{"id":705589,"date":"2026-04-08T17:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705589\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T17:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:11:47","slug":"durant-returns-rockets-rule-boards-as-suns-falter-play-in-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705589\/","title":{"rendered":"Durant returns, Rockets rule boards as Suns falter, play-in looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Phoenix Suns<\/a> blew their second-largest lead of the season in falling to the Houston Rockets<\/a>, 119-105, in Kevin Durant\u2019s return game April 7 before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Mortgage Matchup Center.<\/p>\n

Phoenix (43-36) yielded a 22-point advantage to the Atlanta Hawks in a 124-122 stunner Nov. 16 at home.<\/p>\n

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An entire season has nearly passed since and the Suns, needing a victory to stay alive for the sixth seed in the Western Conference, this time squandered a 21-point, first-half advantage against the Rockets.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur energy was great to start. Physicality, defense and intensity was high-level,\u201d Suns coach Jordan Ott said. \u201cOne-shot defense was great, then it fell apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rockets (50-29) outscored the Suns, 38-21, in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

1 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) defends Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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1 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) defends Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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2 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams lcelebrates making a shot with teammate Devin Booker (1) against the Houston Rockets at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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3 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) lays the ball up over Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams (15) at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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4 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott yells out to his team as they play the Houston Rockets at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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5 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) yells out to the referee as they play the Houston Rockets at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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6 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen (8) dives for a loose ball as Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason (17) defends at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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7 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) reacts after making a shot while being fouled against the Houston Rockets at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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8 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams (15) grabs a rebound over Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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9 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams looks over to teammate Devin Booker (1) after making a shot on his assist against the Houston Rockets at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

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10 \/ 10<\/p>\n

Suns, Rockets face off in Kevin Durant’s return to Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green (4) and Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) grapple away from the ball at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was crazy to go up 5-0 and then go on a 24-0 run,\u201d Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. \u201cThey were the more physical team, more aggressive, and came out with more energy. Everything we could do wrong, we did wrong, but to have it back to three points by halftime shows our resilience. We just decided to come to play and meet the physicality on both ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Suns All-Star Devin Booker scored a game-high 31 points while Durant paced the Rockets with 24 points after a 0-for-5 start in his first game in Phoenix since last summer\u2019s trade.<\/p>\n

The Suns’ Jalen Green finished with 15 points in his first game against his former team. The Suns dealt Durant to Houston after last season for Green, Dillon Brooks and the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft, 7-footer Khaman Maluach.<\/p>\n

Phoenix remains in seventh place in the Western Conference and is headed to the four-team play-in tournament next week, which will determine the final two playoff spots in the conference.<\/p>\n

Here are takeaways from Tuesday’s game ahead of the Suns facing the Dallas Mavericks (25-54) in the second of a back-to-back on Wednesday, April 8 in what will be their final home game of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Brooks, Durant trash talk<\/p>\n

The Suns were rolling in the first half when Brooks and Durant started chatting.<\/p>\n

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No worries. They like to talk trash.<\/p>\n

However, Brooks took it to the next level when appearing to point at the scoreboard.<\/p>\n

Uh oh.<\/p>\n

Now, Durant doesn\u2019t need extra motivation to raise his level of play. It\u2019s usually already heightened.<\/p>\n

Durant said after the game the back-and-forth with Brooks didn\u2019t impact his play. Fair enough, but from that moment, Durant started cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe don’t get that type of credit with me,\u201d Durant said. \u201cMaybe some other guys that may turn up ’cause he talks to them, but he’s not that important, especially with me, to get me going.”<\/p>\n

Durant hit Brooks with a move that removed him from sight and scored.<\/p>\n

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Oh no.<\/p>\n

\"Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) defends Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just happened to get that ball right afterwards and make a good move, but it wasn’t in spite of Dillon and I wanted to show him up,\u201d Durant said \u201cHe’s not that much of a concern to me, but I respect how he approaches the game and what he does. And that’s valuable to him and that makes him a better player, but for me, it has nothing to do with my game.”<\/p>\n

Brooks ended up shooting just 3-of-12 from the field for 10 points in 33 minutes.<\/p>\n

His game probably didn’t go south because of that verbal exchange with Durant, but this was a turning point in Houston\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n

