Tag: Kevin Durant

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/19/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Sports

Written by Titan Frey 

Game 7 Overtime Classic!

That’s exactly right, NBA fans. We had a classic game seven of the NBA playoffs tonight. 

The stars were shining brightly on both squads. Giannis Antetokounmpo and especially Kevin Durant put on a show. Let’s break down this classic game. 

Both teams traded blows from the beginning of the game. There were 19 lead changes and nine ties throughout the game.

For the Milwaukee Bucks, Antetokounmpo played solid all game long… other than his two air ball free throws.

Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday each struggled throughout the game, but both came on strong in the fourth quarter.

As Middleton, Holiday, and Antetokounmpo were keeping the Bucks close in the fourth, Kevin Durant was a one-man show for the gone team.

Durant, who played every minute of the game, for the second time in this series, kept hitting big shot after big shot.

The biggest shot for Durant was a turnaround long two-point jumper over P.J. Tucker that tied the game with one second to go.

Durant’s foot just barely touched the line, missing the chance to put the Nets up one. 

Antetokounmpo then missed his shot attempt at the buzzer and the game went to overtime. 

After the four quarters, Durant had 48 points, which is the record for most points in a game seven.

Antetokounmpo finished the game with 40 points and this became the first game seven, since 2008, where two players on opposite teams scored 40 plus points. (Paul Pierce, LeBron James)

Unfortunately for Durant and Nets fans, he wouldn’t get anymore. In fact, a Bruce Brown rebound put-back would be the only basket for the Nets in the overtime period.

After the Bucks took a 113-111 lead, Durant attempted another turnaround long two-point jumper, but this time he threw up an air ball with .3 seconds to go. 

After two free throws by Brook Lopez, the Bucks won the game 115-111 to take the series. 

They will now face the winner of the Sixers-Hawks series which will be played tomorrow at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. 

Another game seven, will it be another classic? I sure hope and can’t wait to watch it. 

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/17/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Sports

Written by Titan Frey

  • NETS 89
  • BUCKS 104

The Brooklyn Nets would not get a dominant performance out of Kevin Durant on this night. That’s not to say Durant played badly because he didn’t. 

Durant finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 15-30 from the field… not bad, but not as efficient as the previous game.

The Bucks on the other hand were dominant as a team from the very start. The Bucks never trailed in this game and Giannis Antetokounmpo got plenty of help.

The Greek Freak had a monster game with 30 points and 17 rebounds. But players like Khris stepped up in a big way. 

Middleton scored 38 while grabbing 10 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, and coming up with 5 steals. 

Jrue Holiday also stepped up big with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. 

The series is now tied 3-3, so everyone’s favorite game, a game seven, will be played on Saturday, June 19th at 8:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. 

Who will win? Will Kyrie Irving be back? Will Giannis Antetokounmpo shrink under the pressure? These are some questions that will be answered after a great (I hope) game seven. 

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/15/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Sports

Written by Titan Frey

  • BUCKS 108
  • NETS 114

This game was supposed to belong to the Milwaukee Bucks. It definitely looked that way at the start as the Bucks blew past the Nets. 

By halftime, the Bucks lead 59-43. The Nets have not had a game all year where they’ve come back and won being down by 16 points. 

Without Kyrie Irving, the task seemed too tall even for a player like Kevin Durant.

Right before the game, the Nets announced James Harden would be back. This would be a good thing for the Nets, right? 

Well, Harden did play, and he played over 45 minutes. Yet, he didn’t look like himself. His injured hamstring clearly must’ve been bothering him. 

Harden scored 5 points on 1-10 shooting. As I said, the former scoring champion did not look right at all. 

So, with Irving out and Harden going 1-10, how would the Bucks two best players play? Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 and Khris Middleton scored 25. 

Now that you have all this information, you must be asking yourself, “How did the Nets win this game?” I’ll tell you how: the Nets have Kevin Durant. 

“The Slim Reaper” as he’s called, had himself a ball game. Durant played the entire game (all 48 minutes), scored 49 on 16-23 from the field.

If you think that’s impressive, well, Durant wasn’t done. He also grabbed 17 rebounds, dished out 10 assists, stole the ball 3 times, and blocked it twice.

Kevin Durant did everything for his team on a night where analysts and fans alike said, “If Durant is one of the best ever, then he better prove it tonight”… he did, y’all.

The Bucks once again fell apart in the playoffs. Once again, Antetokounmpo, the former two-time MVP and defensive player of the year fell apart in the playoffs. 

As Kevin Durant was lighting it up down the stretch of the game, Antetokounmpo, the former defensive player of the year (just to remind you), didn’t step up to guard him.

Then, will about 17 seconds to go, down by two, Antetokounmpo let the ball slip through his fingers with a costly turnover that gave the Nets the win.

Game six is this Thursday, June 17th at 8:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. Are you ready?  

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/13/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Sports

Written by Titan Frey

  • NETS 96
  • BUCKS 107

The NBA injury bug has struck again and in a big way. With about six minutes to go in the second quarter, the Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving landed on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foot.


