Kings-Suns Matchup of the Game: Keegan Murray vs Kevin Durant

After losing three straight games, the Sacramento Kings (33-32) are in a must-win game against the team fighting for a play-in spot in the Phoenix Suns (30-36).

The Suns are 3.5 games back of the Kings and 2.5 back of the Dallas Mavericks as they fight for one of the two final play-in spots. Losers of three of their last four games, tonight feels like a must-win for the Suns to fight back into the postseason battle.

For the Kings, it would take a lot for them to fall to the eleventh spot, but a loss to the Suns tonight would be a worrisome start to that free-fall scenario.

Both of these teams are loaded with stars, making for a multitude of matchup of the game options, but for tonight we turn to the wings as one of the best scorers and players in league history suites up against the Kings for the first time this season.

Season Stats:

Keegan Murray: 12.2 PTS, 6.7 REB, 1.4 AST, 0.8 STL, 0.9 BLK, 44.0 FG%, 33.4 3P%

Kevin Durant: 26.8 PTS, 6.2 REB, 4.3 AST, 0.8 STL, 1.3 BLK, 52.9 FG%, 41.3 3P%

Amid all of the drama around the trade deadline, Kevin Durant is having yet another phenomenal season.

He's scoring from everywhere on elite efficiency. 78.4% in the restricted-area, 53.2% in the floater-area, 55.5% from mid-range, and the aforementioned 41.3% from three.

The good news for the Kings is that while Durant has excelled this season, the Suns as a team have not. In the 18 games Durant has scored 30+ points, Phoenix is 7-11. Not that the Kings can let Durant go for 50+ tonight, but it's possible to beat the Suns in spite of a big game from the star.

Keegan Murray with the ridiculous chase down block on Buddy Hield pic.twitter.com/ksdSBCDIbP
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) March 14, 2025

The player likely to get the defensive assignment is Keegan Murray, who has been playing great as of late. It will be a similar test to shutting down Kawhi Leonard. The games of Leonard and Durant are different, but the concept of guarding one of the league's best wins is the same for each.

In that Clippers game, Murray played tremendous defense. If he can match that defense outcome tonight, it should help the Kings get back in the win column in the must-win game. This feels like the type of game where Murray could have a huge impact but only score 7-10 points.

Stat predictions:

Keegan Murray: 12 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK

Kevin Durant: 27 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST, 0 STL, 2 BLK

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