Durant delivers double dagger
Epic performance ends iso-ball chatter, puts Warriors on brink of repeat titles
CLEVELAND – There wasn’t much Ty Lue could say about Kevin Durant’s glorious night.
The Cleveland coach is rarely talkative after a loss to begin with, and there’s just no fun in describing how the other guy treated your defense as if this were a run at the local YMCA. But when asked about the Golden State star whose 43-point, 13-rebound, seven-assist outing in Game 3 of the NBA Finals was epic in every way, Lue reintroduced a topic that has been front and center for the Warriors the past few weeks.
“He’s one of the best one-on-one players in our league, you know — top two best players in our league,” Lue said. “I thought Durant hurt us with his oneon-one, getting to the free throw line a little bit. But his one-on-one ability really saved them again tonight.”
In the span of a few seconds, Lue mentioned one-on-one play three times while also making it clear he sees Durant as the best player in the game not named LeBron James.
So yes, we have a verdict: Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
The signature game of Durant’s Warriors tenure should put an end to all the chatter about whether he still fits with this group. After the Western Conference finals against Houston where the uptick in his isolation play had some wondering if he were no longer willing to play the Warriors’ way, Golden State finds itself on the brink of back-to-back titles in the Durant era because his greatness cut through all the noise.
One more win to make it three out of four championships for Golden State, with that dynasty status forthcoming after Durant covered for two-time MVP Steph Curry on his rare off-night (11 points on 3-for-16 shooting).
One more win for Durant to take the 2-1 lead in Finals matchups with James, whose potential departure from Cleveland in free agency this summer has ev- erything to do with his inability to compete against this loaded Warriors squad.
“You guys asked me this last year, ‘What was the difference between the Warriors the previous year and this year?’ ” said James, whose Heat beat Durant’s Oklahoma City in 2012 before his Cavs fell to Durant’s Warriors last season. “What was my answer? All right. There it is. Kevin Durant was my answer. He’s one of the best players that I’ve ever played against, that this league has ever seen. His ability to handle the ball, shoot the ball, make plays at his length, his size, his speed. So there it is.”
When Durant spoke at length with USA TODAY about his future on Wednesday, making it clear he plans to re-sign this summer while also adding that “anything can happen,” he was well aware why there were questions to be answered.
The Warriors had received quite the seven-game scare in the Western finals against Houston, and the residue led to speculation Durant might consider another relocation.
The rumblings were rooted in the ad- versity. It was the kind of struggle they had not seen since Durant came to town. Losing to the Rockets would have been a disaster, the kind of failure that carried the potential to create doubt in the minds of all these superstars who decided to come together two summers ago.
Yet of all the subplots in that series, no moment was more interesting than the Game 5 conversation between Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Durant that aired on TNT.
According to two people with knowledge of the situation, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, Kerr — who was wearing a microphone on that May 24 night — was not happy that their Michael Jordan-inspired discussion about trusting your teammates was shared with the world.
Kerr told Durant a tale from his old Bulls days, saying how then-coach Phil Jackson told Jordan that believing in teammates such as John Paxson was the key to collective success. But in Kerr’s view, the video clip never should have been approved for airing. That frustration, according to the people, led to him declining to wear a microphone again until the Finals arrived.
Above all else, Kerr wants basketball strategy kept in-house. As such, a video that made it clear in real time that Golden State was trying to go away from isolation ball was seen as off-limits. But from Kerr on down, the Warriors also knew the optics of that scene were potentially sensitive. Considering the context of how he came their way two summers ago, giving the impression that Durant wasn’t willing to trust his teammates would belie their powerful partnership.
In those months leading up to Durant’s controversial decision, the Warriors were well aware he was drawn to their selfless style of play in which ball movement is king. The your-turn-my-turn approach with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City had grown tiring over the years, and Curry & Co. offered a unique and special alternative.
But this postseason has been a balancing act on that front, with Durant learning more than ever how to blend the best of his old ways with the new. It hasn’t always been this pretty, but Game 3 was the latest proof that this combo works in the kind of way that continues to shape the league at large.
Not only was Durant’s magnificent scoring ability on full display, with no shot more iconic than a 33-footer with 49 seconds left that put the Warriors up six, but he also was a playmaker, defender, rebounder. And just like that, the noise about his future and this fit quiets.
“We’ve been in a situation where a guy has blended into what we do as a team and we’ve appreciated all his efforts and figured out our ways to kind of elevate our games,” Curry said of Durant. “In nights like tonight, he reminds people how great of a scorer he is in all areas of offense and just how dominant he is. Over the course of the regular season, the playoffs, we all have an opportunity to do what we do and do it well and put ourselves in position to win championships. So it’s nice having him, and nice having all 15 guys on the roster.”