Irving’s ankle turned hard as he landed on the Greek Freak’s foot. Irving grabbed his ankle and screamed in pain as the play continued down the other way.


After a timeout and after taking some extra time to lie on the floor, Irving gingerly walked off the court.


It was later reported that Irving suffered a right ankle sprain and would not return to the game. The big question is now: how long will Kyrie Irving be out?


With the chances of Irving missing the remainder of this series and possibly longer, if the Nets advance, the need for James Harden to return is extremely great. 


If everything has to fall on Kevin Durant, that could be bad news for the Nets, despite how great Durant is. 


You have to remember, this is still the first season Durant has been back since his terrible Achilles injury. If his workload has to be expanded, you’d hate to see what it might do to his body. 


So, having James Harden back in the lineup is crucial to the Nets success for the remainder of this series. But at the same time, you don’t want to rush Harden back if he’s not ready, or he could hurt himself even more. 


This series, which started out looking like it may end in a Nets sweep, is very much a REAL SERIES, and the Bucks have the advantage. 


For the Milwaukee Bucks, their star, Giannis Antetokounmpo had himself another great game. The Greek Freak had 34 points and 12 rebounds. 


The Bucks had great balance today, with four other players scoring in double figures besides Antetokounmpo. 


Plus, P. J. Tucker has played incredible defense on Kevin Durant. In game four, Durant scored 28 but only shot 9-25 from the field. 


To dive deeper into the stats and to realize how good Tucker’s defense has been on Durant, Tucker held Durant to 9 points on 25 percent shooting. 


Game five will be played on Tuesday, June 15th at a time yet to be determined. 

  • SUNS 125
  • NUGGETS 118

The Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets went through a straight battle in game four. 


There were hard fouls. Mid-range jumpers. Technical fouls. A windup and smack in the face… this game had it all, and it ended with the Phoenix Suns making it to their first conference finals in eleven years. 


The Nuggets may have the MVP (Nikola Jokić), but the Suns have the MVP of the series in Chris Paul. 


Chris Paul dominated with his patented mid-range jumper. He finished with 37 points while dishing out 7 assists… he’s truly the “Point God”, as they call him. 


Devin Booker also came up big for the Suns. He scored 34 while grabbing 11 rebounds. 


As I stated earlier, the Nuggets had the MVP, but they didn’t have him for the entire game. 


Late in the third quarter, Jokić slammed down after the ball in a forceful way. In the process of swinging his hand at the ball, he smacked Cameron Payne directly on the nose. 


This wind-up and swing by Jokić was enough for the referees to throw him out. It was determined to be a flagrant two foul. 


The other Nuggets battled hard the rest of the way, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the sweep. 


The Phoenix Suns will now have to wait to see who they play in the conference finals. Will it be the Utah Jazz? Or the Los Angeles Clippers? 


The Jazz and Clippers play tomorrow, June 14th at 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. 

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/10/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Sports

Written by Titan Frey

  • NETS 83
  • BUCKS 86

Have we stepped inside of a time machine and gone back to the late 90s? In today’s NBA, the scores are high and the defense is… well, not always there.

Game three between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks felt like a throwback. From tough “D” (at times) to plenty of midrange jumpers, it really took me back. 

There’s been a slight back and forth, thanks to the media, between Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The basketball world was excited to see how these two players would come out in game three. This was especially true for Antetokounmpo.

With his past playoff failures, being down 0-2, plenty of analysts felt that Antetokounmpo needed to come out swinging. Don’t go down without a fight.

Well, that’s exactly what the Greek Freak did. He came out red-hot, scoring 15 in the first quarter and helping the Bucks take a commanding 30-11 lead after the first quarter.

I’ve been saying Khris Middleton needed to step up and give Antetokounmpo some help if the Bucks want a chance to get back into this series. Boy, did he step up in this game. 

Middleton bounced back from his horrible play in games one and two by scoring 35 and grabbing 15 rebounds.

After shooting a combined 30% in the first two games, Middleton found his touch by shooting 12-25 in game three. 

Antetokounmpo poured in 33 while grabbing 14 boards himself. These two Bucks stars combined to score 79% of their team’s points. This is the most by teammates in NBA playoff history. 

As for the Nets, this was the first game in the series where the Nets seemed to miss James Harden out on the court.

Kevin Durant started slow. He was 2-7 at one point, but you know he wasn’t going to keep missing. 

Durant came alive in the third, which helped get the Nets back into the game. He finished with 30 points on 11-28 shooting.

This became the first playoff game since 2018 where Durant shot less than 40% from the field. 

Durant would hit a three that put the Nets up three with 1:23 left in the game. After this shot, the Nets would become sloppy. 

Now down one with 11.4 seconds to go, the Nets inbound pass went through Bruce Brown’s hands and nearly rolled out of bounds. 

Kyrie Irving chased after and picked it up before going out, gave it to Brown, who drove to the hoop. Brown threw up a layup that missed and the Bucks grabbed the rebound. 

After two made free throws by the Bucks, the Nets had one last shot, down three with 2.1 seconds remaining. 

