Last summer’s trip to the Hamptons is made-for-KD TV
Is it too early to declare the house Kevin Durant rented in the Hamptons last summer a National Historical Site?
A lot can happen between now and the end of this NBA Finals, but if the first game is any indication, basketball history was made in that house, where the free-agent forward met with his suitors, like in “The Bachelor,” and the Warriors won his heart.
Stephen Curry, legend has it, assured Durant back then that the Warriors would not belong to any one player. They wouldn’t be Steph’s Team. They would be The Warriors.
Curry, true to his Boy Scout oath, told the
truth.
In the biggest game of the season so far, Curry and Durant shared the floor like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But it was Durant who set the tone early. He scored 23 in the first half, with six assists and four rebounds.
Of his 10 field goals in that half, six were dunks. More accurately, they were DUNKS. Did the NBA lower the rims for the Finals?
Dunks count the same as layups or other garden-variety field goals, but sometimes they count double in terms of the psychic toll they take on the opposition. Durant’s one-game playoff high for dunks before Thursday was four.
At halftime, the Warriors’ biggest worry was that Durant would suffer from dunk elbow. All six were off long takeoffs, an airliner soaring off the runway.
Whenever Durant took flight, the Cavaliers, not known for their defensive prowess, anyway, ran for cover, scattering like cockroaches when the light flicks on.
In the second half, Durant took his show outside, hitting three of four three-point attempts.
Yes, this is exactly what Joe Lacob and his paratroopers had in mind when they parachuted into Durant’s compound in East Hampton.
Some experts wondered if Durant, a great one-on-one scorer, would fit into the Warriors’ team-oriented thing. So far, so good. In Game 1, Durant had eight assists and Curry 10. The Cavs had a total of 15.
Oh, and Durant played defense, too. He didn’t exactly stop his man, LeBron James, cold, but ... in the third quarter, the Cavs were hanging in there, trailing 84-68. James drove to the hoop, Durant challenged and forced a bad shot, Curry got the rebound and kicked it the other way, and buried a corner three. Game, set and match. Bring out the cucumber sandwiches and tea.
Durant said his main concentration in the game was defense, trying to make James work hard for his points.
“KD does like the (defensive) challenge,” teammate Shaun Livingston said. “He’s a competitor and he’s at the peak of his game. He’s in his prime. LeBron is still in his prime. So why wouldn’t you take the challenge? They play the same position, same kind of popularity. It’s a great matchup.”
It’s a good thing for the Cavs that Durant put most of his intensity and focus into his defense.
By the way, Durant played 37½ minutes. Zero turnovers.
It was only one game, but here’s a stat that shows a pattern: In each of his first six NBA Finals games — five of them against LeBron James’ Miami Heat five years ago — Durant has scored 25 or more points. That little club has the following membership: Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, Rick Barry and new inductee KD.
If this keeps up for three more games, someone will make a movie (Peter Guber, please pick up the white courte- sy phone) about that meeting in the Hamptons. Sample dialogue:
Durant: “I don’t do facial expressions. Is that OK?”
Klay Thompson: “No problem, Kevin. Draymond will pick up the slack there. And Steph does the shimmying. All you have to do is dunk and run back downcourt looking like you just woke up from a pleasant nap. I can show you.”
Not that Durant is a stone. He does a lot with a minimum of facial muscles, kind of like Clint Eastwood after gunning down a bad guy. On Thursday, though, Durant hit a threepointer near the sideline in the third quarter and as he ran back past the sideline, seemed to say something to Rihanna. Durant later played it off. “Yeah, I won’t get into that,” he said. “I’m cool. Have fun with that.”
Maybe that was another instance of Durant’s focus-trance, like in the second round of the playoffs, when during a timeout, he screamed at Utah mascot Jazz Bear to get the heck (or something like that) off the floor.
Appropriately, Curry and Durant shared their postgame interview session. Durant wore fashionably torn blue jeans, looking as if he’d just come in from waxing his car, not the Cavs.
Curry wore a letterman-style jacket with a “W” on the front. Maybe they’re already making the movie and Curry has been cast as a cheerleader at West Hampton High. They’ll age him with makeup.
In the Hamptons movie, Durant will play himself. Clint Eastwood can’t dunk.