When an all-time great player has an all-time great game, especially in the NBA playoffs, there is a feeling that begins to surround a field as people begin to realize that it is a matter of time and place. is the moment.
Collective adrenaline forces perspective on the audience – and this can include players and coaches on both teams – and they can't help but remember how they experienced it from the point of view of seeing it. The more experience you have.
Kevin Durant did so for the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn Nets' 114-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night as the Nets went 3-2 in this Eastern Conference semifinal series by overcoming significant hurdles and a 17-point Took an impossible lead. loss
And we know one person who is holding it.
"You know, he's the best player in the world right now," Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said.
How will it be remembered? Forty nine points in 48 minutes. Purification of his lips as he followed his dagger 3-pointer to the sky. Or simply referring to it as "Game 5".
Talk about NBA ratings. Talk about too many sports and too many injuries. Talk about too many replays or 3-pointers or too much offense you want. The reason people are attracted to NBA basketball at the highest level is to take a small part in a sport like Durant.
"I was able to score some points," Durant said dryly. "I played every minute, which helped my point total."
This was part of Durant's later attempts to reduce it, partly because he knows the series isn't over and partly because it probably just felt good to act like it was just another one for the files. The box was score.
Which, of course, is not true. He had 17 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Amazingly, though, the enormity of the statistics doesn't quite capture this. It was more relatable to see him rise over and over again to make those silky jumpers above the defenders. criticize the Bucks' defense or criticize Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer for not assigning Antetokounmpo or double-teaming them; All nine of Durant's jumpers were heavily contested in the fourth quarter. He hit a six.
Nets coach Steve Nash said of Durant not being dropped from the game, "What can I tell you, it's not ideal." "But if we didn't play him 48, he probably wasn't winning tonight. It's a tough decision; it's an easy decision that's very hard to make."
The late NBA commissioner David Stern used to offer the sage wisdom that the greatness of the game and its players always wins. When you watch Durant's grace rise up to hit such an amount of impossible-looking shots, the flaws of the play, the management, the coach or the umpires become irrelevant.
"Kevin's game was just incredible," said James Harden, who has been in the area once or twice in his career, although let's be honest, not in a playoff situation like this. "He was shocked by the whole game."
Everything about Harden's night was ridiculous—that he was listed as the first on the day and went from suspect to suspect in the starting lineup in the span of 12 hours. that he had $100 in elastic therapeutic tape curling on his right leg in a desperate attempt to keep his hamstrings attached to his femur. That he could barely run or bite and still play 46 - forty-six! - Minute. That he went to shoot 1 out of 10 and was still highly appreciated by his teammates.
Any novel can be written on Harden Day. But this is a footnote.
Durant has a group of surnames. Durantula. Slim Reaper. KD, of course. But the best is probably Easy Money Sniper. He loves it so much, it is his Instagram handle. Some of his friends call him Easy Money. It enters the mind at such moments, those who know him best whisper "Easy Money" as those shots keep going down.
Perhaps that was what was most remarkable about the whole thing, Durant really took it easy. Analyze her to death, but those plays define her career. What a defining game.
"To be honest, I don't even rank or look at performance," Durant said. "Once they're done, I just try to go ahead and see if I can do it again. It was a fun game to be a part of. There were so many games in my career that I Thought they were fun. I'm sure we can talk about it again when I reflect on it, but for now, it was great that we got the W."