Durant’s defense looms large against Pelicans.
Four months after he briefly gained traction as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, Warriors forward Kevin Durant faces long odds just to earn his first All-Defensive Team selection.
That his defensive highlights have been far less frequent recently, however, doesn’t change an important development: Durant is improving his defensive versatility. As the league trends toward a position-less brand of basketball, he is becoming more comfortable switching off screens to defend guards.
It is a skill that could be especially valuable in Golden State’s second-round series against New Orleans. Though he excels at patrolling the key and swatting shots, Durant will need to oscillate between defending Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotic,
Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo.
“It’s just the natural evolution of me as a player,” Durant said after practice Friday. “When you figure stuff out, you want to figure out the next thing. I figured out different ways to score, I figured out that I can make every pass. So, now it’s about, ‘Can I guard every position?’ ”
A suspect defender when he entered the league as a rail-thin 18-year-old, Durant has made significant strides on that side of the ball in recent years. It wasn’t until earlier this season, however, that he started to be mentioned among the NBA’s best.
In December, when he was leading the league in blocks and
piling up highlight-worthy stops, Durant was touted by some pundits as an early Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner. But as Stephen Curry started to miss extended stretches with various injuries, Durant needed to shoulder a heavier offensive load.
It also didn’t help his blocked shot totals — to many, the biggest signal of elite interior defense — that Durant began to get more involved in defending pick-and-rolls. Lured away from the basket to switch on to guards, he couldn’t swat layup attempts as easily.
Durant finished the season seventh in the NBA with 1.75 blocks per game, but he has shown in the playoffs that he is still an exceptional defender. His 98.3 defensive rating through five postseason games helped anchor a team that held the Spurs to 96.8 points on 41.3 percent shooting in the first round.
The Pelicans will require Golden State to ratchet up its defensive intensity to another level. With Davis leading the way, New Orleans led the league in pace and ranked tied for third with 111.7 points per game.
“I thought when he got here last year, he really committed to” defense, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “I think it was the next natural phase of his career.”