On December 15, Beijing time, the NBA regular season, the Nets played at home against the Raptors. The Nets suffered a heavy blow before the start of the game, with Harden, Aldridge, Bruce Brown, James Johnson, Bembry and Jevon Carter triggering the health and safety agreement. Coupled with Millsap, who has been isolated before, as well as Irving, who is still unable to play, and Joe Harris, who is still unable to play, the Nets have as many as 9 missing players.
The league set a minimum number of eight players per team, after the Bulls had to postpone the game because 10 were segregated by an agreement. The Nets had exactly 8 asked for after the 9-man absence. Even if Durant's ankle is unwell and the shoulder injury is still unhealed, he still has to play. That's pretty tough for the Nets.
In the first half of the game, the Nets were not affected by too many player absences, and they relied on the multi-point blossom format in the second quarter, gradually widening the point difference to double digits, leading their opponents by 10 points in the half. But in the third quarter, the Raptors launched a sharp offense, turning the score back with a single quarter score of 44-25. Heading into the final quarter, the Nets brought the score back with the help of Mills' 16 points in the quarter. With VanVleet missing three points in the final game, the two sides went into overtime. The Nets pulled the gap apart in overtime, relying on Duke's key frontcourt rebounds to give the team a four-point lead. Although VanVleet hit a key three-pointer to narrow the point gap, the Nets narrowed their three-game winning streak with Barnes hitting the Raptors. It was also the team's 20th win of the season.
Durant contributed 34 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in this game, the first contributor to the team's victory, and the second time he has cut a triple-double this season. He played more than 48 minutes with an injury, filling the entire fourth quarter and overtime. It was also the longest game he had played in the last seven years, and it seemed how difficult it was for him at the age of 33. Don't forget, he's also been through major injuries.
Durant has played 168.6 minutes in the last four games, averaging more than 42 minutes per game, and he really broke his heart for this Nets. Interestingly, in the past 4 games, the Nets have completed a reversal in the final quarter.
Facing the Lone Rangers on The Road on December 8, the Nets trailed by 17 points in the first three quarters, and completed the reversal of the 27-13 single-quarter score in the final quarter, and Durant contributed 11 points in the final quarter
Facing the Hawks on December 11, the Nets trailed by a maximum of 11 points in the first three quarters, and the single-quarter score of 24-14 in the final quarter was reversed, and Durant played 9 minutes in the final quarter to contribute 8 points
Facing the Pistons on the road on December 13, the Nets trailed by seven points in the third quarter, beating their opponents by a 30-13 single-quarter score in the final quarter, and Durant contributed 13 points in the last 10 minutes of the game, scoring a single-game high of 51 points so far this season
Facing the Raptors at home today, the Nets were played by the opponent in the third quarter with a single quarter score of 45-22, once trailing by 10 points, and the final quarter and overtime brought the score back, and Durant played 17 minutes to contribute 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists
Durant has averaged 36.9 minutes per game this season, ranking second in the league, behind the Raptors VanVleet's 38 minutes. In the case that many players in the team cannot play, he needs to carry the team to continue to carry the weight forward, and Durant's playing time is estimated to continue to be high in the future, and he shows his leadership style to the outside world. Head coach Nash praised Durant in today's post-match interview, and Nash said that Durant came on the field with an injury in the most severe situation of the team and must give him unlimited compliments.
Durant also spoke about playing more than 48 minutes after the game, saying he just wanted to try to do what needed to be done by himself. Seven people on the team don't play, and they could have given up the game, but he's now very proud to be a member of the Nets. It feels great to be able to fight with a group of young players. Finally, I hope everyone will return soon, he misses everyone very much.
It can be seen that Durant's mood is still good, and he also sent blessings to Curry, a former teammate who was crowned the all-time three-point king today through social media messages after the game. At the same time, he did not forget to taunt James's well-known Jenhei Skip-Belles, Durant said to Skip: "I don't like you very much."
(Text/Yuwen Basketball)