The Phoenix Suns were unceremoniously swept out of the first round of last season’s playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and it cost coach Frank Vogel his job.
Six-plus months later, the Suns are off to a strong start under new coach Mike Budenholzer, riding a five-game winning streak into Wednesday night’s matchup with the visiting Miami Heat.
Phoenix won for the sixth time in seven games this season by overcoming a nine-point deficit with a closing 14-3 burst to beat the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 118-116 on Monday. Kevin Durant’s layup with 24 seconds left provided the winning points.
“It shows in that fourth quarter that if we stick to what we do, we’ll come out with the ‘W,'” Durant said.
Durant scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter. Overall, he made 14 of 20 field-goal attempts.
There was scuttlebutt that Durant didn’t fully mesh with the departed Vogel, but things feel different with Budenholzer running the show. Durant said he has seen in it things like attention to detail.
“This is incredible, the energy that we’re playing with,” Durant said. “We’re playing together on both ends of the floor. We’re having fun out there.”
Phoenix prevailed Monday despite star guard Devin Booker scoring a season-low 13 points on 3-of-18 shooting, including misses on all six 3-pointers.
Bradley Beal had 17 points and feels he has moved on from an elbow injury that sidelined him for two games. After joining the Suns last season, Beal missed a lot of time early in the campaign due to injuries and had trouble finding his place.
“I had a better feel coming into this season of kind of what my role would be, how the team would utilize me and where I could just see where we had a gaping hole,” Beal said.
Meanwhile, the Heat are opening a six-game road trip. Next are games at Denver, Minnesota and Detroit, then two at Indiana on Nov. 15-17.
Miami split its first six contests and is coming off a crushing 111-110 loss to the visiting Sacramento Kings on Monday. Sacramento star Domantas Sabonis scored the winning basket on a putback with less than a second left.
The Kings’ De’Aaron Fox put up the first shot, but Miami was unable to get the rebound.
“Terry (Rozier) jumped as high as he possibly could,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Sabonis had a shove, which you are not going to call at that point. We couldn’t come up with the rebound. All it would have taken was a tip to secure the win. It’s unfortunate. Tough loss because we showed resolve.”
Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro each scored 27 points for Miami, with Butler netting 15 in the final period.
The Heat received a lift from rookie guard Pelle Larsson, who scored 13 points in 25 minutes off the bench. It marked the third appearance for the second-round pick out of Arizona.
“He is a two-way player,” Spoelstra said. “Even though he’s a rookie by NBA standards, he has a great deal of competitive experience. He’s savvy, has the toughness we like, can guard multiple positions.”
Veteran forward Kevin Love (personal reasons) returned to the Heat for Monday’s game but sat out for conditioning reasons. He will also miss Wednesday’s game. Second-year pro Jaime Jaquez Jr. (gastroenteritis) will miss his second straight game.
Phoenix won both meetings last season.
