Building Off Kevin Durant’s Best Game With the Phoenix Suns Plus Miles Bridges Trade Rumors

Building Off Kevin Durant’s Best Game With the Phoenix Suns Plus Miles Bridges Trade Rumors

On today’s episode of Locked on Phoenix Suns why Monday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls was the best we’ve seen from Kevin Durant in a son’s uniform and how the Suns can keep that magic going let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the

Locked on podcast Network your team every day We are back this is lockon Phoenix Suns we are part of the lockon podcast Network I’m your host Brendan clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons a writer at suns.com and the host of the just basketball show wherever you get your

Podcast a big thank you for making locked on suns your first listen to kick off your Wednesday another Sun’s Game day and a big one I know people don’t care about rivalry week in the NBA they’re trying to make it a thing and it’s not but it’s on ABC and it is the

Dallas Mavericks so there you go thank you for joining us today to get ready for that game if you have not already hit follow hit subscribe get a new show in your feed every single Monday through Friday become an every dayer get locked on to the Phoenix Suns all season long

Game recaps news trade rumors like we’re going to talk about today and some good analysis throughout which is where we’ll start Today’s Show looking at Kevin Durant and this win streak Today’s Show brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you

Place a $5 bet just visit fanduel.com lockon to get started okay I had this as a question at first and it’s not a question was Kevin Durant the best he’s been on Monday night ever in his son’s uniform ever of course like a year was that the

Best game we’ve ever seen Kevin Durant play for the Phoenix Suns but the answer is just yes the answer is just flat out yes this was his fourth 40-point game of the season all right but well one of them came literally on Sunday night before the Monday night but PRI prior to

That the first one was against the Pistons in a 14-point win on November 5th the second one was at Portland if you remember that game which was a loss and he had five turnovers in that game and obviously it was a an L to a bad team Sunday against Chicago was pretty

Darn good but again just two turnovers and no trips to the free throw line just a weird game I’m not going to take it away from him he was incredible made a million very good shots got out in transition did everything else but this one was the best one you even look back

To last season he joins the Suns and gives an all-time performance in his third game at Dallas Sunday afternoon March 5th he is 12 of 17 from the field gets to the line 11 times and also hits the game winner I think that would have been my

Number two or it would have been my number one before Monday night because you look at the playoffs his best game last year in the postseason was a 39-point performance against Denver in game three from a pure points and assists standpoint he had 399 and8 in that game with zero turn turnovers

But he only shot 39% from the field that was the one with a uh an ugly first half if you remember and then game four he is a lot better in terms of efficiency still gets to the line a ton but has five turnovers in that game and

They win but you know that was still not quite there so Monday night we saw the best game that Kevin Durant has played in his son’s uniform 43 6 and8 and not only the game winner but I don’t think whatever I don’t know if I spent enough time on the game winner last

Night and honestly uh hello I’m back from the dead on the YouTube channel apologize to all of you viewers awful night to have some technical difficulties recorded the entire podcast and then noticed that the settings on the audio were such that for some reason the platform we used to

Record was picking up my laptop microphone itself which I don’t utilize I have my laptop closed when I’m recording these shows and it is plugged into a dock and I have a nice Monitor and some lights and a microphone so in other words not a word

Of my audio got through and it was uh not fixable but for those of you who found it on the audio feed that is always an option Apple and Spotify I record backups on purpose so you can always find a show there if you don’t see one

On the YouTube channel but the point I was making is I may not have spent enough time on the game winner itself in that show and just watching it back a couple times on Tuesday when I woke up and wasn’t so uh you know sleep deprived and everything

The dude had two incredible things happen on that play he won R Chicago’s defense on the inbound pass so well that when the ball goes to nurkic dur is supposed to come I believe toward the corner toward the wing or at the very least just kind of come get the ball and

Instead he cuts the other direction to get away from the to just go faster and nurkic finds him I compared the pass from nurkic to like you know when you throw a pingpong ball to the other side of the table when somebody else is serving and it kind of barely clears it

And you’re like nice I I know what I’m doing here I have the Bounce Down that was kind of what that nage pass was and then so KD reads that catches the ball on that pass has the wherewithal to to to set that up and then the double

Clutch is just something else you know to be aware while you’re shooting like that is is crazy it’s not like a hand was in his face and he’s trying to just sort of give himself some more time or have some arc on the the shot or something it was purely because Caruso

