Kevin Durant called the Phoenix Suns’ playoff exit “embarrassing” as they suffered a comprehensive and decisive loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series.
The Suns were crushed 125-100 on Thursday night when Nikola Jokic starred with a 32-point triple-double to send Denver to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2020.
For Phoenix it marked another premature exit in the midst of what has been considered a Championship window of sorts for the team, one season after losing to the Dallas Mavericks at the same stage in the playoffs and two seasons after their loss in the Finals. of the NBA against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“It sucked. It was a bad feeling. It was embarrassing,” Durant said after the game. “They came out and hit us in the mouth. We couldn’t recover. You have to give them credit for being a disciplined team.”
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The Suns’ championship aspirations were further heightened earlier this season when Durant arrived via trade from the Brooklyn Nets, uniting him with Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
Now he turns his attention to next season as he continues his quest for a third championship ring, his previous two victories coming in his time with the Golden State Warriors.
“I just try to control what I can, which is, you know, work extremely hard and put a lot of preparation into the game and my ability and then be there for the organization wherever they need me at any time,” he said. .
“I just make sure that my phone is open and, you know, the dialogue is there. So I’m sure we’ll communicate throughout the summer. But I think my job is to keep improving and keep finding ways to improve as a player.” .
Suns head coach Monty Williams took the blame for his team’s performance, which had drawn boos from the Phoenix home crowd in light of a 30-point halftime deficit.
The Suns had been missing starters in Paul and Deandre Ayton due to injury.
“81 points in the first half was disappointing, just to see them score like that and run down the court for easy buckets. That falls on my shoulders, not having us ready to play at the highest level in the biggest game of the year. Bottom line.” Williams said.
“The next 24 hours will be anything you can imagine. Don’t feel so good. I take it personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year. That’s something I take pride in and I just don’t it happened tonight. So that’s something I really have to look deep into everything I’m doing to allow us to be successful these days.”
Watch the Los Angeles Lakers @ Golden State Warriors in Game 6 live on Sky Sports Arena and Main Event from 3am early Saturday morning
