getonscoop 
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Tim MacMahon
PHOENIX — After his competitive fire helped lead the Phoenix Suns to a comeback win they desperately needed, superstar Kevin Durant passionately criticized the reaction to a brief, heated exchange he had with coach Mike Budenholzer early in Tuesday’s game.
TNT cameras caught Durant and Budenholzer barking at each other during a timeout in the first quarter of Phoenix’s 119-117 win over the LA Clippers. After Budenholzer grabbed Durant’s left forearm, an attempt to stop the 15-time All-Star so they could continue the conversation that stemmed from a disagreement regarding an offensive set, Durant jerked his arm away and continued walking toward the bench before turning around to exchange more words.
After sparking a rally from a 23-point deficit, Durant expressed dismay that the interaction became fodder for social media content and speculation about the issues for a Phoenix team that had lost 11 of 14 games before rallying to beat the Clippers.
“That’s what usually happens when you don’t know dynamics of the relationship,” Durant said after scoring 19 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. “You catch something on TV, you get a quote and now you pushing that narrative as if me and Bud don’t do that s— all the time. We [are] competitive as two individuals who want to see things done the right way, and sometimes my way ain’t the way that Bud want to do it and vice versa.
“He allows me as a player on the team, a veteran on the team, to voice my opinion. If we both didn’t care, we would never have stuff like that, you know what I’m saying? So I’m glad that the win is going to sweep all of that stupid stuff under the rug. Because people couldn’t wait. Even some people in Phoenix, in here, couldn’t wait to run with that and say, ‘This is the reason why the team ain’t playing well, because of that specific thing.’ But come on man, that shows that me and Bud really care about trying to right this ship and trying to win basketball games.”
As Durant noted, there have been several occasions this season when he has shouted at Budenholzer during games, and Durant said there will surely be more such instances. Durant said he wished the television broadcasts would highlight when Budenholzer and him are “smiling on the bench and we tapping each other in the chest and slap hands” after their discussions result in a solution.
“We’re like old friends or whatever where we’re always probably grabbing and talking to each other,” Budenholzer said. “I thought actually his energy and his voice tonight was great. I think there was some kind of offensive play. He wanted something, I wanted something [else] and it’s the beauty of basketball. But really from that moment, his voice and him talking — feedback, ideas, suggestions — was really I think a big part of the night.”
The Suns trailed by 19 points entering the fourth quarter and took the lead for good when Devin Booker finished with a lefty layup in transition off a feed from Collin Gillespie. According to ESPN Research, it was the largest fourth-quarter comeback in franchise history.
Durant credited Budenholzer’s adjustments for putting the Suns in position to pull off its largest comeback win of the season, topping a rally from a 21-point deficit also against the Clippers in an Oct. 31 road victory.
Durant specifically cited Budenholzer’s decision to insert Gillespie, a guard on a two-way contract that the superstar praised as “a dog,” into the lineup late in the third quarter. Gillespie didn’t exit the game until there were 4 seconds remaining, contributing 10 points, 3 assists and several energy plays in 15 minutes, as the Suns outscored the Clippers by 21 with him on the court.
“Coach made a great adjustment throwing him in there,” Durant said. “Coach was just perfect, to be honest. Every adjustment he made was incredible. He was catalyst for all of it.”
Durant’s emotion was on display during the Suns’ comeback. After the Suns sliced the lead to 10 early in the fourth quarter, Durant stood near midcourt and waved his hand toward the crowd during a Clippers timeout, attempting to generate some energy from the PHX Arena sellout crowd that had peppered the Suns with boos earlier. When the fans didn’t instantly respond, Durant stepped closer to the stands and waved both arms, eventually eliciting a roar.
“I mean, just looking around after we were down 20, it looked like they were having a terrible time, and I hate putting that type of product on the court,” Durant said. “I know we should focus on the game and focus on the game plan and not look into the crowd and not engage with the crowd, keep it professional. All that s— they tell us. But I survey the crowd and see, because we need them, we need that energy. So I looked around and it just looked dead and only way to spark it up is to make some plays. See the ball go through the rim, and we did.”
The Suns (29-33), one of the NBA’s most disappointing teams this season, remain in 11th place in the Western Conference standings. Phoenix is three games behind the injury-ravaged Dallas Mavericks for the conference’s final play-in spot.
“I told the guys, man, we should not focus on the big picture,” Durant said. “Everything should be right in the moment. That’s what we focus on. The next possession should be the most important. We would love to say that this win is going to ignite us and push us to win some in a row and have a storybook ending of us going to [playoffs]. All that stuff, it sounds good to say, but for us it’s about the next possession, next day matters.
“We can’t focus too far down the line because we don’t got that luxury to do that. So stay in the moment as much as we can, enjoy where we are and put your best effort in that moment and see what happens.”
