Durant: 0-10 FG in the 2nd Half

[Cavsfansince84]

Objectively, Durant is better post Achilles than Kobe.

But Durant's had an up and down career with the injuries in his prime, which Kobe didn't have, missing '19 and '15. And '16 he played poorly when it mattered.

No one thinks he's as good as LeBron or Kobe though, but in his prime, he was a top 2 player in the league for a couple of years.

What he's doing at 33 post Achilles is impressive though, and to knock him for 1 bad game given that is silly.

I think there's a lot of people who would say he was as good as Kobe peak/prime wise. I'd also say you are underselling him with the top 2 for a couple years comment. I think that there's a very reasonable argument that he was top 2 from 2012-2014 then at least top 3 a few times since then.

[falcolombardi]

i hate to be the durant defender but he will probably improve and start playing great in brooklyn

series dont end after a 0-2

[PT416]

He's a monster and he's been a monster. He's been so terrible this series though. If he snaps out of it I can see BKN winning the next 4. I wouldn't bet on it though, I think Boston is disrupting him more than him being in a slump.

Tatum is doing to him what Kawhi used to do to Lebron.

[Hankey89]

Objectively, Durant is better post Achilles than Kobe.

But Durant's had an up and down career with the injuries in his prime, which Kobe didn't have, missing '19 and '15. And '16 he played poorly when it mattered.

No one thinks he's as good as LeBron or Kobe though, but in his prime, he was a top 2 player in the league for a couple of years.

What he's doing at 33 post Achilles is impressive though, and to knock him for 1 bad game given that is silly.

Kobe playoff career, 26, 5, 5 on 48 percent EFG
Durant payoffs - 30, 8, 4 on 53 percent EFG

A lot of people would take Durant 5 year prime over Kobes.

This series is a glimpse of what KD would look like if he faced the early 2000's defenses that Kobe did. It would not be pretty.

If he was nearly 34 years old post achilles tear.

[Lalouie]

17points in the 4th for bn
dem legs are gettin' run out of the building

[laronprofit9]

Kobe playoff career, 26, 5, 5 on 48 percent EFG
Durant payoffs - 30, 8, 4 on 53 percent EFG

A lot of people would take Durant 5 year prime over Kobes.

This series is a glimpse of what KD would look like if he faced the early 2000's defenses that Kobe did. It would not be pretty.

If he was nearly 34 years old post achilles tear.

Durant had some blunders against the 2013 Grizzlies and 2016 Warriors.

Kobe’s edge in the playoffs comes from being far more versatile in the half court. Kobe is better at fighting for position at his comfort spots off the ball. Also better at creating offense with his dribble in the half court. Durants weaknesses in tonight’s game against the Celtics wouldn’t be as apparent with Kobe. A lot of those plays where Durant was being swarmed and not being to catch the ball or not Initate the offense. Kobe would at least be able to create some type of opportunity out of it in that situation. Due to better off ball movement and on ball dribbling /play making creativity that Durant doesn’t have with his game.

Durant is a great pull-up shooter and face up shooter which he has over Kobe. However in the playoffs where a team takes opportunities away in the half court, That’s where Kobe’s abilities scale well from regular season into post season

The only time Kobe struggled this bad was against the 2004 pistons and 2008 Celtics who are historically two of the greatest defensive teams of all a time. Durant has never had to play a team at that level defensively.

[TheGOATWill]

Boston gets in you. It's beautiful to watch.

[Slax]

Lol what is this, the third thread about Durant getting shut down this series? Fourth?

[RB34]

Celtics D on KD has been amazing, Tatum has him on lock. It’s not just KD playing bad, y’all see him torch the Bucks last year?

[JnewFTW]

I'm enjoying the Nets failures as much as anyone, but the people saying he was never on Kobe's level are laughably obtuse. Can't stand KD, but I'd take him over Kobe in a heartbeat.

[Slacktard]

Read on Twitter

If Durant's complaining about the double/triple teams I don't think Ben Simmons is gonna help out much there.

[Clay Davis]

Read on Twitter

If Durant's complaining about the double/triple teams I don't think Ben Simmons is gonna help out much there.

He's being descriptive. Imagine how much more petty KD's Twitter would be if he actually made a habit of complaining about being game-planned for his entire career.

[AussieCeltic]

Read on Twitter

Can we stop comparing him to Lebron or Kobe. He is not on their level. He's not better than Curry. I've never seen a player get so many free passes for underperforming in the playoffs. If LeBron ever went even 2-10 FG in the 2nd half, RealGM and ESPN would blow up. KD shoots 0-10 and everyone will forget about it tomorrow.

Let’s take Lebrons 2011 playoffs for example.


NBA finals game 4 - 3-11 for 8 points for the game
Conference semi finals game 3 - 3-9 second half (15 total)
Conference finals game 1 - 2-9 second half (15 total)
First round game 1 - 0/4 second half



Kobe Bryant had plenty of bad shooting nights (worst each playoffs)
98 - 4/14
99 - 5/17
00 - 4/20
01 - 7/22
02 - 5/21
03 - 7/25
04 - 4/19

Etc etc

[Infinite Llamas]

Tonight was the first night I’ve watched KD and didn’t expect the shots to go in (well that choke job in his last OKC game too). I’ve just become so accustomed to this guy being automatic with his shot that it’s still surreal to me when the shots don’t go in. This is the most “human” I’ve ever seen him before…

[laronprofit9]

Read on Twitter

Can we stop comparing him to Lebron or Kobe. He is not on their level. He's not better than Curry. I've never seen a player get so many free passes for underperforming in the playoffs. If LeBron ever went even 2-10 FG in the 2nd half, RealGM and ESPN would blow up. KD shoots 0-10 and everyone will forget about it tomorrow.

