'Every night isn't going to be my number': Kevin Durant on 4th-quarter scoring slump
Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant understands the chatter, but he isn’t losing sleep over it.
Durant has only scored four total points in the fourth quarter of his last three games on 2-of-7 shooting. He went scoreless on one shot attempt in playing all but 30 seconds of the fourth of Sunday’s 140-129 loss to Milwaukee to end a four-game road trip.
“It shouldn’t be just about what I’m doing,” Durant said after Sunday’s 11-point effort on just 4-of-10. “Offense is going to come. We have a nice team that can all score. Grayson can go off and make nine 3s. Book and Brad, we know what they can do. Every night isn’t going to be my number. My number isn’t going to be called every night. I’m not going to make the shots every night. Get 30 every night.”
"Grayson took my spot scoring. I had to do other shit. We got ourselves back in the game."
Kevin Durant 11 points, took 1 shot in 4th of #Suns loss to #Bucks.
"Defensively, we lost this game. My shot attempts, my points, I know it's a talking point but we scored enough points." pic.twitter.com/cH1YcXKC3h— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) March 17, 2024
Durant enters Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia nine points shy of passing Shaquille O’Neal for eighth all-time in scoring, but there’s also great interest in why perhaps the purest scorer the league has ever seen is only averaging 14.6 points in his last three games, 13 fewer than his season average of 27.6.
“Defensively, we lost this game,” continued Durant about Sunday’s loss, in which the Suns allowed 82 points in the first half as the Bucks shot 18-of-27 from deep in the half, 24-of-41 for the game.
“They made more 3s than us. They got hot in the first half, but my shot attempts and my points, I know that’s a talking point, but we scored enough points in my opinion.”
The 35-year-old Durant is fourth in the league in scoring, but he has scored a total of 44 points on 44 shot attempts in his last three games. Shooting 40.9% from the field (3-of-12 from 3), Durant took 19 shots against the Celtics, 15 versus Charlotte and 10 against the Bucks.
“Find ways to target him,” Suns All-Star Devin Booker said after Sunday’s loss. “Have your antenna up. Just know that we have one of the best scorers to ever do it. Give him the ball and watch him work.”
Durant pointed out that Grayson Allen provided the scoring punch in his place Sunday in delivering 25 on 8-of-14 shooting, going 6-of-11 from 3. Bradley Beal scored a game-high 28 points with 13 coming in the fourth and Royce O’Neale registered 14 in the final quarter, hitting 4-of-5 from 3.
The Suns scored 35 points in the fourth on 68.2% shooting, but they yielded 31 in losing by 11. The Bucks closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 15-point lead into the fourth.
“Shot don’t matter,” Durant said. “We got a 120-something points. Grayson took my spot scoring. I had to do other s--- and we got ourselves back in the game. They hit tough shots to finish.”
Durant played small ball five, a move that worked in cutting Milwaukee's 24-point lead to six in the third. He finished the game with nine rebounds, four assists to just one turnover, three steals and two blocks.
Durant is still shooting 52.6% from the field overall, 41.9% on 3s despite his recent dip in production and shooting percentage. Still, seeing him score just 11 points in 41 minutes, not score in the fourth and take just one shot in 11 minutes and 30 seconds of play in the final quarter is rather puzzling.
Suns coach Frank Vogel addressed Durant’s recent offensive output after Sunday’s game.
“He’s playing extra pass basketball,” he said. “He’s finding the big rolling. He’s playing unselfishly. Maybe he needs to be more assertive, but they’re also not leaving him. They’re basically playing a box-and-1 on him. They don’t leave him and as a result, we’re walking to the rim.”
The Suns scored 69 points in the second half on 62.2% shooting (11-of-22 from 3).
“We’re concerned with how our team efficiency looks more than any one guy,” Vogel continued. “We want all three of those guys (Booker, Durant and Beal) to get enough touches to be involved, but if they’re going to take him away and we have to play through other guys, we can do that.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kevin Durant scored just 4 points in 4th quarter of Suns' last 3 games
