Kevin Durant revelled in hitting the winning shot against the Phoenix Suns, claiming afterwards he had been “booted out” by his former team last summer.
Durant joined the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster trade that involved seven teams in July. And on his first appearance against his old employers he had the last laugh, sinking a 27-foot shot with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the Rockets a 100-97 win.
It capped a strong performance from the 37-year-old, who scored 26 points to help Houston move to 22-11 for the season.
Durant enjoys winning moment
Durant admitted it was a sweet moment given the opponent.
“Most definitely,” Durant said. “A place that I didn’t want to leave. My first time – I don’t want to sound too dramatic, but I will – to be kicked out of a place.
“It feels good to play against a team that booted you out of the building and scapegoated you for all the problems they had. And it hurt because I put all my effort and love and care towards the Suns and the Phoenix area and Arizona in general. But that’s just the business, that’s the name of the game. So, when you play against a [former] team, yeah, you got a chip on your shoulder.”
Durant spent two full seasons with Phoenix after moving from the Brooklyn Nets in February 2023, ending as an All-Star in both.
“It’s nothing but love for the players, but I want to beat that team,” Durant said. “I want to show them that I still got some juice in the tank. Even though I’m old, I still can play. I feel like every player has that mentality playing against their former team. I don’t think it’s malicious in any way towards them. But just as a competitor, you want to go out there and beat them.”
All eyes now on Portland says Durant
The Rockets now go to Portland for a two-game series starting Wednesday night and Durant says his focus is now on that.
“By the time I get home tonight, I probably won’t even remember it [the shot against the Suns],” he said. “Well, I will remember it, but I’ll try my best to forget about it and move on to the next one.”
