PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns well-known instigator Dillon Brooks was trying to get under the skin of Houston Rockets superstar Kevin Durant during a possession in the second quarter on Tuesday night, talking his usual trash while playing physical defense.
That turned out to be a mistake.
On the ensuing play, Durant juked Brooks, driving past him and making a jumper while Brooks stumbled to his knees. The play helped the Rockets rally from an early 21-point deficit for a 119-105 victory in Durant's return to the desert after spending 2 1/2 seasons with the Suns from 2023-25.
Durant brushed aside questions about whether Brooks' antics motivated him. The 37-year-old forward finished with 24 points and shot 5 of 9 on 3-pointers after being greeted with a mix of cheers and boos from Phoenix fans during pregame introductions.
“I'm not giving him that — he doesn't get that kind of credit with me,” Durant said. "Maybe some other guys may turn up because he talks to them, but he's not that important or special to me to get me going. I wake up getting ready to play.
“But I respect Dillon, I respect what he brings to the game. Like I said earlier, I think that gets him going more than me. I just happened to get that ball right afterwards and make a good move.”
Durant came to the Suns in 2023 as part of a four-team, trade-deadline deal just hours after Mat Ishbia officially took the reins of the franchise as a majority owner. The splashy move was widely praised at the time.
However, Durant's tenure in the desert was mostly notable for the lack of postseason success. He played well on an individual level — making the All-Star team in both full seasons — while the team regressed.
The Suns lost to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals in 2023, got swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2024 and didn't even make the playoffs in 2025.
Durant was eventually traded during the offseason in a move that's worked out well for both sides. He's averaging nearly 26 points per game for the Rockets, who are on a seven-game winning streak and improved to 50-29.
The Suns have also been better than expected at 43-36 — partly thanks to the arrival of Brooks and Jalen Green. The two came to Phoenix as part of the Durant deal. It was Green's first time playing against his former team after he missed the first three meetings with a hamstring injury.
Green finished with 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
First-year Suns coach Jordan Ott worked with Durant when the two were with the Brooklyn Nets from 2020-22. Ott spoke highly of the 16-time All-Star, reminiscing about how Durant nearly carried the Nets past the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals before losing in seven games.
The Bucks went on to win the NBA title against the Suns.
“Just his day-to-day, consistent work ethic, it's not a surprise the career he's had,” Ott said pregame. “Just his ability to match every moment, even in those playoffs where we were banged-up in that series with Milwaukee. Lot of good memories.”
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Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, right, pauses before dribbling against Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, right, dribbles the ball against Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran, the United States and Israel reached a tentative, two-week ceasefire Wednesday in the war that tore across the Middle East and disrupted the global energy market, with U.S. President Donald Trump pulling back from his threats to destroy Iranian “civilization.”
But questions emerged over what appeared to be dueling proposals to halt the fighting and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, with Iran insisting it would control and charge ships passing through the strait and continue to enrich uranium.
Trump then suggested American warships would be “hangin’ around” the narrow waterway through which 20% of all oil and natural gas passes in peacetime. That could be a potential flashpoint as the days goes on.
Trump initially said had Iran proposed a “workable” 10-point plan that could help end the war he launched with Israel on Feb. 28. But he later called the plan fraudulent without elaborating. Trump has said ending Iran’s nuclear program entirely was a key point of the war.
Israel backed the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday it won't stop his country's fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which continued through the morning. That contradicted comments from Pakistan, a key mediator, which said the ceasefire included the fighting in Lebanon.
Pakistan said that talks over cementing a peace plan would begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday. Pakistan also said the ceasefire was to begin immediately, while Iran launched attacks on Gulf Arab states and Israel soon after.
Oil prices fell and stocks rose as Asian markets opened Wednesday after the eleventh-hour agreement to reopen the strait.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties “to abide by the terms of the ceasefire in order to pave the way towards a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region,” his spokesman said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management. It wasn’t clear whether that meant Iran would completely loosen its chokehold on the waterway.
The plan allows for both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations they were directly involved in. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction.
But that would upend decades of reliance on the strait as an international waterway free for transit and will likely not be acceptable to the Gulf Arab states, which also need to rebuild after repeated Iranian attacks targeting their oilfields.
“Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process,” Trump said on social media.
It's not clear what happens when the two weeks of the ceasefire ends.
There's little public sign that Iran and the United States had resolved disagreements over the fate of Iran's nuclear program, its ballistic missiles or its regional proxies — among the issues that the United States and Israel cited as justifications for launching the war.
In addition to control of the strait, Iran’s demands for ending the war include withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of its frozen assets.
All those likely are nonstarters for Trump and potentially other Western nations. Iran’s chokehold on the strait roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Trump to reach a deal.
Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly backed off deadlines just before they expire. In doing so again Tuesday, Trump said in a social media post he had come to the decision “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief.
There are concerns in Israel about the agreement, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media. The person said Israel would like to achieve more.
In the streets of Tehran, pro-government demonstrators screamed: “Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!” after the ceasefire announcement and burned American and Israeli flags. It shows the ongoing anger from hard-liners, who had been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptical battle with the United States.
Missile alerts were issued in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait after the ceasefire announcement. A gas processing facility in Abu Dhabi was ablaze after incoming Iranian fire, officials said.
Earlier Tuesday the Israeli military said it attacked an Iranian petrochemical site in Shiraz, the second day in a row it hit such a facility. The military later said it struck bridges used by Iranian forces to transport weapons and military equipment.
More than 1,900 people had been killed in Iran as of late March, but the government has not updated the war's toll for days.
In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, more than 1,500 people have been killed. and 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died.
In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Edie Lederer at the United Nations, Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
People check the damage of a coffeeshop at the site of an Israeli strike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, April, 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Men carry the coffins with the bodies of Pierre Mouawad, an official with the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces party, and his wife during their funeral in Yahshush, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The White House is seen in Washington, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. EDT. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
An Iranian cluster munition missile explodes in the sky over northern Israel, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Activists protest near the White House in Washington, Tuesday evening, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Pro-government demonstrators chant slogans as they hold Iranian flags and a poster of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in a gathering after announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the war with the United States and Israel, at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, Square, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
