Kevin Durant: Suns ‘Embarrassed Ourselves’ In Humbling Loss To Timberwolves

The Suns are struggling to maintain anything close to footing, with another disheartening loss on Sunday, this time to the Timberwolves. After leading by two points at halftime, the Suns were outpaced in the second half, ultimately falling 118-100, extending their recent woes.

“We didn’t play up to our standards at all,” All-Star forward Kevin Durant told reporters. “We embarrassed the fans and we embarrassed ourselves the way we played. I want us to be better.”

The Suns have now dropped 11 of their last 14 games, sitting at 28-33 — four games behind the Mavericks for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. They are closer in the standings to the teams directly below them, Portland (27-34) and San Antonio (25-34), than to Dallas (32-29).

Coach Mike Budenholzer voiced the urgency of the situation, acknowledging the need for improvement.

“We’ve got to go on a run, but it’s got to start,” Budenholzer said. “There’s no doubt that the standings, the circumstances that we’re in, there’s an awareness and we’ve got to do something to change it.”

The Suns, who finished 49-33 last season to secure the No. 6 seed in the West, are now at risk of missing the playoffs entirely. A first-round sweep by Minnesota in last year’s postseason prompted the firing of former coach Frank Vogel. Sunday’s loss marked Phoenix’s seventh consecutive defeat to the Timberwolves.

Devin Booker, who along with Durant and Bradley Beal, combined for 14 of the team’s 22 turnovers, explained that Phoenix could not match Minnesota’s physicality in the second half. Those turnovers resulted in 40 points for the Wolves, a major factor in the defeat.

“That’s why we lost,” Durant said. “Forty points off turnovers, tough to overcome that. They didn’t overpower us on the glass, we just gave them the ball.”

The Suns’ internal dynamics have also raised questions. NBA insider Chris Haynes recently reported that Budenholzer advised Booker to “tone it down vocally” during games. Booker, however, downplayed any concerns regarding his relationship with his coach, saying their conversations are standard for any player-coach dynamic.

“We’ve had multiple conversations. I can’t seem to find one that sticks out more than the others,” Booker said. “It’s a player/coach relationship. When things start going bad, everybody tries to point fingers to find out what’s wrong. People are going to come up with stuff. The relationship is great. We’re on the same page, we’re trying to win and that’s that.”