Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving- 21-22 Thread

[MartinToVaught]

this has gotta be the most disappointing series from a player of kd's caliber since lebron 2011, right?

like man this is insane. he's been awful. lost on defense, horrendous passing and careless with the ball, ridiculously passive scorer..

It's way worse than 2011. At least that was in the Finals, not the first round. The Heat also didn't get swept.

This is probably the worst chokejob we've seen from a star player since some of Wilt's epic meltdowns back in the day.

What were some of these Wilt's epic meltdowns? He never had as bad series as Durant has now.

In 1961, for example, Wilt got swept out of the playoffs immediately by a 38-41 Syracuse Nationals team. Games 2 and 3 were razor-thin losses where Wilt's bricks at the free throw line would have made the difference. He would have been crucified for a series like that in today's media environment.

There were also several Game 7s where Wilt got outscored and outplayed by Sam Jones.

[falcolombardi]

It's way worse than 2011. At least that was in the Finals, not the first round. The Heat also didn't get swept.

This is probably the worst chokejob we've seen from a star player since some of Wilt's epic meltdowns back in the day.

What were some of these Wilt's epic meltdowns? He never had as bad series as Durant has now.

In 1961, for example, Wilt got swept out of the playoffs immediately by a 38-41 Syracuse Nationals team. Games 2 and 3 were razor-thin losses where Wilt's bricks at the free throw line would have made the difference. He would have been crucified for a series like that in today's media environment.

There were also several Game 7s where Wilt got outscored and outplayed by Sam Jones.

scoring alone is not the only thingh that matters, people often thinl like that and it disproportionately benefits volume chucking players who score a lot of points and nothingh else (not saying sam jones was one)

wilt also was a first option teams defended as a whole creating looks for teammates to say nothingh of defensive impact

[70sFan]

In 1961, for example, Wilt got swept out of the playoffs immediately by a 38-41 Syracuse Nationals team. Games 2 and 3 were razor-thin losses where Wilt's bricks at the free throw line would have made the difference. He would have been crucified for a series like that in today's media environment.

He averaged 33 ppg on above average efficiency in these two games. He also shot 54% from FT line in these two games, which is better than what he did in RS. His teammates meanwhile shot 35.7% from the field.

There were also several Game 7s where Wilt got outscored and outplayed by Sam Jones.

Which game 7s?

I wouldn't put Jones over Wilt for 1962, given reports praising Wilt's defense and him coming clutch and scoring last baskets.
Certainly not 1965, Wilt had a briliant game.
Maybe 1968, but Jones didn't have notable game either and Wilt played injured.
1969 is also unlikely given the impact on both ends of the floor and Jones fouling out.

[Sportfan2233]

The Nets could be the only team in the 2022 playoffs to be swept in the first round

Not a good look if that happens, especially for KD who was terrible in this series after 3 games. It's not acceptable to have only 11 FGAs in a must win game for a super star player. Kyrie had a great first game but he disappeared in the next two games

[Sportfan2233]

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[falcolombardi]

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i am not a big fan of barkley with stuff like this tbh, he is the same guy who probably would be calling jokic a fraud and not a real winner for daring to be swept by the much morr talented team no matter how hard and well he played

not saying dursnt doesnt deserve criticisms but almost nobody ever csn brag about being the best player of a title team (not barkley either) and dursnt has a solid claim for it

[TroubleS0me]

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[TroubleS0me]

its over 4-0 sweep

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any thoughts?

[TheGOATRises007]

its over 4-0 sweep

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any thoughts?

A very bad series by the both of them.

Especially defensively.

[cpower]

KD playing like D Mitch...maybe he has always been closer to D Mitch than real superstars.

[homecourtloss]

its over 4-0 sweep

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any thoughts?

A very bad series by the both of them.

Especially defensively.

Indeed. KD was pretty good defensively in the first game, and then awful the rest of series. He was getting picked on in games 2 and 3.

Kyrie…probably his only good defense series was the 2016 Finals (games 5-7 only).

[Goudelock]

its over 4-0 sweep

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any thoughts?

1: Anyone who blames Kevin Durant for tonight's loss, or uses tonight's result to gloat or make grand proclamations about how this proves KD is a fraud, those people should be ignored. I don't know how anyone can watch tonight's game and think anything other than "Durant laid it all out there on the line."

2: Irving had some nice shots in the fourth quarter, but he still seemed oddly passive. I kept waiting for Irving to force the issue and create shots for other players............and he just didn't. The season was on the line and Irving just seemed to be going through the motions aside from those few great shots.

3: The Celtics were beating the crap out of the Nets though, so maybe Irving was getting defended off-ball in a way that I didn't notice.

[tsherkin]

54.4% TS. That's pretty respectable against a defense entirely designed to shut him down. Couldn't get enough from anyone else to get the game, and they still had a close one. That's actually pretty impressive for KD. I hope that isn't lost in the whole 'HURR NETS LOSE, CELTICS DEFENSE GO BURRRR," as impressive and deserving of credit as was Boston's D.

[HeartBreakKid]

its over 4-0 sweep

Read on Twitter

any thoughts?

1: Anyone who blames Kevin Durant for tonight's loss, or uses tonight's result to gloat or make grand proclamations about how this proves KD is a fraud, those people should be ignored. I don't know how anyone can watch tonight's game and think anything other than "Durant laid it all out there on the line."