Let’s take Lebrons 2011 playoffs for example.


NBA finals game 4 - 3-11 for 8 points for the game
Conference semi finals game 3 - 3-9 second half (15 total)
Conference finals game 1 - 2-9 second half (15 total)
First round game 1 - 0/4 second half



Kobe Bryant had plenty of bad shooting nights (worst each playoffs)
98 - 4/14
99 - 5/17
00 - 4/20
01 - 7/22
02 - 5/21
03 - 7/25
04 - 4/19

Etc etc

Lebron’s biggest blunders were actually in 2008 and 2010 against the Celtics.

2008 Game 1 vs Celtics

Lebron shot 2fgm/18fga (11%FG) with 10 Turnovers in game 1 and the Cavs only lost by 4.

2010 Game 5 vs Celtics

Lebron shot 3fgm/14fga (21%FG)

2010 Game 6 vs Celtics

Lebron shot 8fgm/21fga (38%FG) with 9 Turnovers.



Imo part of what also made the decision bad for Cleveland fans at the time was how he seemingly disappeared in the last 2 playoff games in 2010. Rumors was maybe Delonte West and Lebron’s mom. However Lebron looked really weird in an elimination game looking uncharacteristically passive. It looked like he quit on the team in a similar manner to Kobe in 2006 in game 7.

I think those 2 games made “The Decision” seem worse to Cleveland fans. With his own hometown fans calling him a quitter and publicly burning his jersey.

2011 against the Mavs more cemented what Cavs fans were feeling from 2010 against the Celtics

[noreaster23]

Glad to see there's no recency bias in the making of this thread! KD's an all time great. Where you have him on your pantheon is debatable.

The current team he's playing with is garbage. KD can't do everything! Celtics are the #1 defense in the league, no wonder they are focusing all their attention on Durant, given who's on the rest of the team....

His teammates are either way past their primes getting wayyyyy too many minutes (Mills, Dragic, Drummond) or incredibly young and still learning (Edwards, Claxton). Bruce Brown is arguably the 3rd most important player on their team, and though I love his energy, he's not anywhere near good enough to be the 3rd best player on a contender. Seth Curry is a nice 5th starter or 1st man off the bench, so I guess that's ok.

Also, what KD is doing, at 33, coming off a major injury, is heroic! Though I'm a Celtics fan and rooting for the Nets to bow out in 4, next year with a healthy Simmons, and maybe 1 other solid offseason acquisition, I think the Nets will be strong contenders. As currently constructed, it's sad.

[meekrab]

DurFrozen lost his team the game apparently

[oversteerdawg]

Glad to see there's no recency bias in the making of this thread! KD's an all time great. Where you have him on your pantheon is debatable.

The current team he's playing with is garbage. KD can't do everything! Celtics are the #1 defense in the league, no wonder they are focusing all their attention on Durant, given who's on the rest of the team....

His teammates are either way past their primes getting wayyyyy too many minutes (Mills, Dragic, Drummond) or incredibly young and still learning (Edwards, Claxton). Bruce Brown is arguably the 3rd most important player on their team, and though I love his energy, he's not anywhere near good enough to be the 3rd best player on a contender. Seth Curry is a nice 5th starter or 1st man off the bench, so I guess that's ok.

Also, what KD is doing, at 33, coming off a major injury, is heroic! Though I'm a Celtics fan and rooting for the Nets to bow out in 4, next year with a healthy Simmons, and maybe 1 other solid offseason acquisition, I think the Nets will be strong contenders. As currently constructed, it's sad.

What about what's his name...Kyrie something

[An Unbiased Fan]

Read on Twitter

If Durant's complaining about the double/triple teams I don't think Ben Simmons is gonna help out much there.

I've said for years that Durant is the most assisted star ever. People talk about his efficiency, but we not see what happens when he's not getting nothing but 1 on 1s, and actually doubled.

[Wolfgang630]

Glad to see there's no recency bias in the making of this thread! KD's an all time great. Where you have him on your pantheon is debatable.

The current team he's playing with is garbage. KD can't do everything! Celtics are the #1 defense in the league, no wonder they are focusing all their attention on Durant, given who's on the rest of the team....

His teammates are either way past their primes getting wayyyyy too many minutes (Mills, Dragic, Drummond) or incredibly young and still learning (Edwards, Claxton). Bruce Brown is arguably the 3rd most important player on their team, and though I love his energy, he's not anywhere near good enough to be the 3rd best player on a contender. Seth Curry is a nice 5th starter or 1st man off the bench, so I guess that's ok.

Also, what KD is doing, at 33, coming off a major injury, is heroic! Though I'm a Celtics fan and rooting for the Nets to bow out in 4, next year with a healthy Simmons, and maybe 1 other solid offseason acquisition, I think the Nets will be strong contenders. As currently constructed, it's sad.

Garbage? Nope? Him and Kyrie (the second best player) I was told are they most skilled duo ever. I was told KD is the best player. They have alot of fire power.