Kevin Durant hits milestone as Phoenix Suns beat Dallas Mavericks 114-102
PHOENIX – Kevin Durant recorded 31 points and nine rebounds to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 114-102 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Oct 26.
Durant also became the eighth player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to top 29,000 career points. He finished the game with 29,010.
Said the 36-year-old two-time NBA champion: “I’ve got to give credit to the people who have helped me since I was a kid. Teammates who passed me the ball, set screens for me, coaches who drew up plays for me.”
His current coach Mike Budenholzer added: “What a tribute to a great, generational talent. I feel incredibly lucky to be around him every day.”
Devin Booker scored 21 points, Jusuf Nurkic had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Ryan Dunn tallied 13 points for the Suns.
Luka Doncic had 40 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Mavericks. Kyrie Irving scored 22 points and Klay Thompson added 19.
Phoenix shot 45 per cent from the field, including 14 of 39 from three-point range. The Suns played without Bradley Beal (elbow) and Grayson Allen (away for the birth of his child).
The Mavericks made 39.8 per cent of their field-goal attempts and were 13 of 41 from behind the arc. Doncic and Thompson each made five treys.
Dallas trailed by eight at the break but started strong in the third quarter with a 12-5 push to move within 68-67 with 9min 11sec left. Phoenix answered with a 15-4 push that was capped by Durant’s fadeaway jumper with 4:26 remaining for an 83-71 lead.
The Suns led 91-80 entering the final quarter before the Mavericks crept within six. Dunn and Durant made threes and Durant added a conventional three-point play to push the Phoenix lead to 105-90 with 6:44 left.
