Phoenix superstar Kevin Durant is calling for a “next-man-up” mentality as the short-handed Suns prepare to host the equally depleted Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night.
After a bright start to the season, Phoenix has lost five of its past six games, including Saturday’s 109-105 defeat against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
The Suns led by nine points midway through the fourth quarter before floundering down the stretch.
Devin Booker was sidelined for the fifth game in a row with a left groin strain, forcing fellow All-Star Durant again to carry out the bulk of the heavy lifting.
“We definitely miss Book, you can’t replace what he brings to the team,” Durant said. “But when the game starts, we can’t think about that. We’ve got to have a next-man-up mentality. We want championships here in Phoenix. Moral victories don’t matter.”
Durant’s 31-point haul was offset by a season-high eight turnovers, including three in the final six minutes.
The 2014 MVP knows opposition defenses will continue to focus on him down the stretch, but that won’t stop him trying to make big plays.
“I’m playing against the whole team every time I get the ball,” Durant said. “I’m trying to make something happen late in the clock. Sometimes there’s four or five seconds left on the clock; what do you think a team is going to do when I get the ball with four seconds left in the game? They’re all sent out to try and stop (me), so I’m trying to make something happen.
“I’m trying to be aggressive through all of that, and I’m not going to let a couple turnovers take away my aggressiveness because my team needs me to score the ball, especially right now with the circumstances we’re in.”
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer wants his side to give Durant more room to work his craft.
“We talk about the spacing, we talk about clearing space for him – we’ve just got to continue to work on it,” Budenholzer said. “… The spacing has got to be a bit better.”
Grayson Allen (concussion protocol) is expected to return on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Bol Bol (left knee contusion) and Royce O’Neale are doubtful against Memphis. O’Neale was spotted in a walking boot after spraining his left ankle late in the first half against Golden State.
The Grizzlies will be without Ja Morant again as the guard deals with a Grade 1 AC joint sprain in his right shoulder. The team labeled Morant week-to-week on Monday.
Morant sat on the bench with his arm in a sling, while Zach Edey (concussion) was also absent, as Memphis slumped to a 130-106 blowout road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
Not much went right for the Grizzlies, who are in the middle of a challenging schedule.
The Arizona visit continues a five-game road swing for Memphis, which plays twice at home out of 11 games either side of the new year.
“We still have a lot of basketball ahead on this trip,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We’ve just got to find ways of getting better. We’ve been playing in crowds, turning it over too much – that’s something that we’ve got to really improve on, and our pace has got to improve.
“There’s some things we’ve got to clean up.”
–Field Level Media
