Who Suns’ Kevin Durant credits for surprise season after Rockets trade

The Houston Rockets have been trying to get back on track lately, recently escaping the Bay Area with a narrow win over the Golden State Warriors in Stephen Curry’s return. On Tuesday evening, Kevin Durant will face another one of his former teams when the Rockets hit the road to take on the Phoenix Suns.

Recently, Durant got 100% real on his admiration from afar of his former team this year, as the Suns have surprised many by occupying the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

“They’ve been playing great ball. I played for JO (Jordan Ott) before in Brooklyn, and I kind of understand his mentality and his mindset for the game of basketball and him being in Cleveland and bringing that mentality here. You can see it. They crash the glass hard, they shoot a lot of 3s,” said Durant, per Duane Rankin of AZCentral on X, formerly Twitter.

“…They know how they want to play. They did a great job putting the team together, putting the coaching staff together,” he added.

The Suns have indeed blown away expectations this year, somehow getting better despite losing both Durant and Bradley Beal over the offseason. Dillon Brooks, one of the key pieces in the Durant return trade, has played at a borderline All-Star level for Phoenix this year, and the Suns are certainly playing more as a team than they did with their so-called Big Three of Durant, Beal, and Devin Booker.

Meanwhile, the Rockets currently hold the fifth spot in the Western Conference but could reach as high as third if they end the season on a hot stretch. However, they might be better off staying in their current position, where a likely matchup against the injury-decimated Los Angeles Lakers would await them.

Tipoff against the Suns is set for Tuesday evening at 11:00 pm ET from Phoenix.

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