booker averaged 33.7 points per game, but he had a poor season as the Suns were eliminated. He scored 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting, a close replica of his off night that ended last year in a loss to the Mavs (11 points, 3 of 14).
The Suns, who were missing starters chris paul (waist) and Deandre Ayton (Ribs), became the third team in NBA history to be eliminated from the playoffs in consecutive seasons with 25-plus-point losses, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research.
Suns coach Monty Williams acknowledged it was a “bad feeling” that could be perpetuated by blowouts in consecutive years but downplayed the link between the lopsided losses.
“I mean, it’s two different groups,” Williams said. “Last year’s team was completely different from this year’s team. Last year’s team was a ball-movement, body-movement team. This year we’re more pick-and-roll oriented and iso-oriented, so it’s two different “There are different conditions. It is something we need to look at, what kind of combination of players we have to fit our style of play. But to judge such things after 20 minutes of defeat is difficult.” Its difficult.”
Durant, who had a lot of praise for the two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the top-seeded Nuggets, struggled by their standards in the series. He averaged 29.5 points per game, but shot only 45.3% from the floor and 22.2% from 3-point range, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting in Game 6.
Durant, who was limited to only eight regular-season games with the Suns due to injuries, said he “did not want to provide context” that would be construed as an excuse.
Durant said, “We have to be better next year.” “It’s hard to see right now what the future holds for our team, but we’ve got a good foundation, good infrastructure. We can build on it and build on it and learn from it and get better from it. I’m sure we’ll figure it out a little bit more as the summer and off-season starts.”
