Durant was 1-7 in the 4th quarter with a chance to advance to the NBA finals

[ArbitraryWater]

*and close out the 73-win Warriors (up 8 heading into the 4th quarter).


I don't know what happened... but I swear at one point this dude was a clutch assassin.

In 2012 it seemed like he was toying with opponents in the playoffs... it was easy for him to close them out in the final minutes.

He used to be mentally strong, a killer. Ice in his veins. 'Kid Clutch'.

I saw him the first time showing some ****** in the armor during the '13 playoffs. Then he went crazy in '14 again, and showed, for the first time, real mental lapses in the '14 playoffs. Its still with him right now during the final few minutes, of course without the blatant passiveness of 2014 playoffs KD, that more so reminisced 2016 playoffs Curry.

Strong similarities between '14 KD and '16 Curry, both with historic regular seasons, and wilting mentally in the playoffs, going through the first 2 rounds but playing way below standards, and then, I thought Curry's MVP year would end like KD's, both going out in the CF in 6.

But KD assisted Curry here, and opened the door for him again.

Durant has to redeem himself. A win on the road, and a dominant performance.

I still think game 7 will be relatively close. Warriors will still feel the pressure, and I still believe KD has something left in him.

[warriorfan]

GayD is a toothpick loser

[ArbitraryWater]

Adding, these two TO's (one of which led to the game tying 3, the other to the dagger, he was only credited for the first one, they gave the other to Westbrook, but IMO KD's forward pass to too harsh and rushed, he should have taken it up himself):











^I don't know man, its hard to tell. Westbrook doesn't do a good job of going to the ball and getting a good grip on it, obviously great defensive interference from Green, but I think KD should have done a better job, assessing the situation, realizing Green is near, and its not like Westbrook was way upfront and far away from him. Westbrook was right infront of him, I don't think he trusted himself in that situation to dribble the ball up.

[STATUTORY]

really takes the shine off Lebron's 1st championship when you realize that Durant was the soft bitch ass n99a on the opposing team

[ArbitraryWater]

really takes the shine off Lebron's 1st championship when you realize that Durant was the soft bitch ass n99a on the opposing team

Like I said, there was a time this dude was a cold mofo... don't you act otherwise.

He took multiple games from the Lakers in 2012, had a game winner against the Mavericks, closed out the Spurs, hung consecutive 17+ point 4th quarters on the Heat...

the guy was as good in the clutch as possible.

He went from that, to this.... I don't know how, or why.

[Funktion]

really takes the shine off Lebron's 1st championship when you realize that Durant was the soft bitch ass n99a on the opposing team

[tpols]

Like I said, there was a time this dude was a cold mofo... don't you act otherwise.

He took multiple games from the Lakers in 2012, had a game winner against the Mavericks, closed out the Spurs, hung consecutive 17+ point 4th quarters on the Heat...

the guy was as good in the clutch as possible.

He went from that, to this.... I don't know how, or why.

Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes happened.

[ArbitraryWater]

Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes happened.

no seriously.. he already cracked a bit in 2013, and then 2014... he can't seem to get it together.

[STATUTORY]

Like I said, there was a time this dude was a cold mofo... don't you act otherwise.

He took multiple games from the Lakers in 2012, had a game winner against the Mavericks, closed out the Spurs, hung consecutive 17+ point 4th quarters on the Heat...

the guy was as good in the clutch as possible.

He went from that, to this.... I don't know how, or why.

it's true, at some point the narrative was always Russell holding KD back and ball hogging in the 4th when KD is the one that should have been the focal point

but he just looks absolutely one dimensional out there right now, like his handles aren't good enough to iso effectively with. Russell is the reason they are even going to a game 7 tbh

[tpols]

no seriously.. he already cracked a bit in 2013, and then 2014... he can't seem to get it together.

KD has shown throughout his career, that he can / will meltdown if covered by very physical defense.. Artest in '10, Marion in '11, Bron in '12, Tony Allen in '14, and now Iggy in '16.

He's not built for inside his jersey, physical defense guys like this bring for 7 games.


This Thunder teams biggest advantage is knowing KD and WB are going to draw help, and toss a brick that either kanter, adams, roberson or ibaka can just do a little layup off of.

[DMAVS41]

Whatever the reason...doesn't really matter why..

This game, if the Thunder lose game 7, is a huge...in a bad way...legacy game for Durant

Sucks because I wanted KD to stay in OKC long term, now if they lose this series, it opens up a far greater possibility he leaves this summer or signs a 1/1 and leaves next summer

Really surprised at that performance last night

[Euroleague]

Durant has been a choker for a long time now.

[Young X]

He really let me down. And I agree with you, I always thought of KD being the super efficient, clutch, consistent playoff performer. I never looked at him as a chucker. I used to think he was above that.

But now he's out there taking horrible shots, committing horrible turnovers, just playing stupid, inefficient basketball.

He disappointed me, his teammates, his fans with his performance. And it's not just last night but in this series outside of games 3 and 4. Actually he's had more mediocre games than good ones in this postseason. Just checked, he has a 20.2 PER in the playoffs...SMH.

[Da_Realist]

He either shoots jumpshots or drives to the basket. Either way, the best time to defend him is before he shoots. Get close, entice him to drive and try to strip the ball or bother his dribble in order to get him off balance. Even the shots he made last night were difficult, off balance, fading away jumpshots. Notice how Steph and Klay are always balanced when they shoots.

By defending his high dribble, you use his length against him because it's hard for him to keep the ball low to the ground. He should have developed a dependable post game presence a long time ago. Just post, turnaround and shoot over the defender. No need to dribble. Nobody could touch it and it would guarantee easier baskets when everything else is falling apart.

[DMAVS41]

He either shoots jumpshots or drives to the basket. Either way, the best time to defend him is before he shoots. Get close, entice him to drive and try to strip the ball or bother his dribble in order to get him off balance. Even the shots he made last night were difficult, off balance, fading away jumpshots. Notice how Steph and Klay are always balanced when they shoots.

By defending his high dribble, you use his length against him because it's hard for him to keep the ball low to the ground. He should have developed a dependable post game presence a long time ago. Just post, turnaround and shoot over the defender. No need to dribble. Nobody could touch it and it would guarantee easier baskets when everything else is falling apart.

This is true, but also...the man took eight 3's last night. That lets the defense off the hook in at least an extra 4 possessions. Settling like that in that type of game with so much on the line is very telling about him mentally in my opinion.

It's one thing to just not play great, but to do that...really bad look.

And that doesn't even begin to describe his lackluster late game play in which the game was there to be taken...at home...with the finals on the line.

I hope the Thunder win game 7 so it doesn't really matter, but I'm not sure they can do it after this performance. Always a chance, but they obviously just messed up their best chance.