PHOENIX — For the second straight season, the Phoenix Suns were eliminated at home in humiliating fashion. Phoenix's 125-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Thursday night's Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals was eerily similar to the Dallas Mavericks' Game 7 dominance at Footprint Center in the same round.
The halftime deficit — 30 points — was even identical. So was the reaction from Suns fans, many of whom loudly booed at the half and headed for the exits with plenty of time remaining in the fourth quarter. «It sucked,» said Kevin Durant, whose arrival in a midseason trade made the Suns the betting favorite to win the West. «It was a bad feeling.
Embarrassing.» Devin Booker left the arena without speaking to the media, an extremely uncharacteristic move for the face of the Suns' franchise.
Booker averaged 33.7 points per game this postseason but had a poor performance as the Suns were eliminated. He scored 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting, a close facsimile of his off night in last year's elimination loss to the Mavs (11 points, 3-of-14 shooting).