Kevin Durant had been struggling to find his shot through the first two games of the Golden State Warriors' first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Durant was averaging just 22 points on 12 shot attempts, and he also committed a season-high nine turnovers in Game 2 while fouling out of the contest.
The mercurial superstar had been in the spotlight for reasons other than his play, including a skirmish with Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley that led to both players getting ejected in Game 1. Beverley's brand of hard-nosed defense embodied the Clippers' “nothing given” approach with respect to Durant.
Yet for all of the back-and-forth that Beverley seemed to incite and his tendency to provoke superstar players around the league with his antics, Durant remained unfazed. He continually stated that he would not be drawn into the mind games prior to Game 3, while also breaking down some of the reasons that the Clippers had had some success defending against him.
With the Warriors losing DeMarcus Cousins to a torn left quad and the Clippers coming off of a historic comeback in Game 2, Durant needed a big game. And he provided just that for the Dubs.
Durant scored a game-high 38 points–including 27 in the first half alone–while also chiming in with seven assists and four rebounds, staking Golden State to a 2-1 series lead.
Clippers guard Lou Williams said Durant's monster night was to be expected, but also that the team may not have been prepared despite KD's prophetic statements in the media:
Lou Williams on KD’s big game- “He’s a top 3 player in this league. We expected that. Only thing I’m disappointed in is that he announced himself before he even got here &we didn’t come prepared. On the other side, he is Kevin Durant, he’s capable of making those shots.” pic.twitter.com/d8avbBQGES
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 19, 2019
Although Stephen Curry might be Golden State's valuable player, there is no question that Durant is their best player, and he proved it once again on Thursday night.
Needless to say, the Clippers will need to change their game plan once again if they hope to stop Durant and the Warriors.
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