Basketball analyst Brian Windhorst of ESPN was on his podcast “The Hoop Collective” talking about the recent success of the Phoenix Suns and what could have been the catalyst. In terms of where the Suns stand, they are currently on a seven-game winning streak after starting the slow.
Windhorst points to a time where they had a two losses in a row and star Kevin Durant had a pre-game conversation with Devin Booker before the Phoenix game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 11. After they beat the Lakers, they would go on the aforementioned winning streak.
What Durant said to Booker per Windhorst
In that conversation between teammates, Durant would assure Booker about not worrying about “taking care” of him and only worry about “taking care of you.” This was said as there was immense pressure on Booker for being a point guard this season compared to the start of his career.
“The Suns have won 7 in a row, they’ve had a player score over 40 in 4 straight games. Durant the previous two, Booker had 52 against the Pelicans last week. In the game where they started the win streak, Kevin Durant, which was in LA against the Lakers, I was at the game, Booker had 31 in that game,” Windhorst said. “Durant went to Booker before the game and said hey, they had scuffled a little bit, they had a couple losses in a row and Durant said hey, “Don’t worry about taking care of me, I’ll take care of me, you worry about taking care of you” because you know Booker playing point guard whatever, I know everybody says it’s no problem but I don’t think it’s something you just pick up in your 6th and 7th NBA season. Ever since Durant did that, Booker has been awesome. He’s averaged 32 over the last 7 games.”
As Windhorst said in the story, Booker has been the featured point guard of this team since the team already has Durant and with the inclusion of Devin Booker. While the scoring took a hit, it wasn't leading to massive success in the earlier parts of the seas0n.
Durant and Booker thriving as of late with Phoenix
Now, the tides have changed and the Suns are in a much better flow than usual after winning seven straight, but Booker, Durant, and Phoenix has been tremendous in this stretch. Especially Booker who has showcased his elite scoring ability as shown by scoring 52 points against the New Orleans Pelicans on Jan. 19.
Just recently on Wednesday, Booker would score 46 points in their seventh win a row as they beat the Dallas Mavericks. His teammate in Durant has also been on a tear in the victory streak as he had back to back 40 or more points games against the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls. In fact, Durant has received his 14th All-Star nomination and is a starter for the West.
“Thanks to the fans, media and most importantly my peers for voting me into my 14th all star game,” Durant said on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. “Can’t wait to lock in and hoop with some of the greatest ever in Indy.”
The Suns are now 26-18 on the season which puts them fifth in the Western Conference even with having been down in the rankings before the winning streak. Their next contest is facing the Pacers as they are currently in a seven-game road trip that is sure to battle-test Phoenix even more.
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