Was trying to contest from I it’s not even behind more like above over the top and Durant was able to again double clutch get that shot up from the free throw line so incredible stuff best game as a sun hopefully a sign of many more to

Come the way that will happen the way that it will be one of more to come is if the suns are able to take lessons from that game and obviously in particular that means the other guys who have the ball in their hand Booker Beal and nurkic

And it was a perfect example right of one thing yes Durant is versatile everybody who talks about him throws out the line of you know most malleable Superstar maybe an NBA history that does not mean that you should make him him do things where he is less impactful right remember

Speaking of the postseason last year we all were watching and we’re like man these box scores are incredible but a lot of these games it doesn’t feel like Durant is having the max impact that he possibly can in this game he did right and that’s because rather than saying well he’s

Versatile so he can space the floor and he can be a passer and we can put him on the best offensive player on the other team it also can just mean that he can kill your opponent flat out by himself you know and this is the first game this is the

First back-to-back set of games all season where Durant has taken 25 or more shots in back-to-back games well no actually there’s one other one Toronto and Denver on the 29th of November into the the 1st of December but what you’ll remember about those games is that was when he was the only

Star Booker and Beal played and yet Durant put up that many shots yes he was hot but that doesn’t always go far enough there are plenty of great teams in the NBA who don’t find the hot hand plenty of star teammates who have struggled to figure that out

And the suns are clicking in that way this was the best game Duran has played in a son as a son it has it happened because his teammates made it happen and he finished the job if the Suns want to see more of these types of games he’s not going to

Score 40 every night but games where they are getting the full extent of the Kevin Durant experience on the offensive side of the floor especially it’s going to take effort it’s going to take awareness he’s at the peak of his season right now offensively defensively everything is working I’m not saying run

Every set through him but I’m saying keep it rolling when he is cooking like this and right now he’s cooking so are the Suns let’s talk about the numbers behind their six-game win streak what’s driving it what’s working what’s not working what can get even better first Today’s Show brought to you by

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Only two teams besides the Suns to be on that type of streak right now are the Cavs and the Sixers the Sixers have also won their past six games as have the Cavs I believe the Cavs are on an eight game win streak in the past two weeks during that 60

Streak the Suns have the 12th a plus 12 net rating which is third in the NBA that is a 124 offensive rating a 122 defensive rating and that is fourth in offense sixth in defense in the league they are rolling there’s no real other way to cut that something interesting we’ve seen

Right outside of the Pelicans game the suns have I don’t want to say needed a dominant second half but there have been some close games that they’ve come they’ve they’ve pulled away at the end right the first half during this six game streak in the past six Suns games

They have a plus4 net rating in the first half so they’re outscoring teams by an average of four points per 100 possessions in first halves if you were to extrapolate that out in the second half during this streak they have a plus 15 net rating so they have closed the door when

They have needed to now when you try to just look at Fourth quarters even during the past six games it’s still not pretty I’m not going to sugarcoat that but the suns are 16th in net rating in fourth quarters during this stretch that’s good news right I know that Kings game was

Primarily the big the biggest fourth quarter that we’ve seen you know the fourth quarter against Chicago on Monday night for instance Suns out they outscored Chicago by nine not bad on Sunday against Indiana they outscored the Pacer they were outscored by the Pacers by one so it’s coming

Along you know if you were to look at the full season the suns are still 30th in the league in fourth quarter net rating the offense in particular is what has fallen off of a cliff in those moments that’s probably the best sign you would have to say from this stretch

Is that the Suns have the a 13.6 offensive rating in fourth quarters during this win streak they only have like a 104 offensive rating in fourth quarters across the whole season just ugly ugly ugly I don’t know other another way to put it but that’s the that’s the magic right

That’s been their recipe they have been able to come alive late in these games and get closing performances from everybody is the other good part of this right I I tweeted this on Monday night that the past three Suns winds which have all been impressive in different

Ways they’ve also all been closed by different players in different ways right book had 52 on Friday night last week against the Pelicans did I say 42 52 they didn’t even really need him to be awesome in the fourth quarter Sunday night I know Durant had

40 in that game and I got some push back but it was Beal who closed that game especially on the offensive end he had a few nice finishes inside late when the Suns just needed to attack Indiana’s small ball look and Beal was the one to do that and then obviously Monday night

