Kevin Durant had another magnificent outing for the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 against the Houston Rockets. Durant scored 46 points on 14-of-31 shooting in a 126-121 losing effort on Saturday night.
With this performance, he notched his third 45-plus point game in the 2019 NBA playoffs. He now joins an elite group of five legends who have had at least three 45-plus point games in a single post-season run, per NBA Stats on Twitter.
With his 46 points tonight, Kevin Durant joins LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor as the only players in #NBAPlayoffs history with at least 3 games scoring 45+ points in a single postseason run. pic.twitter.com/jMKo77Edpe
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 5, 2019
Durant's Game 3 performance against the Rockets is his actually the third time in his last five outings that he has scored 45 or more.
The 10-time All-Star scored 45 points in Golden State's Game 5 loss against the Clippers, and followed that up with a 50-point masterpiece to close out their first round series rivals in six games.
The caveat here, however, is that two of these scintillating scoring masterpieces came in losses.
Nonetheless, that should not discount how much the two-time Finals MVP has meant for the two-time defending champions in these playoffs so far. He has basically carried them whenever the Splash Brothers struggled, and so far Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson's shots have been inconsistent in the playoffs.
Durant has been on a special kind of tear since he reminded reporters of who he was in their first round series against the L.A. Clippers. Since Game 2 of their opening round series, Durant has been averaging an insane 39.4 points per game on 51 percent shooting for the Warriors.
Durant was once a luxury for the two-time defending champions. But now, it seems like they will need him more than ever as they gun for their third straight championship.
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