'It's OK': Monty Williams encourages Kevin Durant during rare off night

Monty Williams saw Kevin Durant going through an 0-for-6 start in his Suns home debut Wednesday night against Minnesota and couldn’t let him get down on himself.

“What you shaking your head for?” said Williams, as he was captured saying that to Durant during the ESPN telecast. “It’s part of it. Greatness doesn’t shake his head.”

Williams explained after Thursday’s practice what led him to deliver those words of encouragement to Durant at that particular time in the first half of Phoenix’s 107-100 victory.

“I think the one thing I understand about players is everybody needs encouragement, whether it’s a coach, starter, role player, but I think sometimes we forget that the great ones, it can be lonely sometimes and sometimes you just need somebody to tell you it’s OK.”

Durant missed 13 shots on his 16-point night (5-of-18 shooting) Wednesday.

“I probably don’t do it enough with guys that carry that much of a burden or load,” Williams continued. “So, in that moment, I was just trying to encourage him because I know how bad he wants to produce and play well. He’s all about the team.”

Putting that number in perspective, Durant missed 13 shots total in averaging 26.7 points in his first three games with the Suns (41-35).

“It’s frustrating, but I’ve been in this position before,” Durant said after the game. “Had slow starts before. So, I just tried to figure it out. I think a couple of those shots, I definitely were rushing, trying to get it all back at once. I can get in my own way sometimes thinking too much, trying to get those shots back, but try to settle in as much as I can.”

At halftime, Durant changed his shoes after going 1-of-8 from the field.

“I was trying to find something,” a smiling Durant said. “I tried to find something, but I made more shots in the second half. So I guess it helped.”

Devin Booker had fun with it when asked if the players talked with Durant during his slow start.

“What you gonna tell him?” a smiling Booker said.

No worries from Booker about Durant’s off night, considering this was Durant’s home debut before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Footprint Center.

The Suns conclude their two-game homestand Friday against West leader Denver.

“He’s good,” Booker continued. “You know his name. He knows what he is doing. Like he said, he was probably just amped up, geeked to get out there and felt the pressure, felt the anxiety. That’s a one-game thing. That’s over with. It was a one-quarter, one-half thing. He found it in the second half. It’s only up from here.”

Chris Paul took it even a step further in noting how Durant was looking to have his home debut March 8 but twisted his left ankle during the pregame workout.

“I think conditioning is one thing, but it’s also the excitement,” Paul said. “I don’t care how long you play this game, you’re still excited. You’re still nervous. If he didn’t feel that, it would be a problem.”

Durant was out nearly two months with a right MCL sprain suffered Jan. 8 at Miami while with Brooklyn before making his Suns debut March 1 at Charlotte.

The Suns traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first round picks and a pick swap to the Nets for T.J. Warren and Durant right before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

The two-time finals MVP played three games for Phoenix that all ended in wins before going down with the left ankle sprain during that pregame workout that sidelined him for 10 games.

Between the nervousness and excitement of playing before the Phoenix crowd for the first time and his conditioning not at peak level, Durant found himself having one of those rare off nights.

“There was a little fatigue as well,” Deandre Ayton said. “Just everybody and the emotion and all that stuff was involved. He got teammates who are dogs and we’re going to cover up for you. Embrace it. Next game will be better for sure.”

Williams said being nervous is “part of this business” – and took it to a personal place to make his point.

“You should see my armpits during a game,” Williams said. “You wouldn’t want to, but it’s not a pretty site. I think it speaks to the level of care when guys are nervous and anxious and all of those emotions, it speaks to how much he cares and I’ve gotten older, I’ve just learned to admit it. You’re afraid every game. That’s why we have the phrase, ‘reps remove doubt,” because when you put the work in, sometimes that can trump the fear. I wish it trumped all of it, but I think we all have a level of nerves before every game.”

Durant was 4-of-10 in the second half, but he hit two huge 3s in the fourth quarter with the second giving Phoenix an 87-84 lead with 9:19 remaining.

The Suns never tied or trailed after that.

“Cam (Payne) got me two open 3s, which were good for me,” Durant said. “Just getting comfortable, getting more comfortable and hope I knock them down next game.”

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Monty Williams encourages Kevin Durant on off night in Suns home debut