<\/p>\n
New team, same Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n
The Durant era in Phoenix got off to solid start Wednesday night (US time) with the 13-time NBA All-Star scoring 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, adding an explosive offensive element to an already dangerous offense in his Suns debut.<\/p>\n
Durant, playing for his fourth team in the last seven seasons, added six rebounds and two blocks as Phoenix beat the Charlotte Hornets 105-91.<\/p>\n
Watch an average of 9 LIVE NBA Regular Season games per week on ESPN on Kayo Sports on ESPN on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now ><\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Thu, 02 Mar<\/p>\n Thursday March 2nd<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019ve played in almost a thousand basketball games, but today I was nervous,\u201d Durant said. \u201cIt\u2019s a new team, new group, and I want to play hard for them and be coachable. So, I was thinking about all that today.\u201d<\/p>\n Durant said despite his success, he still feels like he has something to prove to his teammates and coaches. New team, same Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel there is pressure on me and who I am every day,\u201d Durant said. \u201cI put that on me.\u201d<\/p>\n Devin Booker seemed to feed off Durant, scoring 37 points in the win.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just a pure basketball player,\u201d Durant said about Booker.<\/p>\n Coming off a knee injury that has kept him out of action since Jan. 8, Durant was limited to 27 minutes while on a playing-time restriction.<\/p>\n Wearing No. 35, Durant was greeted by a loud ovation as he was introduced at the Spectrum Center and fans held up cell phones straining to record video of him in his white jersey.<\/p>\n He missed a foul line jumper on his team\u2019s first possession, but scored his first basket with the Suns a few moments later on a driving left-handed layup. Durant followed with a block on Hornets rookie center Mark Williams and then knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing as Phoenix bolted to a 9-0 lead it would never surrender.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t perfect in his return, turning the ball over twice, including once when he dribbled off his own leg while driving to the left.<\/p>\n \u201cWe scripted a lot in practice but when you get out on the floor it is a totally different deal,\u201d Suns coach Monty Williams said. \u201cSo there were some hiccups as to what play we were running and that kind of thing. But it\u2019s pretty cool to be able to give a guy the ball and he can get to a spot and get off a really good shot.\u201d<\/p>\n The 13-time All-Star was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster deal in which the Suns parted ways with Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round picks. He was the last of the big three to be traded away by Brooklyn, joining James Harden and Kyrie Irving before him.<\/p>\n Like Durant\u2019s previous stops in Seattle, Oklahoma City, Golden State and Brooklyn, the expectations are high \u2014 and there is a different level of excitement with his arrival.<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel it,\u201d Williams said. \u201cYou feel it at the (team) hotel when people are lined up outside. You feel it in the gym. \u2026 Yeah, I feel it. I learned a long time ago that pressure and expectations are a privilege and you have to embrace those things because that is where the good stuff is.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams admitted that anything less than an NBA championship this season would feel like a disappointment, but added that is true of any of the league\u2019s top teams.<\/p>\n Durant\u2019s has been through plenty during his 15-year NBA career, but this is the first time he\u2019s joined a new team midway through the season.<\/p>\n The Suns hope Durant\u2019s addition gets them over the hump after losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games in the 2021 NBA Finals.<\/p>\n The Suns (34-29) are in fourth place in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n Williams expects Durant will have a major positive impact on his new teammates, which include Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s more than a generational talent, he\u2019s a historic talent,\u201d Williams said. \u201cFrom that standpoint you can use your imagination, just from a scoring standpoint. But I have tried to have an open mind about it not to box him in and say \u2018he\u2019s going to be this, this and that.\u2019 So I\u2019m looking forward to it as much as everybody else is.