Booker on Durant’s Suns debut: ‘It was a good time’

CHARLOTTE — Kevin Durant only missed five shots in his Phoenix Suns debut Wednesday at Spectrum Center.

Felt like he should have made four of those misfires.

This is after having not played since Jan. 8 when he suffered a right MCL sprain at Miami.

This is after being pain-free for just “a couple of weeks” with the knee.

This is on a night when he was actually nervous taking the court.

“New environment, new situation, new teammates,” Durant said. “I always feel like I got to prove myself to my teammates and my coaches every day no matter what I’ve done in the league.”

This is Kevin Durant, the one who Phoenix traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first round picks and a pick swap to Brooklyn to get, along with T.J. Warren, right before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

Durant finished with 23 points on 10of-15 shooting in 27 minutes of Phoenix’s 105-91 win over Charlotte before a sellout crowd of 19,137 that saw a glimpse of what the Suns (34-29) could be with one of the greatest players ever in the NBA.

“It was a good time,” Devin Booker said. “I enjoyed it.”

Here are five takeaways from Wednesday’s game as Booker scored a game-high 37 points while Deandre Ayton posted 16 points and 16 rebounds. The Suns led by as many as 20 points and never trailed against the Hornets (20-44), who were without injured LaMelo Ball (right ankle fracture).

‘Pretty cool’

Monty Williams has coached players who can get off their own shot.

He’s been coaching two of them in Chris Paul and Booker.

He coached Anthony Davis as a head coach in New Orleans and saw Joel Embiid monster truck folks while working as an assistant in Philadelphia, but Durant makes it look easier than it should.

“It’s pretty cool to be able to give a guy the ball and he can get to his spot and get a really good shot,” Williams said.

Charlotte clearly didn’t have anyone who could guard Durant. The Hornets tried Gordon Hayward and Kelly Oubre Jr. on him. They had their moments, but Durant got to where he wanted for the most part – and felt he could’ve gotten even better shots with another dribble here or there.

Durant X bench = unknown?

The question will be when Phoenix faces a team that can consistently force him into tougher shots, what will the other four players on the court do in those moments, especially when he’s out there with the second unit?

The Suns opened the fourth up six with Jock Landale, Ish Wainright, Cameron Payne, Josh Okogie, who started the game, and Durant.

They later brought in Damion Lee for Okogie, leaving Durant with four reserves.

When Paul returned for Payne with 8:05 left, the Suns led by 10 as Durant scored seven straight points after Payne hit a 3. Payne was the only reserve to make a shot during that stretch.

Terrence Ross would’ve likely been out there but he sat out Wednesday’s game with a sore right toe.

The combinations and rotations are a work in progress, but if Durant is going to open the fourth with, say, three or four reserves, who those guys will be against the better team will be huge.

Booker and Ayton

Durant was all smiles talking about how Booker and Ayton opened the game being aggressive despite being on the court with him.

Booker took seven shots in the first quarter and all three each scored 12 points in the first half. Ayton attempted the same number of shots as Durant in the first half with eight.

“That’s what we need,” Durant said. “They’ve been playing that same way all year.

Someone has been watching Suns basketball in his spare time while with Brooklyn.

Just a hunch.

Booker got it going early and didn’t stop to pass go at any point, but he finished with seven assists with an early one on a Durant 3 in the first quarter.

He usually plays with high energy, but the atmosphere of being on the court with Durant took it to another level Wednesday.

This team is going to command more attention than even the squad that reached the 2021 finals or the one that won a franchise-record 64 games last season.

Curious to see how Booker and Ayton both respond on a nightly basis to the heightened madness for this team.

And Paul

Paul has had bad shooting games this season.

2-of-8 vs. Clippers

0-of-7 at Pistons

1-of-6 vs. Hawks

This was all last month.

He always bounces back with better shooting efforts. So, while his 1-of-8 effort (0-for-4 from 3) looks rough, Paul had 11 assists, but also committed three turnovers.

This may be an adjustment for him to find his role in an offense because he won’t have the ball all the time with Durant and Booker on the floor.

Durant did work off the ball early, but later found opportunities to work out of the mid-post area.

Paul has been playing off the ball more this season than probably his entire career other than his time in Houston with James Harden.

The change will be from having the ball at the top of the key running pickand-roll to catching it off ball movement and either shooting an open shot, moving the ball or reading the defense to make a play.

Those decisions are going to impact possessions.

Being hesitant in those moments regardless of whether his shot is falling or not is something to watch in the next few games.

Hornets battled

This is a different game if Ball was out there.

He’s a special talent. Tough seeing him go down, but Charlotte got a teamhigh 26 points out of Oubre after a 4point first half on 1-of-11 shooting. He and Terry Rozier, who scored 20, got the Hornets back in the game.

The loss snapped their season-long five-game win streak. They could easily start tanking now to improve their chances to win the lottery and land 7footer sensation Victor Wembanyama, but they’re a competitive team with some talent.

They got it down to six early in the fourth before Durant’s 7-0 run pushed Phoenix’s lead back to 12. Without Durant, this is a winnable game for Charlotte.

With him, no chance, especially in his Suns debut.