CARRYING THAT WEIGHT
Kevin Durant shows he’s the best player, but will that be enough to win a third NBA title?
It’s official. Kevin Durant has the title. The best player in the universe.
But is that going to be enough?
Durant has the title not just because his coach Steve Kerr keeps saying it (which he does, at every opportunity). And not just because it’s a catchy thing to blab about on sports talk radio or on TV.
It’s because he’s proving it every night of the playoffs. Because it’s the truth.
But now that he officially has the title, will he get himself a third NBA crown to go with it?
Because even though Durant had another all-universe night, the Warriors couldn’t close out Game 3 in overtime on Saturday. They lost 126-121 and the Rockets are back in the series, down 2-1with Game 4 on Monday night.
“It would’ve been a steal if we won that game,” Kerr said. “We made that run based on Kevin’s brilliance.”
Durant scored 46 points and almost carried his team to victory, but he didn’t get enough help from his teammates.
Stephen Curry had a thoroughly forgettable game, missing a couple of late layups and leading one to wonder how badly he’s affected by his finger and his ankle.
Durant, on the other hand, was amazing. He scored 10 points in less than two minutes to start the fourth quarter and put the Warriors back in the lead.
“Kevin is unstoppable, basically,” Kerr said. “It gives everybody confidence and that’s when we finally got some traction. He did his job and we couldn’t quite finish the game.”
Durant’s genius wasn’t enough.
“They made timely shots,” Durant said. “They had 17 offensive rebounds and that’s the reason that they won. They played with a lot more force.”
This postseason is a stage unlike any other that Durant has had. The past two seasons, he had to share the Finals spotlight with LeBron James. The guy who had that “NBA’s best player” label.
But James can no longer be called the best player in the world.
And at his age (34) and with the team that he’s on, he’s not likely to regain the title.
So, without James sucking up all the oxygen in the sport, Durant is the show.
Durant is already a back-toback Finals MVP, yet he’s at another level in 2019. His scoring line in the nine games so far: 23, 21, 38, 33, 45, 50, 35, 29, 46.
His average since announcing that “I’m Kevin Durant. You all know who I am,” is 39.4 points. That’s all.
Durant was also doing it on defense, guarding Harden much of the time, forcing turnovers late in the game. He was distributing (though you’ve got to wonder why, considering how he was scoring) with six assists, including beautiful finds of both Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala late in the game, who both hit 3s. More and more he’s been bringing the ball up, acting as Point Durant. He had zero turnovers.
Durant is trying to carry this team to another championship. At times, it looks like he’s doing it single-handedly.
The Warriors just might have to, because right now Durant is doing everything. That’s what the best player in the universe did on Saturday night.
Except get the one thing he wanted: the win.