Kevin Durant on How Suns Clawed Back Down 22 vs. Kings: ‘I Have No Clue'
It was an ugly Tuesday night in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings. After being up in their game against the Phoenix Suns by a massive 22-point margin in just over eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, chaos broke loose. Sacramento proceeded to be outscored 8 to 32 in the time remaining, ultimately leading to their grotesque demise.
The loss for Sacramento marks the biggest fourth-quarter comeback the NBA has seen since the bubble. It effectively drops the Kings to the 7th spot in a contested Western Conference, now only 3.5 games ahead of the 11th-seeded Houston Rockets.
Kevin Durant spoke after the game detailing the historic comeback, telling Duane Rankin of Arizona Republic the win felt like a "blur," noting that the entire team was locked in during the eventual comeback:
“I have no clue. I usually know how the game is going but I felt like this was a blur. I felt like I looked up, we were down six. I look up again, it’s a tie game. Everything happened so fast, I guess we were all in a zone and locked in.”
Durant had a killer fourth-quarter performance, dropping 15 points on 57.1% shooting from the field while posting two blocks on the defensive end. His elite effort on both ends of the floor was the key component for Phoenix to find their way back into this game.
This ultimate collapse for the Kings may be a testament to their overwhelming defensive issues. While Sacramento has received routine praise for their productive offense and scoring ability, the effectiveness on the other end has remained in question. When the shots aren’t falling, you have to be able to generate some stops. On Tuesday night, that simply did not happen.
De'Aaron Fox led the game with an impressive 33-point outing, while his All-Star counterpart Domantas Sabonis posted a 21-point triple-double. The Kings have clearly shown to have the talent capable of being a top contender in the association, but in the end, that talent has to shine through in all 48 minutes of the game, not 40.
Moving forward, the Kings will have to focus on how to sharpen up defensively and close out games more consistently. If not, it will be difficult to trust this team once the playoffs hit.
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