Against the Bulls it’s Durant the whole second half 30 points and the game winner that’s probably the single biggest thing that is working for this team during this stretch you know you’re you’re seeing still not a lot of anything from the bench right I mean

I’m not going to go through it and have make myself have to have it be numbers just since I said the numbers behind the win streak but you know vogle said to me flat out on on Monday night that the rotation is is very much matchup dependent right now Case by case they

Have six guys who are playing real minutes beyond that it is anybody’s guess what exactly the the rotation is going to be and when Gordon is out like he was on Monday and and he’s questionable for Wednesday’s game against Dallas you really never know you really never know

What it’s going to look like but the the suns are 11 points better per 100 possessions with Booker on the court that’s especially the case on the offensive end of the Court they’re in the positive in terms of onoff differential with all three of the big three on the court now so no

Matter what the combination is no matter who else is healthy no matter what the lineup is they have been better with their big three out there and that is obviously good to see lineup wise when Beal Durant and Booker are all on the court the suns

Are the Suns have I should say an offensive rating if this page will load which it really really doesn’t want to thank you 128 offensive rating that is Elite stuff they have a what I would call passable defensive rating it is about 113 which compared to the rest of the

NBA a 113 defensive rating would put them basically in the top 10 somewhere around 10th if they’re there the rest of the league the rest of the season if they’re able to have their best lineups on the court more often in the postseason and that is where their defensive rating lands that’s good

Enough to win a championship in my opinion when you add Grayson Allen and all four of those guys are on the court the offensive rating goes up to 130 now that’s where things get a little bit interesting right and most of this sample size has been during this win

Streak obviously beill got back a little bit before that but the defensive rating with those four so the big three plus Grayson is not as good it’s one basically 1186 that would put the Suns at 24th in the NBA if you were to put that over the

Course of a season that is not good enough to win a championship 120 uh a 118.5 defensive rating that’s not not going to cut it so I mean look the the the rest of this season is going to be about pulling the triggers and pushing the buttons to

Find the right mix here the death lineup which we really have only seen during this six-game win streak when all five of those guys are on the court so the four I was just talking about plus Eric Gordon only 19 minutes played really basically just in the Kings game and the Pacers game

But they’ve been able to to just destroy in those minutes 159 offensive rating 105 defensive rating those were both lead the league by a mile but again it’s only 19 minutes this six game win streak has shown us how the big three can click how

Powerful it can be when they do the fact that you don’t need to have all of them play great every night to win which is huge and some lineup combinations that can be dominant and be different varied what the rest of the season will be about and what the deadline might help

Them get closer to is building out the rest of what this team can be and what the identity is going to be you can’t always put offense only lineups out there what do the defense lineups look like how do the Suns stars make those lineups playable when

Somebody like a kada bate stot might need to be out there to guard Demar D rozan or Josh aogi might need to be out there to guard let’s say a Jamal Murray a James Harden to just go through some of the playoff matchups maybe Shay Gil just Alexander maybe Anthony Edwards how

Do they do that what is the backup center situation is it just going to be Durant we now have questions that we know the Suns need to answer before we couldn’t even ask questions before beill got back and especially before Beal clicked in like he has during this

Streak the rest of the season will be about answering those questions one question I hope we do not have to ask is why the suns are pursuing miles Bridges reports would indicate that they are I know talent-wise people may think I’m ridiculous I will tell you my thoughts on the bridges rumors

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Scored a ton of points I think the Chiefs will have answers there even if it’s a blowout and the Ravens were to win at home and just destroy Kansas City which I don’t know but they’ve done that this year those games were still like 35

To9 35 to uh 36 to9 I think it was like 3514 whatever those B they’ve all gone over is my point now you don’t have to take my advice that’s just my thoughts live same game parlays the explore tab the parlay Hub all of it at fanduel.com

Lockon to make your first bet a layup FanDuel official partner of the NFL and the NBA let’s close out the show talking about miles Bridges usually I would not address stuff that is from One Source that’s not like a national Insider or doesn’t make a lot of sense to me and

This one doesn’t make a lot of sense to me but it’s not is from one place anymore and so I think it’s worth talking about I also think it’s worth talking about because I have strong feelings on it miles Bridges apparently is somebody the Suns have have eyes for right now reportedly the

