SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs' Jeremy Sochan had one of his best games of the season against the Suns with 26 points and 18 rebounds in the win over the Suns Monday night at the Frost Bank Center.
He also made the game-winning three-point shot to seal the 104-102 victory, but it was not just his offensive output that propelled the Spurs to the win.
His defense on the Suns' Kevin Durant was vital.
“Jeremy, tonight on both ends of the ball, was great. From the jump, you could tell he was locked in, forced a couple turnovers," said Zach Collins. "A lot of mid-range jumpers that [Kevin Durant] had last game, were taken away because of Jeremy’s defense. You got to tip your hat to him."
Defending Durant is a challenging chore.
He's one of the best offensive players in the NBA, but Sochan made life on the court difficult for the Suns forward on the court.
Durant finished with 29 points off 12-17 shooting, but he had to work for it with Sochan draped all over him.
"He took on the challenge against arguably the greatest, most dynamic scorer ever and he did really well," Collins said.
Being tasked to defend the league's best is nothing new for the Spurs forward and he embraces the challenge.
He gets under the skin of opposing players, constantly moving on defense, and uses his length to bother opposing defenses.
"The main thing was to be physical," Sochan said. "I felt like last game [versus Phoenix], we didn’t start out physical."
"[Kevin Durant] is such a difficult matchup for everybody. He's one of the greatest ever, and Jeremy never stopped working his butt off." coach Gregg Popovich said.
Knowing he was tasked again to defend Durant, he didn't change his defensive approach.
Sochan entered the game the same way he does for all games: Make life difficult for any of the best players he's defended in his career.
"I think it's just like it's the same as every game defending the best players. Get into them a little bit. Just make it difficult for someone like that [Durant]," he said. "So I think just making it as difficult as I can."
Sochan recorded 57 steals this season, surpassing last season's total of 43 and 39 blocks, surpassing last season's total of 23.
According to Cleaning The Glass, he ranks in the 80th percentile in blocks at his position and in the 99th percentile in offensive field goals rebounding at his position.
That's a marked improvement for the second-year pro.
"He took on the challenge against arguably the greatest, most dynamic scorer ever, and he did really well, said Collins.