Catastrophic in the first round against Boston, Kevin Durant must now face a wave of incredible criticism. The Nets star even sees himself abandoned by one of his biggest fans, proof that the Slim Reaper has hit rock bottom during this pitiful series.
If Brooklyn experienced a real collective failure, being swept away by the Celtics, one of the major culprits is certainly Kevin Durant. Usually so strong, the winger totally failed in the task against the Greens and Whites, notably standing out with chronic clumsiness throughout the four games lost by his team. 38.6% shooting, 33% behind the arc: the 2014 MVP was unrecognizable from start to finish. Impossible to hope for anything for his frankness, under these conditions.
During Game 4 lost in Bean Town, the double champion once again suffered from his lack of precision, ending the game with 13/31 in shooting and above all, a disastrous free throw streak in money time. His 39 points therefore logically ended up in the trash, much to the dismay of his most fervent supporters. As a result, Skip Bayless notably spoke after the meeting, knocking the person concerned from his throne:
Skip Bayless shoots Kevin Durant after the Brooklyn sweep
Until Kevin Durant has an opportunity to right this four-game wrong, I can no longer make the case he’s The Best Player on the Planet.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 26, 2022
Until Kevin Durant has the opportunity to correct this error in these four games, I can no longer claim that he is the best player on the planet.
That’s a big admission from the analyst, who has been one of the former Warrior’s biggest fans for years. However, the n°7 has struggled too much on this series for his status not to be called into question, showing a rather unusual clumsiness for him (almost 50% career success). As Bayless reminds us, a multitude of his Game 4 misses were avoidable, proof that he was simply out of rhythm:
I’m sorry, but Kevin Durant missed WAY TOO MANY OPEN SHOTS. Of his 18 misses, at least 10 were pretty easy by his standards. The Celtics made all the shots they needed to – many of ’em layups/putbacks. I obviously loved KD’s let-it-fly mentality, but he did not redeem himself.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 26, 2022
I’m sorry, but Kevin Durant missed way too many open shots in this game. Of his 18 misses, at least 10 were fairly easy to get in by his standards. The Celtics took all the shots they needed – a lot of them were layups or putbacks. I obviously love KD’s mentality, but he hasn’t redeemed himself.
Kevin Durant will have to redeem himself in 2022-23, he who ended his campaign in a disastrous way. This is also the case for the entire Brooklyn franchise, which already saw itself as champion even before the season began.