Kevin Durant drops 1st bucket at home for Suns in win vs. Timberwolves

The wait for Kevin Durant to make his Phoenix Suns home debut ended Wednesday night at Footprint Center, but his first points at home required a bit more patience in the Suns’ 107-100 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Durant started and played more than 13 minutes before dropping a turnaround jumper over Minnesota Timberwolves F Jaden McDaniels from the left shoulder before he was removed by head coach Monty Williams with just under six minutes left in the second quarter.

Williams said pregame Durant would be on a minutes restriction as he continues to work his way back from an ankle injury that kept him out 10 games.

“He got it!”

Kevin Durant hits a tough jumper for his first basket at home in his Suns tenure. pic.twitter.com/TS6hwvum0u

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) March 30, 2023

In the first half, Durant tallied three points while shooting 1-for-8 with three rebounds and two assists. He was 1-for-2 from the free-throw line.

Williams encouraged Durant to shake off any frustrations from his slow start.

“Greatness don’t shake his head, feel me?”

Monty Williams with a pep talk to KD 🤝 pic.twitter.com/t8PCzrRCiZ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 30, 2023

Durant found a bit more success after the break and finished the game with 16 points, shooting 5-for-18 with eight rebounds and four assists.

He played 29 minutes.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 29 points. Chris Paul was the Suns’ second leading scorer with 19 points.

Karl-Anthony Towns, who recently returned from a 52-game absence due to a calf strain, led the Timberwolves in the first half with 20 points. He finished with 25 points. Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 31 points.

At the half, the Timberwolves led the Phoenix Suns 51-48.

The Suns are 4-0 in games Durant has played this season.

With the win, they stayed in the No. 4 seed, 0.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers.

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