2: Irving had some nice shots in the fourth quarter, but he still seemed oddly passive. I kept waiting for Irving to force the issue and create shots for other players............and he just didn't. The season was on the line and Irving just seemed to be going through the motions aside from those few great shots.

3: The Celtics were beating the crap out of the Nets though, so maybe Irving was getting defended off-ball in a way that I didn't notice.

this is a really mediocre game still for kevin durant, the fact that this was his best game by far is a testament to how much he got crapped on this series.

[JordansBulls]

This has been one of the weirdest seasons and playoffs thus far.

[BIGJ1ER]

its over 4-0 sweep

Read on Twitter

any thoughts?

1: Anyone who blames Kevin Durant for tonight's loss, or uses tonight's result to gloat or make grand proclamations about how this proves KD is a fraud, those people should be ignored. I don't know how anyone can watch tonight's game and think anything other than "Durant laid it all out there on the line."

2: Irving had some nice shots in the fourth quarter, but he still seemed oddly passive. I kept waiting for Irving to force the issue and create shots for other players............and he just didn't. The season was on the line and Irving just seemed to be going through the motions aside from those few great shots.

3: The Celtics were beating the crap out of the Nets though, so maybe Irving was getting defended off-ball in a way that I didn't notice.

TBF there's more to it than that though for KD. His lack of ability to pass with his left hand, his lack of rim pressure, his loose handle and turnover issues, the playmaking issues, and what was super jarring this series was his terrible defence (to be fair that whole roster stinks defensively) are all issues to speak about when discussing KD.

I don't think discussion should be around hur durr KD choked but I think this series highlighted flaws that people have been pointing out for years when KD was being annointed the best in the game during 2017 and becoming the default answer for best in the game every year even when many didn't think his play warranted it.

[JordansBulls]

The Nets could be the only team in the 2022 playoffs to be swept in the first round

Not a good look if that happens, especially for KD who was terrible in this series after 3 games. It's not acceptable to have only 11 FGAs in a must win game for a super star player. Kyrie had a great first game but he disappeared in the next two games

Reminds me of Miami vs Chicago in 2007 when no one expected the Bulls to swept the Heat after the Heat won the title the year before and had Wade and Shaq.

[cpower]

its over 4-0 sweep

Read on Twitter

any thoughts?

1: Anyone who blames Kevin Durant for tonight's loss, or uses tonight's result to gloat or make grand proclamations about how this proves KD is a fraud, those people should be ignored. I don't know how anyone can watch tonight's game and think anything other than "Durant laid it all out there on the line."

2: Irving had some nice shots in the fourth quarter, but he still seemed oddly passive. I kept waiting for Irving to force the issue and create shots for other players............and he just didn't. The season was on the line and Irving just seemed to be going through the motions aside from those few great shots.

3: The Celtics were beating the crap out of the Nets though, so maybe Irving was getting defended off-ball in a way that I didn't notice.

depends on how you view KD as a player. if you think he is borderline top 10, this is a terrible game for him.
if you think he is top 50 this is an ok game, if you think he is borderline top 100 then its a good game.

I guess you have KD around top 100 then.

[MartinToVaught]

1: Anyone who blames Kevin Durant for tonight's loss, or uses tonight's result to gloat or make grand proclamations about how this proves KD is a fraud, those people should be ignored. I don't know how anyone can watch tonight's game and think anything other than "Durant laid it all out there on the line."

Couldn't disagree more. This series was, for all intents and purposes, already over no matter what happened tonight. This game was nothing but statpadding by Durant now that the pressure was off. He wasn't doing this when the series was still in doubt.

[O_6]

Really rough series for KD, for the first time in years he reminded us of some of his offensive limitations. But I do think a part of the reason for his troubles is that his age finally seems to be catching up to him. His inability to explode and attack the paint was very apparent in this series.

Durant only went 2-7 at the rim in this 4 game sweep, and both of those 2 made FGs were assisted. Shooting .286 at the rim with 0 of those buckets created by himself. That's pretty staggering. Although the Celtics defense deserve a lot of credit for it, this seems like it was a trend in 2022.

Durant's Unassisted "At the Rim" FGs per game: Regular Season
2008: 1.33
2009: 1.66
2010: 1.79
2011: 1.19
2012: 2.03
2013: 1.54
2014: 2.15
2015: 1.30
2016: 1.39
2017: 1.56
2018: 1.15
2019: 1.08
2021: 1.43
2022: 0.58

He's never been Giannis or LeBron in this respect, but his ability to penetrate and score inside was one reason why his overall scoring skill-set was/is considered the most complete in the league. I feel like people forget OKC MVP KD who wasn't quite the mid-range God he is today, but a much better penetrator. It seems like the penetration aspect of his game took a hit after his foot injury in 2015. But not too much. Even after the Achilles, his 1.43 Unassisted at the rim baskets per game last year was pretty comparable to his career average before that devastating injury.

But for whatever reason, that part of his game took a major major hit this year. He only had 32 unassisted at the rim FGs in the 55 games he played in the regular season, before having 0 in the 4 game sweep to Boston.

He's going to be 34 years old entering next season and has played 70+ games in only 2 of the last 8 seasons.

I wonder if his inability to penetrate and finish inside continues to deteriorate next year. He'll still get his buckets in the mid-range, but he won't be the same player he was in his true prime.