Durant would take a game-tying three, with three defenders on him, that missed at the buzzer, meaning the Bucks protect their home court.

Game four will be played on Sunday, June 13th, at 3 PM Eastern Standard Time. 

  • CLIPPERS 111
  • JAZZ 117

The Los Angeles Clippers, the team that has a troubled playoff history, appeared to heading that way once again.

At one point, the Clippers trailed by 21 points in the third quarter. They were destined to head back to LA in a 0-2 hole… then the Clippers started to play like the team everyone thought they would be when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George came together. 

The Clippers stormed back and took the lead in the fourth (101-99), but it wouldn’t last for long. 

The Jazz started hitting threes and never looked back. The Clippers started to play sloppy, which is part of their franchise playoff tradition. 

Do you want to know how dominant the Utah Jazz have been?

After the Clippers had a 13 point lead at halftime of game one, the Jazz has outscored them by 22 points in the last six quarters. The Jazz has also been shooting lights out from three in that span, making 30 of them.

Game three will be back in LA on Saturday, June 12th at 8:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. 

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/07/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, Sports

Written by Titan Frey

  • BUCKS 86
  • NETS 125 


Who needs James Harden, am I right? The Brooklyn Nets were without their third head in the monster trio for basically two straight games (other than the 43 seconds of game 1 that he played).


Many basketball analysts had the Milwaukee Bucks rebounding from their bad showing in game 1 and show their true potential and hit those threes they missed in game 1… 


Unfortunately, for the Bucks, the Nets still had two heads left of that monster, and one of those heads belongs to Kevin Durant. 


KD finished with 32 points on 12-18 from the field, including 4-6 from downtown. If this game wasn’t a blowout the entire way (Nets led by 49 at one point), you better believe KD would’ve had more. 


KD led the way, but he had plenty of help, first from his star sidekick,
Kyrie Irving, who scored 22 and dishes out 6 assists.


The Nets role players were solid once again. Joe Harris and Bruce Brown each chipped in 13. Mike James played would once again in Harden’s spot scoring 10. 


For the Bucks, the “Greek Freak”, Giannis Antetokounmpo, scored 18 and grabbed 11 boards. But if the Bucks want to get back in this series, Giannis can’t play good, he needs to play great.


This is especially true if his sidekick, Khris Middleton, is going to continue to build houses with all those bricks he’s laying.


Middleton scored 17, but only shot 7-20 from the floor. This will not get it done, not against these Nets.


So, the question now has to be asked… is this another case of the Bucks choking in the playoffs? Or are the Nets just that good?


Game 3 is Thursday, June 10th, at 7:30 Eastern Standard Time.

  • Nuggets 105
  • Suns 122

Nikola Jokić from the Denver Nuggets is the favorite to win the MVP this season. Jokić led the NBA in double-doubles with 60.


Yet, in this game 1 matchup against the Phoenix Suns, Jokić met his equal (at least on this night).


Deandre Ayton of the Suns had 33 double-doubles this season, which was good enough for 11th place (tied with two others).


Can you guess which player had a double-double in game 1? If you guessed Jokić, you’d be sadly mistaken. 


Jokić scored 22 and grabbed 9 rebounds (okay, he missed the double-double by one board).


Ayton scored 20 and grabbed 10 rebounds. If Ayton can basically cancel Jokić out in every game, the Suns have a really good chance at moving to the next round. 


Devin Booker scored 21, Mikal Bridges chipped in 23, and Chris Paul scored 21 while hitting big shots in the fourth. 


The Suns are looking strong, but the Nuggets are more than capable of making the right adjustments to get back into this series.


Game 2 is Wednesday, June 9th, at 9:30 Eastern Standard Time. 

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/05/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, Sports

Written by Titan Frey 

  • BUCKS 107
  • NETS 115

All it took was 43 seconds into the game to have a star go down with an injury.

This star is James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets. The injury that’s plagued him throughout the season, his hamstring, is back.

Harden drove to the hoop, grimaced, and passed the ball to Joe Harris in the corner. Afterward, Harden signal to come out… he would not return. 

For the remainder of the game, Harden’s absence didn’t matter. The stars, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, stepped up big. Durant scored 29, and Irving scored 25. 

That’s great, but what was more impressive and important for the Nets is the fact their role players stepped up real big. 

Journeyman Mike James came in to fill Harden’s role, and he delivered. James scored 12, grabbed 7 boards, and dished out 3 assists. It was more than just stats, James’ energy uplifted his teammates.

The Nets also got big games from Blake Griffin (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Joe Harris (19 points). 

The Bucks had a big game from their star, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis scored 34 and grabbed 11 boards, but he can’t beat the Nets alone.

The Bucks other star, and the usually reliable Khris Middleton, struggled in game 1. He scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, but Middleton only shot 6-23 from the floor.

If the Bucks want a chance at winning this series, Middleton will need to shoot better and I believe he will.

Game 2 is on Monday, June 7th, at 7:30 PM Eastern Standard Time, and I can’t wait.