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Kevin Durant Calls Out Chris Paul for 'Gimmick' After Getting Baited Into Technical Foul

Durant and Paul exchanged words as the Suns lost to the Spurs on Thursday.

Blake Silverman

Phoenix Suns forward Durant looks to drive to the basket while defended by San Antonio Spurs guard Paul during the first half at Moody Center.
Phoenix Suns forward Durant looks to drive to the basket while defended by San Antonio Spurs guard Paul during the first half at Moody Center. / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
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Kevin Durant had words for his former teammate Chris Paul during the Phoenix Suns' 120–109 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. The future Hall of Famers beefed throughout the first half, which eventually led to a double technical with three minutes left in the second quarter.

As the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half, Durant continued to yell at Paul on the way to the locker room. Members of the respective teams separated the two before the situation escalated further.

After the game, Durant spoke on the heated moments between him and Paul, where he mentioned Paul's history of antics to get into opponent's heads.

"You know, [Paul] likes gimmicks," Durant said to reporters postgame via Cory Mose of KVUE, Austin's ABC affiliate. "Anything to win the game. I think he was just trying to get in my head, knowing I was heating up a bit right around that time too. So I think he was just trying to get in my head, get me to react and get me out the game. But as we kept talking I knew it was just a game and a gimmick for him."

Durant had 22 points and five rebounds in the loss, while Paul had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. During the game, Paul passed Jason Kidd to move to second in the NBA's all-time steals list.

San Antonio got the win sans their young phenom Victor Wembanyama after news broke Thursday morning that he was expected to miss the rest of the season due to a form of a blood clot in his right shoulder. Without Wembanyama, the Spurs will have to pull out all the stops to win games. Paul's "gimmicks" certainly helped against the falling Suns on Thursday.

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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.

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