Kevin Durant has been playing games in Toronto since the Seattle Sonics still existed. Few have been as consistently great as Durant, the only visiting NBA player to score at least 50 points in a game here twice (51 in both 2014 and 2018) and he was averaging 28.6 points at Toronto, second only to Stephen Curry, before a rare quiet night in an impressive Raptors win.
Oddly enough Durant didn’t touch the ball on the first five Phoenix possessions of the game — partly because his teammates didn’t find him, partly because he was being hounded, mostly by Scottie Barnes — and he finished 5-for-15 from the field with no three-point makes for just the fourth time all season.
“The plan was to make it extremely hard on him, which is not an easy task,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “Scottie was his primary matchup, and the amount of detail and force that Scottie played against him and every time that he was in 1-on-1, I thought that Scottie set a tone for everybody else.”
Afterward Durant, the 17-year-veteran who also excels in media exchanges, even took the blame.
“They did a great job as a team. Denying me, even sometimes doubling me,” Durant said. “Scottie is getting good at that scheme, he’s long athletic, but I usually get guarded by the whole team. But they do a great job of playing hard in that scheme and making it tough. You’ve got to give them credit I think that’s why we lost, I didn’t make shots tonight.”
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Toronto’s shot-making also had a lot to do with the outcome. Not normally a high attempt or high accuracy team, Toronto got up 35 three-pointers and hit 20 of them, one of the season high. The 57% accuracy was a season-best.
“Make or miss league,” Durant said. “They don’t shoot the three well throughout the whole season, but if you feeling good, got good rhythm, focused on your shot, you can knock them down. Anybody can knock them down,” he said. “So we gave them some dare shots early, and they got hot, and they couldn’t miss. And we gotta give them credit. They came out focussed tonight.”
It certainly helps having Immanuel Quickley back in the lineup. Quickley nailed five three-pointers for the second game in a row after not doing the at all in his other appearances. Chris Boucher hit 4-of-5, RJ Barrett 3-of-6, Gradey Dick 3-of-4, Barnes 2-of-3 and that was the kind of night it was.
Basketball fans got treated to a couple of entertaining games over the weekend. Overtime against Miami and then this performance by the Raptors that was one of the team’s best all year. The crowd had a lot of pop all night and Durant noticed.
“I love Canada. I love Toronto. Has always been nothing but love and respect here. They appreciate the game of basketball to its core,” Durant said. “They appreciate my journey as a player, so I always have fun coming here. Crowd is always on its feet all game. So they love basketball here so I enjoy coming up here.”
Phoenix is a mess, with the NBA’s highest payroll but one of the worst records in the Western Conference. Still, the Suns have Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, so that means they have a chance. That’s how Durant sees it.
“We still believe until the last buzzer sounds,” he said. “.Put our best foot forward, moving on to the next game, and try to right the ship,” he said.
@WolstatSun