Phnx flex from Jersey as well as Gerald boray some combination of those two seem to have that and John gambadoro and some other people around the internet miles bridg is currently without getting too deep into the weeds because once it gets into legal stuff it can just be

Boring and maybe not always important the exact specifics he’s under probation for three years starting early last year I believe he broke that probation in the fall of 2023 around the time that he was due back to the the Hornets by breaking the uh protective order that the judge had granted to his

Ex as well as his children he broke that by you know harassing the ex smashing in the windshield of her vehicle and doing so while their child was in the car Bridges was supposed to have a court hearing related to that break of his probation and the break of the protective

Order sometime within the past month or two that got pushed to late February of this year so after the trade deadline we don’t know what the the fate of that will be I’ve seen a lot of different feelings and I’m honestly going to largely avoid the personal ethics

Or second chance granting and all that stuff you can have whatever opinion you want about that and I know Sports can sometimes Force us to be a little bit hotter and colder and Blacker and whiter on that stuff than we want to be right he has to something has to be determined

About these guys fate as professional athletes even if we’re not sure what they did in the meantime right and yes oh it’s just their job and sure but they have a spotlight and things that are just different than other people there’s a reason that celebrities and and actors

And and athletes and all this stuff that we cover this stuff because it’s just different and I get that I’m not trying to be naive I don’t know if the Suns have the assets to go get miles Bridges he’s on a one-year deal he’s on a cheap one-year deal because he took

The qualifying offer because of his crime right the original probation that he’s on is related to domestic abuse to his wife and I his ex partner I don’t know if they were married and I would also say his his child who was you know there was video of all this

Stuff many you know years back at this point so it’s impossible and should not be ignored why he is a an acquirable player in the first place if if you’re making the push to pursue that player you’re taking advantage of of a situation that was created because of

The bad behavior in the first place so it’s it’s it’s just impossible to set it aside right and it shouldn’t be set aside while we’re in the realm of the the here and now and the the ma the micro you also don’t know what his situation will

Become right he he has actively done something that goes against his legal situation and that is not resolved so you’re you’re you’re choosing to be the team that employs him while the legal system plays out his punishment right that’s not common I know that there is such a thing

As being continuing to be employed while you’re going through a criminal situation and I’m sure I’m in support of that that employment does not have to be the top basketball league in the world that employment does not have to be a basketball player at all but whatever again we can set some

Of that aside what the Suns would be doing though is choosing to insert themselves and and and actively make sacrifices obviously by way of making a trade giving stuff up to insulate Bridges be his employer during something that they can’t foresee the outcome of something where he could

Continue to to make mistes mistakes as he’s already done something where the judge could come down with a punishment for the mistakes he’s already made that jeopardizes his ability to play in basketball games he has two years left of his probation he’s not demonstrated that he

Can live up to the commitment that he made to you know agreed to those terms with the judge to behave like that the NBA cowardly in a cowardly way refused to come down with an actual punishment for Miles Bridges they treated a portion of the end of last season after his

Probation had started as part of his punishment retroactively it’s pathetic what they did they skirted any sort of precedent or anything in order to seemingly just make it easier for him and I’m not too sure why the Hornets chose to maintain the asset quote unquote rather than just cutting

Him which is again why he’s on this contract so while sure the Suns could use a three and D or a two way forward yeah that would make them better hell yeah man six-man incoming go Sons sure it would not only display a tolerance to knowingly employ people who

Continue to abuse their spouses and their families let’s say but it would be a choice to do that it would be an active would be an action that they’re taking to bring that into the organization to bring that upon themselves I don’t know why you would ever do that

While the situation is still go is still playing out if the answer is just to win well salute to you Matt ishia James Jones Frank vogle and whoever else salute hope you get hope you get the wins uh I’m not going to I’m not going to cheerlead for that

We’ll see if it happens that’ll wrap us up for the day enjoy the Suns Mavs game check back on the audio feed for a preview of the Suns Mavs game on Wednesday Audio Only so no YouTube there 15 20 minutes getting you ready for one

Of the more fun games of the season in Dallas it’s always great when those two teams match up especially coming off the Christmas game that’ll do it I’ll have a recap of that show next on Wednesday and I’ll talk to you then

The Phoenix Suns got two signature Kevin Durant games in a row this week. How can they build on them?

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans answers that question before breaking down the trends behind the Suns’ six-game win streak. Then, making sense of the Miles Bridges trade rumors.

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