Despite the overwhelming pressure leading up to this year's NBA Finals, Kevin Durant turned out a statement Game 1 performance in his team's 113-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, leading all scorers with 38 points without a single turnover, joining very exclusive company in the process.
Durant now finds himself three points behind Shaquille O'Neal (41 points in 2000) and a point ahead of Michael Jordan (37 points in 1998) with one of the best-scoring performance without a turnover in an NBA Finals game since 1978 when the stat was first tracked, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
While Shaq's 41 points are surely impressive, he was a catch-and-finish type of player, not really amounting to many turnovers.
Durant and Jordan's performance are the most eye-catching ones given how often they handled the ball throughout the game.
The Golden State Warriors forward had eight assists in the game and controlled the transition attack in many occasions, making it quite tough to go his entire 38 minutes on the floor mistake-free.
Jordan didn't just have one, but actually two turnover-less games in a row — putting up 33 points in Game 1 in a loss to the Utah Jazz, and 37 in a rebound win in Game 2, playing 46 and 40 minutes respectively.
His Airness scored a combined 70 points in 86 minutes of play without a turnover, going 27-of-62 from the field in a tightly-contested series. He also averaged more steals (1.8) than turnovers (1.7) during the six-game series.
While Durant still has plenty to go to reach said heights, he's surely starting off on the right foot, now three games away from adding “NBA champion” to his legacy.
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