Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns’ superstar, needed 33 points against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night to overtake Shaquille O’Neal for the NBA’s all-time scoring record.
Everything was aligning up for Durant, who had just had a four-game string of 35 or more points snapped the night before, to pass Shaq. However, two games later, Durant remains in seventh position.
The Suns (39-29) defeated the Hornets 107-96, but Durant scored only 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Today, he had an even greater chance to pass Shaq, requiring only 20 points. He did, however, score a season-low 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting as the Suns lost 140-129 to the Milwaukee Bucks, who were missing Giannis Antetokounmpo. Durant took only one shot in the fourth quarter and scored three points on 1-of-4 shooting in the second half.
Suns fans, as well as the game’s announcers, were perplexed as to why Durant, who is fourth in the NBA with an average of 28.1 points per game, was not shooting.
“My shots do not matter. I mean, we scored 120-something points tonight. “Grayson (Allen) took my spot scoring tonight,” Durant told Arizona Central’s Duane Rankin after the game. “I had to do other things. We got back into the game, but they made tough shots to finish.”
Allen, who averages 13.2 points per game, scored 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting in his return to Milwaukee.
“We’re too concerned with how many points I’m scoring,” Durant stated. “We won the prior game, and we scored (129) points this game; it shouldn’t only be about what I’m doing. Offense is going to happen. We have a nice team that can all score. Grayson has the ability to hit nine threes. We know what Book (Devin Booker) and Brad (Bradley Beal) can do. My number isn’t going to be called every night, and I’m not going to hit the shots or get 30 every night, you know what I mean?
In the first half, the Bucks scored 82 points and tied an NBA record by making 18 3-pointers. Milwaukee finished 24-of-41 from three, while the Suns shot 14-of-33.
“Defensively, we lost this game,” Durant explained. “They hit more threes than us, and they were hot in the first half. My shot attempts and scores are the main talking points, but I believe we got enough points.”
Durant now has this number to pass O’Neal down to nine for Phoenix’s next game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, but the Suns have much more to be concerned about. Phoenix is now in ninth place in the Western Conference with the loss and Dallas’ victory today.