Recruiting Kevin Durant (35), the ‘Championship Advocate’, was not fun either. The infernal history of the Phoenix military was repeated again.
The Phoenix Suns were completely defeated by the Denver Nuggets 100-125 in the 2022-2023 NBA Playoffs Round 2 Game 6 held at the Footprint Center, home stadium in Phoenix, Arizona, USA on the 12th. Phoenix was eliminated with 2 wins and 4 losses. Nikola Jokic played with Phoenix with 28 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals and 1 block shot.
It was a humiliating defeat. Phoenix, which suddenly collapsed from the second half of the first quarter, ended the first half with a 51-81 trailing 30 points, confirming an early defeat. Chris Paul (groin) and DeAndre Ayton (ribs) are out with injuries. Even ace Devin Booker showed extreme sluggishness with 12 points.
Durant also scored 23 points, but was unable to use his strength due to sluggish fielding in the first half. Regardless of his performance, Durant could not hide his miserable expression at the score difference of more than 20 points. It was a crushing defeat and elimination at home, so the sense of loss the home fans had was beyond imagination.
Phoenix’s tragedy continues from the past. In 1992, Phoenix acquired Dream Team top scorer Charles Barkley from Philadelphia for three players: Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang. Barkley led Phoenix to 62 wins and 1st in the West with 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists. Barkley won the regular league MVP.
Phoenix, who had been on a winning streak until the finals, collapsed in the 6th game against Michael Jordan’s Chicago, who were in their prime. Barkley showed off his fighting spirit by taking painkillers, but Jordan’s average of 41 points in the finals covered his outstanding performance. Phoenix, who had the chance to win until the end of Game 6, collapsed with one hit from John Faxon’s come-from-behind 3-point shot.
Even in the Steve Nash era of the 2000s, Phoenix was terribly unlucky. Phoenix, with Nash as captain and Amare Stoudemire and Sean Marion, advocated offensive basketball and gained popularity in the ‘run and gun’ style, but did not win a decisive championship. Nash led Phoenix to the top of the West and won MVP for two consecutive years from 2005-2006. However, Phoenix was caught on the ankle by San Antonio and Lakers at every gobi and could not even step on the finals. Nash remained the unlucky MVP.
Horrible history is repeating itself. Phoenix agreed to a mega-trade for Chris Paul and Abdul Nader in 2020 for Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre Jr., Ty Jerome, Jaylen Recu and a 2022 first-round pick.
Paul showed his true value by leading Phoenix to the finals in 2021. However, Phoenix suffered three consecutive losses in the series, which had been leading 2-1, and gave the championship to Milwaukee. Phoenix and Paul played the role of a folding screen in the first win of Giannis Antetocumbo, who exploded 50 points in Game 6 스포츠토토.
Phoenix, who once again shouted ‘win now’ by recruiting Durant in a super-large trade, was frustrated again and again. The starting pitchers are too old to cover the shallow player base with Durant alone. Ayton has no motivation compared to his annual salary, and his competitiveness has declined in confrontations with the best big men. After being eliminated, Ayton showed no desire to compete, such as smiling brightly and saying hello to Yokichi.
Given the age of Paul, who is now 38 years old, it is very pessimistic whether Phoenix will be able to challenge for the presidency again in the future. Despite the recruitment of the all-time leading scorer, Durant, Phoenix’s terrible tragedy continues.