\u201d<\/p>\n Hornets coach Steve Clifford said the Suns are going to be a tough out in the playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cThey now have the number one thing that you have to have to win close games in the playoffs \u2013 they have two guys who can draw help without the aid of the pick-and-roll,\u201d Clifford said. \u201cSo if you just give Booker the ball, you have to help. You can\u2019t guard him one-on-one. If you give Kevin the ball, nobody can guard him one-on-one. Nobody. Then you throw in the Chris Paul pick-and-roll piece with Ayton, the way he\u2019s grown.<\/p>\n \u201cPlayoff basketball is going to come down to, and it\u2019s always been the same thing, how many guys on the court can get a shot on their own, and then what can they do when they draw help? And they\u2019re two of the best guys in the league. It certainly puts them in the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n Durant has spent the past couple of weeks getting to know his new teammates on a personal level, as well as how they operate on the floor while mostly watching from the sideline as he recovers from a sprained knee that has kept him out since Jan. 8.<\/p>\n He said his knee has been pain-free for the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cMan, I missed the game,\u201d Durant said, \u201cI\u2019m excited. Looking forward to the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was originally published at the New York Post and was republished with permission.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n KNICKS DESTROY NETS IN STATEMENT WIN FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT VICTORY<\/b><\/p>\n Zach Braziller, New York Post<\/i><\/p>\n Tom Thibodeau made the comparison first, based on the work ethic and leadership his best players, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, have displayed.<\/p>\n His rampaging team is reminding him of the late 1990s Knicks that were an annual playoff contender.<\/p>\n It certainly has felt like those halcyon days lately at MSG, when the Knicks were a force and the postseason was inevitable, and it sure had that kind of vibe Wednesday night.<\/p>\n The white-hot Knicks treated the Nets like a sparring partner, not at all allowing Monday\u2019s big win over the Celtics to let them get ahead of themselves.<\/p>\n Newcomer Josh Hart has said the Knicks can make a postseason run, and the way they are playing right now, who\u2019s to argue?<\/p>\n The Knicks equalled a franchise record with 14 first-half 3-pointers, shot a robust 60 percent from the field and annihilated the crumbling Nets, 142-118, at a joyous and sold-out Garden for their seventh straight win.<\/p>\n They also won for the sixth straight time at home, after struggling so much in their own building, and pulled to within one game in the loss column of the fourth-place Cavaliers.<\/p>\n After losing nine straight to the Nets, they have beaten their intracity rivals twice in a row, both in dominant fashion.<\/p>\n Embiid launches phenomenal but futile 3! | 00:41<\/p>\n The Nets are obviously very different now, after trading Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and the Knicks reminded them of that painful fact with a thorough beatdown.<\/p>\n There was no letup. Hart was diving into the crowd and Brunson drawing charges with the game well in hand.<\/p>\n Thibodeau even challenged a blocking call with the Knicks up 26 and 4:58 left. He won the challenge.<\/p>\n It was that kind of night for the Knicks. Brunson poured in 39 points to lead six Knicks in double figures. Quentin Grimes added 22 and Randle notched 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Knicks made 20 of 35 from 3-point land.<\/p>\n Cameron Johnson had 33 points for the Nets, who have lost four in a row and six of seven.<\/p>\n Randle sank the Knicks\u2019 first field-goal attempt of the game, a tough-angle right-corner 3-pointer deep into the shot clock.<\/p>\n It was a sign of what was to come in an electric night at the Garden. The Knicks hit six of their first seven 3-point attempts and sank nine of 11 after one quarter in which they piled up 47 points \u2014 the second-most in franchise history \u2014 and 10 assists.<\/p>\n The second quarter didn\u2019t see much improvement for the Nets. The Knicks scored 34 more in that stanza, and produced their most points in a half since scoring 82 on Nov. 29, 2008, against the Warriors.<\/p>\n Brunson was basically automatic, scoring 30 points in the half on 12 of 14 shooting.<\/p>\n Every Knick besides Randle shot at least 50 percent from the field, as they hit 68 percent of their attempts in an awesome shooting display that saw all Knicks score.<\/p>\n The Knicks received an ovation from the crowd as Brunson dribbled at the top of the key in their final possession of the second quarter.<\/p>\n He then put an exclamation mark on the brilliant 24 minutes with a pretty floater in the lane. It was such a good night for the Knicks that they were only outscored by one in the third quarter despite committing four turnovers and playing sloppy and sluggish.<\/p>\n