Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant woke up on Sunday feeling extra generous. He was so in the mood for giving, he gave the Detroit Pistons a heavy headache after dropping a season-high 51 points.
Durant toyed with every defender thrown at him, as the Pistons, playing without injured star Jerami Grant, looked hapless all game. With his scoring outburst, KD set a new single-game scoring record at Little Caesars Arena. The guy he beat? None other than Nets teammate Blake Griffin, who scored 50 points in 2018 when he was with the Pistons.
When told about the interesting tidbit, Durant couldn't help but troll Griffin (via ESPN):
“I got Blake's record? That's great. I didn't know he got 50 here, but this is a new building, so I'm sure that will get broken pretty quickly.”
Durant also bested the scoring feats of his other Nets teammates, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, who had 45 and 44 points, respectively, on the Pistons' home floor.
With Harden resting, Durant welcomed the challenge to carry the scoring load on Sunday. The NBA's leading scorer steered the Nets to a 116-104 win to improve to 19-8 and solidify their lead atop the Eastern Conference.
Nets coach Steve Nash gushed about Kevin Durant's performance, admitting he kept him in the game despite their comfortable lead because KD had that “look in his eyes.”
Perhaps adding salt to Griffin's wound, he only scored two points and was heavily booed by Pistons fans. But perhaps he woke up on Sunday already expecting that.
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