After Jayson Tatum’s hit in Game 3, we couldn’t wait to see Kevin Durant’s reaction, and we were served! The Nets winger delivered one of his cleanest games of the season with 42 points at 14 of 20 on shots, including 3 of 3 on 3-pointers, to which must be added an 11 of 11 on free throws , but also 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. All in 40 minutes for an evaluation of 47.
Author of 14 points in the first quarter to meet the 17 points of Tatum, Durant congratulated … the bench of the Nets. It was lineups like Bruce Brown and Ty Johnson who put the team on the right track at the start of the second quarter. “They are supposed to go on the field to change the tempo” says the All-Star winger. “Once Kyrie and I got back into the game, we tried our best to adapt to this pace. “
The strategy is simple on the Nets side: launch a pick-and-roll so that Durant finds himself facing a less mobile or smaller opponent. And then his talent does the rest. Tristan Thompson and Jabari Parker are quickly overtaken, Marcus Smart, Payton Pritchard or Grant Williams are too small. And the festival lasted all evening.
NBA record tied for the “Big Three”
And when there is a two-way strike, Durant calmly finds a teammate near the circle. It seems so easy, and Steve Nash enjoyed this constant search for the extra pass to always find the unmarked teammate. The defense is on their heels, and Durant, and even Irving, just have to finish the job.
On arrival, the “Big Three” combined 104 points, and the Durant-Irving-Harden trio equaled an NBA playoff record, established so far by John Havlicek, Jo Jo White and Dave Cowens in 1973, and already equaled in 1986 by Dominique Wilkins, Randy Whitman and Spud Webb. This allows us to talk about something other than that bottle throwing at Kyrie Irving.
“People have resentment against him, but that’s no reason to behave like a kid” Durant regrets. “Fortunately, we won, and we won’t be coming back here anymore”.
| Kevin Durant | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2007-08 | SEA | 80 | 35 | 43.0 | 28.8 | 87.3 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 20.3 |
| 2008-09 | OKC | 74 | 39 | 47.6 | 42.2 | 86.3 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 25.3 |
| 2009-10 | OKC | 82 | 40 | 47.6 | 36.5 | 90.0 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 7.6 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 30.2 |
| 2010-11 | OKC | 78 | 39 | 46.2 | 35.0 | 88.0 | 0.7 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 27.7 |
| 2011-12 | OKC | 66 | 39 | 49.6 | 38.7 | 86.0 | 0.6 | 7.4 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 28.0 |
| 2012-13 | OKC | 81 | 39 | 51.0 | 41.6 | 90.5 | 0.6 | 7.3 | 7.9 | 4.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 28.2 |
| 2013-14 ★ | OKC | 81 | 39 | 50.3 | 39.1 | 87.3 | 0.7 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 5.5 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 0.7 | 32.0 |
| 2014-15 | OKC | 27 | 34 | 51.0 | 40.3 | 85.4 | 0.6 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 25.4 |
| 2015-16 | OKC | 72 | 36 | 50.5 | 38.8 | 89.8 | 0.6 | 7.6 | 8.2 | 5.0 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 28.2 |
| 2016-17 | GOS | 62 | 33 | 53.7 | 37.5 | 87.5 | 0.6 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 4.8 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 25.1 |
| 2017-18 | GOS | 68 | 34 | 51.6 | 41.9 | 88.9 | 0.5 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 26.4 |
| 2018-19 | GOS | 78 | 35 | 52.1 | 35.3 | 88.5 | 0.4 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 26.0 |
| 2020-21 | BRK | 35 | 33 | 53.7 | 45.0 | 88.2 | 0.4 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 26.9 |
| Total | 884 | 37 | 49.4 | 38.4 | 88.3 | 0.7 | 6.4 | 7.1 | 4.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 27.0 | |
