Kevin Durant scores 23 points on his Phoenix Suns debut

Kevin Durant scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting in his Suns debut as he helped Phoenix snap the Charlotte Hornets’ five-game winning streak with a wire-to-wire 105-91 victory.

The performance came after the franchise’s WNBA team Phoenix Mercury shared a video of him linking up with their new signing Brittney Griner. 

The team shared footage of the two stars embracing on court with the caption: ‘It’s a new dawn in the desert’. 

Durant, acquired in blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets on February 9, showed no lingering effects from a sprained right knee that kept him out of action for more than seven weeks Wednesday night.

The 34-year-old star fit in seamlessly with his new club, also grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots in 27 minutes.

Durant made two 3s, a flurry of mid-range jumpers and showed he still has the burst to get to the hole on a driving left-handed layup for his first basket with the Suns. 

He also provided a boost on defense, blocking Hornets rookie center Mark Williams twice in the opening five minutes. 

Devin Booker scored 37 points and Deandre Ayton had 16 points and 16 rebounds in the Suns’ seventh victory in 10 games. Chris Paul added 11 assists. 

Phoenix (34-29) entered the game in fourth place in the Western Conference standings, but could be poised for a strong finish with Durant anchoring what has the potential to be an explosive offense.

The Hornets played without LaMelo Ball, who underwent season-ending surgery on Wednesday to repair a fracture in his right ankle. Kelly Oubre Jr. picked up the scoring slack with 26 points for Charlotte (20-44), while Terry Rozier added 20 points.

Durant scored 12 points in the first half as Phoenix opened a 57-41 lead.

Charlotte cut Phoenix’s lead to six entering the fourth quarter behind former Sun Oubre, who got the start with Ball out.

But Durant, who had only played 19 minutes in the first three quarters, returned to the start the fourth quarter and began to take over.

He hit a 17-footer off a ball fake, drawing a foul to set up a three-point play. The 15-year seemed to find his groove from there, knocking down three more mid-range jumpers to push the lead to 12 and finished with nine points in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Griner has not played for the Mercury since 2021, when she led Phoenix to the WNBA Finals before losing to the Chicago Sky. 

Regardless, the WNBA star was nearly unstoppable that season, averaging 20.5 points, 1.9 blocks, 2.7 assists, and career-highs with 9.5 rebounds per game. 

The former Baylor star was released from a Russian penal colony in December after being acquired in a US-Russian prisoner swap form convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner, who had played professionally in Russia since 2014, was returning to the country in February when she was stopped at the Moscow airport with what authorities claimed to be vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. 

Ultimately Griner was convicted in August and sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. A subsequent appeal was denied in October. 

She had been assigned to a penal colony in Mordovia, a region known for its brutal prison system, until the President Biden administration was able to secure her release earlier his month. She was detained in Russia for 10 months.