(Basketball news) Kevin Durant made his much anticipated Phoenix Suns debut as they beat the Charlotte Hornets 105-91. For the Suns, Durant scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting in his debut while Devin Booker scored 37 points and Deandre Ayton had 16 points and 16 rebounds in their seventh victory in 10 games as Chris Paul added 11 assists. For the Hornets, Kelly Oubre Jr. picked up the scoring slack with 26 points while Terry Rozier added 20 points as LaMelo Ball underwent a season-ending surgery on Wednesday to repair a fracture in his right ankle. Durant, who was acquired in blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets, showed no lingering effects from a sprained right knee that kept him out of action for more than seven weeks as the 34-year-old star fit in rather seamlessly with his new team also grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots in 27 minutes.
“I feel like I fit in pretty well,” Durant said. “Everybody out there was trying to make me as comfortable as possible. I just have to keep riding it, man.”
“I think there’s too many players in the NBA that get too much pressure to lead,” Williams 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 I think that’s where he’s the most free to be himself.”
“We’ve been together since training camp, but it’s obviously tough when key players are out and in-and-out of the lineup all season with guys missing six weeks and coming back,” Rozier said. “So, things might be a little off but we fight another day. Just keep fighting.”
The Los Angeles Lakers kept their hopes alive of making the playoffs as they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 123-117. For the Lakers, Dennis Schroder scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half whileTroy Brown Jr. scored a season-high 19 points and Austin Reaves added 19 points. LeBron James and Anthony Davis both were both out with right foot injuries and D’Angelo Russell sat out because of a sprained right ankle, yet the Lakers won for the fourth time in five games. For the OKC, Jalen Williams scored 24 points, Josh Giddey had 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds and Lu Dort added 19 points as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who averages 31 points, sat out due to health and safety protocols and an abdominal strain.
“Anytime you play without your three most dominant guys that you run mostly everything through, the game’s going to be – I won’t say awkward, but there’s just a lot of new situations for guys and especially myself,” Reaves said.
“They’ve got a lot of talent there, a lot of young talent that knows how to play the game and plays hard,” Reaves said. “They’re not a bad team at all. But we needed this win and we knew that coming in.”
“For the most part, I thought we played really hard for much of the game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Bounced back a couple of times, like, weathered a couple of runs and just kind of kept ourselves in it. Playing from behind like that down the stretch is tough to evaluate, but I was just impressed by the compete level of the team tonight.”
Also read: NBA: Bucks went to the top of the Eastern Conference while Lakers lose against the Grizzlies
