Kevin Durant is one of the two biggest candidates to take home the MVP award next year. The Brooklyn Nets superstar has been great since his return to the court last year, picking things up right where he left them.
The veteran has played at an incredible level and this season, he’s considered by many the best player in the world. That’s why he’s going toe-to-toe with former teammate Stephen Curry for the most coveted award in the league.
On Thursday night, Durant displayed his greatness once again, scoring 34 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing 8 assists in 39 minutes of action. He showed up in crunch time, making big shots for his team, giving the Nets the lead and eventual win against the difficult Philadelphia 76ers.
Durant hit the dagger over Joel Embiid when the Nets led the game 112-105. With 35 seconds left in the game, the 2014 MVP pulled up and sealed the deal for his squad, who remains atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Following the game, everybody was in awe of KD’s performances, including teammate Blake Griffin, who had big praise for Durant and his offensive talents.
“He’s the most unaffected [by defenders] basketball player maybe of all time. They’ve got some good defenders on that team and he obviously gets everybody’s best defender every night – double-teams, whatever it is, high difficulty shots. [He] just goes over and shoots it like nobody’s there. It’s demoralizing as a defender because you feel like you’ve done everything you can. You played great defense and he still got it.”
Blake Griffin on Kevin Durant:
"He's the most unaffected (by defenders) basketball player maybe of all-time. They've got some good defenders on that team and he obviously gets everybody's best defender every night." pic.twitter.com/JNU5mo56J0
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) December 17, 2021
Durant isn’t shy to make big shots. Whatever it takes to win, he’s willing to do it. He reminded people last season, leaving his everything on the court to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the playoffs. Even though he couldn’t make that last shot to give the Nets a Game-7 win in OT, KD confirmed he’s clutch and won’t hesitate to take a last-second shot for his squad.
He’s demonstrating his talents this season again. The forward is considered the best player in the world right now, battling Stephen Curry for that status (and the MVP award). Durant is one of the most skilled offensive players of all time and his performances this season are the perfect sample of that. When the Nets miss Kyrie Irving and James Harden hasn’t performed as expected, he took over and is now leading the team to the top of the East.
