He'll break your coronary heart, each time. It’s what he does. You'll be able to combat and scratch and claw from 20 factors again; the Cavaliers did that Tuesday night time. You'll be able to sneak the deficit into single digits, with sufficient time left on the clock to dream; the Cavs did that, too. The Cavs have been outclassed, outmanned, outgunned for 3 ½ quarters.
But right here they have been.
And it didn’t matter.
As a result of Kevin Durant performs for the Brooklyn Nets, and so he wasn’t going to permit the unthinkable to occur on his watch. He wasn’t going to permit the Cavs to drag off an absurd comeback, wasn’t going to allow his crew to need to endure a one-and-done gauntlet Friday night time.
3 times, simply because the Cavs have been beginning to get humorous concepts, he crushed them with clutch essential baskets, and he allowed Barclays Middle to roar and his teammates to breathe. He broke the Cavs’ spirit after which he broke their hearts. It’s what he does.
“That’s as marketed,” Nets coach Steve Nash stated after the Nets had crushed the Cavs, 115-108, clinching a date with the Celtics within the playoffs; Recreation 1 between the second-seeded C’s and seventh-seeded Nets might be Sunday.
For a lot of the night time it was Durant’s working mate, Kyrie Irving, who ignited the get together in Brooklyn. He hit all 11 of his photographs by way of the third quarter. He completed with 34 factors and 12 assists, lacking simply three of his 15 photographs.
“They’re superstars,” Nash stated. “It’s what prime gamers do.”
The Cavs had minimize the Nets’ result in 88-82 when Darius Garland made a 10-foot floater with 8:43 left; it was as shut because the Cavs had been because the first quarter, however Durant promptly drained a nook 3 to broaden the result in 9. Later, the Cavs crawling again to inside 99-93, Durant hit back-to-back 16 footers to broaden the Nets’ result in 103-93.
And that was that.
Durant completed with 25 factors and 11 assists. Irving might have taken the followers’ breath away; Durant was the one who restored it when issues began to look a bit dicey. It’s what he does.
“We knew they'd throw a variety of completely different defenses at us, attempt to gradual us down,” Durant stated. “It’s going to take a variety of effort for 48 minutes every sport. We’ll see what occurs.”
Overlook every thing that bewitched, bothered and bewildered the Nets this season. There was one purpose to tune in each night time to observe them play — effectively, at the least 55 days and nights, anyway, plus Tuesday night time. Kevin Durant is that purpose.
Nothing else has gone based on plan throughout this three-year chapter. The Nets have been shortly excused from the bubble in 2020. James Harden pushed his manner right here, arrived and performed effectively, grew disenchanted, pushed his manner out, all within the area of 14 months. Irving has been damage, he’s been unvaccinated and unavailable. The Nets have been going to win 60 video games this yr. They settled on 44, and wanted a 12-5 scorching streak on the finish to get there.
By way of all of it, Durant has been magnificent.
By way of all of it, Durant has been the one factor the Nets can rely on, sport after sport, night time after night time, disaster after disaster. He was given a novice coach and all he’s carried out is assist make Nash’s job simpler for him. He was given a pair of supporting stars in Harden and Irving who have been chronically unreliable and a 3rd, Ben Simmons, who has but to go well with up for the Nets — and simply stored enjoying at an nearly unimaginably excessive degree.
By way of all of it, Durant has remained, at age 33, at worst the third- or fourth-best basketball participant on the planet, averaging 29.9/7.4/6.4 and capturing .518/.383/.910.
(One man’s record, for kicks and giggles: 1. Giannis Antetokounmpo; 2. Nikola Jokic; 3. Durant; 4. Joel Embiid. Although I’d vote Jokic for MVP.)
Durant’s personal selection may shock you.
“If I had to decide on, I might go Joel Embiid,” Durant stated. “He led the league in scoring, double-doubles, his crew gained 50 video games this yr. Numbers have been unimaginable. It’s an excellent yr. However you'll be able to simply shut your eyes and simply decide any one of many guys out of the highest six or seven, and you may have a great MVP this yr. That reveals how nice our league is true now and the way gifted our league is from prime to backside.”
Amongst these six or seven, in fact, is Durant, who consistently has shaken off the assorted and varied points that subvert the Nets’ mission, who merely makes them higher by stepping on the ground and breaking the opposite crew’s coronary heart. It’s what he does.
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