Facing the Pistons at the bottom of the East, the Nets have the confidence of James Harden. But the Pistons, who have suffered eleven straight losses, don't want to be chopping board fish, and Kader Cunningham has 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block on 9-of-18 shooting, including 8 three-pointers, which is one of the few games he has performed extremely well so far. However, on this night, Cunningham can only be a spectator, because Kevin Durant across the street gives him a glimpse into what a real superstar is.
In 40 minutes of playing time, Durant made 16 of 31 three-pointers and made 5 three-pointers from 50 plus 15 free throws, 14 of 51 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. So far, only two players have scored 50+ this season, compared with Curry's 50 points and Durant's 51 points. Cunningham performed well in the first quarter, with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists on 4-of-7 shooting in a single quarter, but compared to Durant's 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists on 7-of-8 shooting in the third quarter, Cunningham was a real wizard.
After a crazy show, Durant improved his personal stats to 29.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists, shooting 52.9% from the field and 38.3% from three-point range. He scored first in the league, 2.1 points more than second-place letter Goyiannis Antetokounmpo. The Nets also achieved a 19-8 record in the case of Harden's poor form and Kyrie Irving's inability to play, temporarily ranking first in the East. All of this combined, this season's Durant seems to be more anticipated, the fifth scoring champion, the second MVP is beckoning durant. But let's also not ignore Durant's defense.
The 09-10 season is the third season of Durant's career, when he became the youngest scoring champion in NBA history with an average of 30.1 points per game, since then, Durant has been the league's offensive benchmark, from the outside to the inside, Durant has no offensive dead ends, and can ignore any defense to complete the offense, and its steady mid-range is the team's weapon to attack. It's easy to overlook Durant's defense with a good offense, and in fact, Durant has always been conscientious on the defensive end, never lazy, and the effect is quite good.
Durant is now the Nets' main breakup, and he has also suffered a serious injury from a ruptured Achilles tendon, and if he is lazy on the defensive end, no one will dispute it. Durant, however, did not do so. Durant has been directly against forwards on the defensive end of the season for 210 minutes and 25 seconds, and forwards have shot 37.7 percent on 61-of-162 shooting during this time, including 19-of-70 three-pointers, shooting 27.1 percent; directly against defenders for 125 minutes and 38 seconds, and defenders shooting 41.5 percent on 135-of-56 shots during this time, including 30.6 percent from 19-of-62 three-point range; 25 minutes and 51 seconds directly against centers, and 17-of-29 from the center during this time. Shooting 58.6 percent, including 1-of-3 from three-point range, 33.3 percent from the field.
In addition to some losses in defending center, neither forward nor guard took advantage of Durant, and Durant was also a top player on the other side, the Heat's Jimmy Butler shot 5-of-0 against Durant, the Bulls' DeMar DeRozan shot 2-of-8 against Durant, Zach Lavin shot 8-of-3 against Durant, the Hawks' John Collins shot 1-of-7 against Durant, and Alphabet Brother shot 3-of-7 against Durant.
In addition to the players who are not in the opposite position with Durant, Durant is also quite good at interfering with shooting, averaging 3.8 interfering two-point shots per game this season, ranking sixty-fifth in the league; averaging 3.4 interfering two-point shots per game, ranking eighteenth in the league. As of December 13, Beijing time, there are only 30 players in the league who have averaged no less than three two-point shots and three-point shots per game, during which there are names such as Anthony Davis, Alphabet Brother, Drummond Green, and Durant's name. So, don't just look at Durant's offense, his defense is really undervalued. If you can, please don't forget Durant in the best defensive lineup.
Text/Duncan's laugh