Rockets ravage offensive boards<\/p>\n

Ott helplessly watched the Rockets overwhelm the smaller Suns with 24 offensive rebounds that led to 37 second-chance points.<\/p>\n

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“We’re never going to be a great defensive rebounding team,\u201d Ott said. \u201cWe understand that. We’ve got to be better and we’ve got to scrap. We’ve got to win the possession game a different way.”<\/p>\n

The Rockets lead the NBA in offensive rebounds per game at 15 and third in second-chance points at 17.7 per game.<\/p>\n

They were even better against the Suns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a team like that, that feeds off of second-chance points, we’ve got to be able to box out and not let them get energy from getting rebounds,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second-most offensive rebounds and second-chance points the Suns have allowed this season.<\/p>\n

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The Suns have been the smaller team all season outside of having 7-footer Mark Williams, Oso Ighodaro and Maluach.<\/p>\n

Ott has recently inserted 6-3 Jordan Goodwin into the starting lineup to essentially give the Suns a three-guard look with the 6-6 Brooks at power forward and Williams at center.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s shrunk his rotation down from 10 to nine with Royce O\u2019Neale, Oso Ighodaro, Grayson Allen and Collin Gillespie coming off the bench.<\/p>\n

The Suns have had previous success with that second unit as Ott is seeing if those four can rediscover their magic now that the team is mostly healthy.<\/p>\n

Ott could play rookie Rasheer Fleming and Ryan Dunn to give them bigger wings as both are 6-8, but they\u2019d have less scoring and experience on the floor.<\/p>\n

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The first-year coach said at the end of a recent four-game road trip he wants to establish a rotation going into the postseason.<\/p>\n

\"Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott yells out to his team as they play the Houston Rockets at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

If Ott sticks with this current one, Phoenix must find a way to break even on the boards or make up for their lack of size by forcing turnovers and protecting the ball to win the possession game and improve their chances of winning.<\/p>\n

Along with losing the rebounding battle Tuesday, Phoenix committed 19 turnovers that led to 25 Houston points.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t help matters, either.<\/p>\n

Breaking down the play-in<\/p>\n

The Suns are no longer in contention for the sixth seed in the West after losing to the Rockets and the Minnesota Timberwolves (47-32) beating the 18-win Indiana Pacers.<\/p>\n

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The Suns will either be the seventh or eighth seed in the play-in tournament. They had a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Clippers (41-36) for seventh with three games remaining heading into Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

The Portland Trail Blazers (40-39) are ninth and the Golden State Warriors (37-42) stand 10th. If the playoff started today, the Suns would host the Clippers for the seventh playoff seed.<\/p>\n

That’s not an ideal matchup for Phoenix. They split their regular-season series, but the Clippers won the last matchup, 117-93, in Phoenix on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n

The Suns were without Green and Booker, but the Clippers have a healthy Kawhi Leonard and they\u2019re more challenging to defend on the perimeter with the trade additions of Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin.<\/p>\n

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The 7-8 play-in loser hosts the 9-10 winner for the eighth seed. Phoenix would get another home game with a chance to make the playoffs if they lost to the Clippers.<\/p>\n

\"Phoenix<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) at the Mortgage Matchup Center on in Phoenix, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Warriors or Blazers?<\/p>\n

Phoenix went 2-1 against Portland, scoring a season-low in the last meeting that ended with a 92-77 loss on Feb. 22.<\/p>\n

Again, no Booker or Brooks, who had just fractured his left hand the game before against Orlando, but Portland is a more favorable matchup for Phoenix.<\/p>\n

As for Golden State, Phoenix finished 1-3 versus the Warriors. They haven\u2019t played each other since Dec. 20. The Warriors won, 119-116, without Stephen Curry in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

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Curry just returned Sunday against Houston from a knee injury that sidelined him 27 consecutive games. He scored 29 points in 26 minutes off the bench in a wild 117-116 loss. He followed that up with a 17-point effort in a 110-105 victory Tuesday over Sacramento.<\/p>\n

This is not the guy you want to face in a win-or-go-home scenario.<\/p>\n

Have opinions about the current state of the\u00a0Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at\u00a0dmrankin@gannett.com<\/a>\u00a0or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at\u00a0@DuaneRankin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Support local journalism: Subscribe to\u00a0azcentral.com<\/a>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Takeaways from Suns loss to Rockets in Kevin Durant’s return<\/a><\/p>\n