Vogel and Durant call Eubanks a game-changer in the Phoenix Suns’ comeback victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Phoenix ended the third quarter behind by only seven points thanks to a 24-point surge sparked by Durant and Eubanks. The Suns had their first big comeback victory of the season after overturning a 22-point deficit at home against Sacramento on Tuesday.
In his first full season with the Suns and his storied career, Durant (43 points, eight assists, six rebounds, two blocks, and a steal) had another incredible moment. In the second of back-to-back games, he recorded his second consecutive 40-plus point performance with the game-winning shot.
In little over 22 minutes, Eubanks finished with 10 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting, a team-high eight rebounds, and four assists. As far as this squad is concerned, my role is to locate shooters, get them open, roll hard, and force the defense to buckle. Regarding the Suns’ Big 3 of Durant, Devin Booker (16 points, five assists), and Bradley Beal (18 points, five assists), Eubanks remarked following the game, “They were hugged up on (our) guys.”
“KD did an excellent job of locating me beneath. Just attempting to establish some chemistry with the rotations—guys will occasionally play and sometimes they won’t. Next, the “man-up” mindset. He performed admirably in both scoring and distributing the ball.
Eubanks finished the second half with six points, five rebounds, and an assist to Durant off an offensive rebound as Durant established his shooting rhythm and scored thirty points. With fewer than three minutes left in the third, Eubank continued, his dunks on two consecutive Suns possessions, both with Durant’s help, bringing the fans back into the game when it appeared to be done.
During the opening 32 minutes of the game, the Suns were on the verge of ending their second-best five-game victory streak of the season until their decisive run.
Phoenix trailed 23-17 in rebounds, outscored the Suns 10-4 in fast break points, trailed by as much as 19 in the first two quarters, and then led by as much as 23 with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter despite Chicago draining nine 3-pointers in the first half.
Just five minutes into the third quarter, Eubanks took Beal’s position. With the Suns behind 19 points once more, he was penalized for a Flagrant 1 foul on Coby White at 3:39 after the Bulls’ starting big man Nikola Vucevic tipped in a miss.
Durant said, “Drew’s minutes tonight were so incredible.” “By finishing around the basket and playing aggressive pick and roll, he just turned the game around for us on both ends. I think he did a great job, and I hope we can keep expanding on it.
White became enraged by Eubanks’ foul and created a small commotion when his Bulls colleagues restrained White from approaching Eubanks. Drummond was forced to earn his points from the free throw line after he returned a short while later when Eubanks hard- fouled him after he had received a pass in the paint (his 47.8% from the line is the third-worst in NBA history).
After pushing Eubanks away in retaliation, he had to be restrained since Eubanks was only carrying out his duty and was walking away with his hands raised, while Drummond was assessed a technical foul. With the Suns behind by 16, Eubanks’ physicality energized the Footprint Center crowd.
Drummond and Eubanks, according to Eubanks, appreciate one another. But part of the mental battle he won was calling Drummond names after both dunks and forcing Drummond to give up the ball out of bounds with 31 seconds remaining in the third.
Eubanks’ aggressiveness and intensity, said to Bulls coach Billy Donovan, gave the Suns momentum. “I felt that throughout his time in the game, he provided them solid minutes. I believed that there were moments when we struggled in our second unit with him in it. However, I felt that he performed well given the minutes he had,” Donovan continued.
Eubanks, who averages 5.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game this season, played more minutes versus Chicago than he did in October, November, or December, when his minutes had dropped to an average of only 12 in January.
He was brought in to help keep Jusuf Nurkic out of foul trouble against powerful centers Vucevic (19 points, game-high 17 rebounds) and Drummond (six points, five rebounds). He was also brought in to fill in for Phoenix’s versatile, emerging big man Bol Bol, who had missed five consecutive games due to injury.
The majority of the last six minutes of the game were then spent by Eubanks, who had an offensive board that set up Durant’s ensuing three, which gave the Suns a two-point lead with thirty-one seconds remaining.
“He’s had a rough stretch where he hasn’t played his best basketball, but he’s been staying with it, working, getting with coaches and watching film,” Frank Vogel, the Suns coach, said, “and I keep having one-on-one conversations with him, making sure he’s staying lifted and how valuable he is and he came in and that was his best game of the year for us.”