On the night before his two-year anniversary of the horrible Achilles tear injury he suffered in the NBA Finals, Kevin Durant continued to show that it was nothing more than a speedbump in his legendary career, as he dropped 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go along with six assists in the Brooklyn Nets’ 125-86 blowout victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series for their largest-ever margin of victory in franchise playoff history.
“Is that a real question?” Durant responded when asked by Jared Greenberg of TNT if he thought he’d ever be the same player again during the postgame interview. “Of course. What do you want me to say to that?”
Durant was appreciative to hear that he hasn’t lost a step, but he’s right. A player that can shoot the ball as efficiently and smoothly as Durant is not going to lose that ability so easily. He’s a cheat code.
Durant wasted no time letting his presence be known in this one, as he used his high basketball IQ to take full advantage of lapses in the Bucks’ defense.
The Bucks tried throwing P.J. Tucker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton at Durant hoping to find an avenue to shut him down, but none of it worked.
Durant sent Antetokounnpo flying following that double-crossover, and at that point, all he had to do is shoot the ball over him and draw a foul to earn a 3-point play. They don’t call him “Easy Money Sniper” for nothing.
Despite standing at just 6-foot-3, Holiday actually did a good job keeping Durant in front of him on a couple of possessions and sticking with him laterally. However, there is only so much he can do to stop a 6-foot-10 human being that plays like a guard, as all KD needed to do was spin away and hit the pull-up jumper.
As for Tucker, he had no answer for Durant at all. Tucker couldn’t stand his ground whenever Durant had him one-on-one. Durant would beat Tucker off the dribble and drive on him to either draw a foul or get to the rim for the easy two. Tucker also had trouble closing out on him, as all Durant had to do is shoot it over him.
Kyrie Irving was also locked in on the night, as he dropped 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting in addition to six assists. Irving also shot 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
“We’re very special individually, but the selflessness really makes the difference,” Irving said.
And selfless the Nets were, as Bruce Brown and Joe Harris both put in 13 points apiece as beneficiaries of the extra passes made by both Durant and Irving, as both stars are well aware of how much gravity they attract.
Blake Griffin chipped in with seven points and eight rebounds, but it was his hustle and tenacity on both sides of the floor that propelled the Nets when they needed it most.
He was part of a herculean effort to wall off the interior for “The Greek Freak,” as we’re all well aware that he can power inside for easy dunks and layups at any given moment. Antetokounmpo was efficient, but he finished with just 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting. The Bucks are going to need a lot more from him if they hope to get back into this series.
Not only did Griffin limit Antetokounmpo’s effectiveness inside the paint, but he threw the two-time reigning MVP up on a poster!
