Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley openly admitted that Kevin Durant has been his toughest cover to date. The three-and-D wing went on The Ryen Russillo Show on ESPN Radio on Thursday and reminisced about his time guarding him during the playoffs in 2014.
“My worst time was going against Durant in the playoffs when I played for the Clippers and he was on OKC, and that was my matchup. And him coming down on the transition, and I'm thinking ‘I know he can shoot the ball here and I can't touch him.,'” Dudley said. “I just remember him crossing over and he takes one step from half court and dunks it. He's such a tough matchup because in the NBA, you can really get physical with guys, especially stars. So he shoots 90 (percent) from free throw, he can shoot the ball from three, so for me, he's always been my toughest matchup.”
But the 10-year veteran offered that he's gotten easier to guard since his move to the Golden State Warriors.
“It actually made it easier, somewhat, him going to the Warriors because they have Klay (Thompson) and Steph (Curry) and he doesn't have that killer instinct, but overall, it's impossible,” Dudley concluded.
While the individual matchup gets “easier,” the overall goal of stopping the team from scoring points just got a lot harder for teams, since more weapons only means more ways to score the ball.
Durant's killer instinct has been somewhat muted throughout this season, thanks to a share-the-wealth type of opportunistic offense, but it's paid dividends for the team, winning the last 27 of their 28 games (96.4 percent), dating back to the regular season.