There’s no “I” in team, but there’s “NET” in Kevin Durant.
On Tuesday night, when the Brooklyn Nets face Milwaukee for what will likely be the series decider, Durant will have to put the entire New York borough on his shoulders to win….and he will do just that. He will prevail. Other superstars have failed before him (Steph Curry couldn’t will his way past Memphis in the play-ins, and LeBron James couldn’t beat Phoenix without Anthony Davis) but Durant is built different.
You could say everything that he has gone through – the Russ breakup, the golden (state) years, the Achilles recovery and even the Twitter embarrassment has led him to this point in time. Game 5 will be the ultimate test from the basketball gods to see how good Durant is, and I think we all know the answer.
Durant has averaged 26.9 points, 5.6 assists, and 7.1 rebounds this season, but those numbers hardly tell his story. Durant’s path to greatness might be best explained in the New York Times’ feature article that waxed poetic of his natural shooting capabilities. Love him or hate him, Durant is one of those players that defines a generation, and when he comes up against the Bucks on Tuesday, you can bet he’ll leave his mark on the court and lead Brooklyn to victory.
Here are 3 reasons Durant will singlehandedly win Game 5.
3. Durant Gets it Done on Defense
Everyone knows Durant is superhumanly efficient when it comes to offense, but against the Bucks, he will need to shut a red-hot Giannis Antetokounmpo down. So far in the playoffs, he’s ranked fourth in blocks (1.8 per game) and records 8.2 rebounds per game. His tall frame and giant wingspan make him a natural force to be reckoned with, and it’s no wonder Steve Nash called Durant the Nets’ best defender. Even in a league full of some of the most acrobatic athletes in the world, Durant has unique physical gifts, and this postseason just goes to show he’s as good of an unguardable player as he is a guarding defender.
In Game 2 against Boston, Durant scored 26 points, recorded seven defensive rebounds, blocked four shots, and rose to the challenge of guarding Jayson Tatum. His experience playing with all-defensive teammates like Draymond Green and Klay Thompson has no doubt rubbed off and his hustle up and down the court and rim-protecting responsibilities was one of the biggest reasons the Nets were able to close out the Celtics.
Against the arguably more formidable Giannis, Durant can assume a similar role and use his defensive strengths to limit one of the highest-scoring teams in the league. What makes Durant’s role in defense extra special is his ability to short circuit the pick-and-roll. The Bucks would be hard-pressed to find mismatches to create against Durant, whose versatility allows him to defend on isolations or after he’s switched on a ball screen. Durant’s two-way talents will be key to beating Milwaukee on both sides of the court.
2. Durant’s Current Form is Unbeatable
As much as we wanted it to happen, the dream of the Nets’ Big 3 steamrolling its way to the Finals is over. With Harden and Irving out, Durant stands out as the lone superstar – but thank goodness it’s him. To give credit to the rest of Brooklyn, Joe Harris, Blake Griffin, and Mike James have all been diligently doing their part, but as of late, Durant is the exploding supernova who outshines everyone else. He’s been a jaw-dropping, table-slapping, holy crap-uttering sensation in the playoffs with record setting numbers through the first seven games: he’s shot 55 percent from the field, 50 percent from three, and 91.1 percent at the line.
Those who worry about Durant lacking offensive backup needn’t worry. The Nets haven’t been playing with their Big 3 for very long, so it’s not like Game 5 will be completely new territory for Durant. The three-man lineup of Durant, Irving and Harden has played just eight games together and has been on the court for only 5.8 percent of the Nets’ regular-season minutes. The only novel thing is the Nets’ opponents, the Bucks, who are getting better at defending Durant.
Durant didn’t exude his masterclass form in Game 4 when Irving got injured, shooting 36 percent from the field and 1-for-8 from 3-point range, and his drop in production mostly stems from the Bucks’ P.J. Tucker slowing him down. When the Bucks stuck him on Durant, Durant scored just nine points and drained 25 percent of his shots. Yet the odds of Tucker having another elite defending performance are low, and at the end of the day, Durant’s size and mobility can outlast Tucker’s dog-hounding. Once Durant gets into his shooting groove – and he will – there’s no one on the Bucks who can guard him.
1. Durant’s Playoffs Experience is Unlike Any Other
To address the obvious: Durant has haters. People say he can’t carry a team on his own, that he jumped ship from Oklahoma to Golden State so he could finally win a ring and that he’s doing it again in Brooklyn with Irving and Harden.
There’s no better “gladiator” arena than Game 5 for Durant to prove his haters wrong.
While he has bountiful experience playing with fellow superstars in playoff games, he also has experience playing in playoff games in general. Hate him all you want, but his postseason awards speak for themselves.
As a two-time Finals MVP, Durant’s veteran presence instills awe wherever he goes. He’s not one to choke, either, and barring any injury, he continues to perform at the highest level in the postseason. In his three seasons on the Warriors, he averaged 30 points a game in the playoffs. Sure, he had incredible backcourt support, but it’s not like other stars made him into a great shooter. He always was one.
Whether he’s on Golden State lighting up for 50 points against the Clippers in Game 6 or on Brooklyn dropping 40 against the Bucks in Game 1, Durant comes ready to play for a ring. Expect him to make the same statement in Game 5.