Kevin Durant always loved the rims at Barclays Center and he barely needed them on Wednesday as he dropped 33 to go along with eight assists and five rebounds.
The Nets, led by Cam Thomas with 25 and Mikal Bridges with 21 for the game, hung tough in the first half, trailing by just three points.
Once the third quarter hit, Phoenix blew the doors off Brooklyn with a 42-26 frame, including a stretch where the Suns went 14 of 16 from the field.
The Nets allowed the Suns to shoot 62 percent for the game and despite a late charge to cut the lead to just ten points inside 5 minutes remaining, the Nets couldn't get any closer.
Prior to the game, the Nets showed a tribute video to Durant, one that was rumored, and Durant indicated on X that he neither wanted nor deserved due to his short stint with the team.
The Nets are sinking into oblivion while the Suns seem to be finding their footing. Anything short of a Phoenix championship will be an utter failure during Durant's contract, which runs through the 2025-26 season.
The Nets, meanwhile, are mired in a brutal stretch of basketball. With the trade deadline seven days away, Sean Marks' future with the club may depend on how he positions this roster for both short-term and long-term success.
