Kevin Durant and his Phoenix Suns faced a Memphis Grizzlies team without Ja Morant and eight players on the last day of 2024.
Kevin Durant and his Phoenix Suns could not beat a Memphis Grizzlies team without Ja Morant and eight players
Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns were touted as a dark horse in this season’s NBA title fight. However, they have struggled off late due to various problems on the basketball end. But when they faced a Memphis Grizzlies team earlier today without Ja Morant and eight other players they were touted as favorites to win.
Along with Ja Morant, stars Marcus Smart, Santi Aldama, Zach Edey and few others out meant the Grizzlies were going to find it hard to win against this Suns team. The trio of Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker are usually enough to scare opponents.
The Phoenix Suns did not get the best of starts at home as the Grizzlies opened a 10-point lead. That lead continued to stretch until half-time after Beal left the game with an injury. Coming out of the second half, Durant and his teammates were expected to pick up the pace and turn it around.
They did that in the third quarter as they brought the deficit down by nine points. But in the fourth quarter the Memphis Grizzlies showed what a well-coached team can do. They went toe-to-toe with the Suns to ensure they won the game with a final score of 117-112.
When one watches the game replay, it becomes evident that the Grizzlies capitalized on the Suns struggles from the field. In particular was Devin Booker, who shot poorly from all areas of the court. That did not help his teammates as they struggled to close the gap in the latter stages of the game.
Fans stunned by Kevin Durant and Suns losing winnable game
Basketball fans have been hearing about the Phoenix Suns and all the noise of Kevin Durant and the squad being good enough to win an NBA title. In all fairness, their opening 8-1 run did prove that. But since then, they have lost 16 games to 7. Even then fans hoped the franchise could close out the year with a win over an injury riddled Grizzlies.
But this result left them shocked, and they took to social media to ask questions about the state of the franchise. Check out examples of those reactions and comments below.
The fact that the Phoenix Suns have collapsed might be worrying as the careers of three superstars is at risk. On top of that, their owner Mat Ishbia wants to win an NBA title and is spending a lot of his own money to ensure that happens. The team will have to climb out of this rut soon.