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Kevin Durant was criticized for his poor performance after the Brooklyn Nets lost 115-106 against the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith shared his opinion on the game, where he outlined his disappointment in Durant.
KD took just 14 shots in 37 minutes, made 9 field goals and finished the game with 20 points. Kyrie Irving was the only other Brooklyn player with more points. Irving finished with 23 points in 31 minutes.
Smith explains this loss to be one of the worst he has ever seen in the league. Knowing that KD is capable of much more offensively, he criticized him the most for the loss.
“Let me tell you the number one thought that came to my mind. It was one of the most disgraceful performances I have ever seen from any NBA team. The Brooklyn Nets should be ashamed of themselves, and I will start with Kevin Durant,” Smith said.
Durant is averaging 29.8 points per game this season on 53.5% shooting from the field. Smith is correct when he says that Durant is capable of much more.
“How the hell do you take 14 shots, you’re KD man. This Kevin Durant, this man could average 30 in his sleep,” Smith continued.
This was KD's lowest scoring game this season. What makes the loss worse is the fact that Philly were without Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxey.
“There is no Joel Embiid, there is no James Harden, there is no Tyrese Maxey, and y’all get beat by that team, get smoked the way that you did, it was a graceful performance, incredibly embarrassing,” Smith said.
There has been many problems in Brooklyn lately. Kyrie Irving just came back from suspension and Steve Nash was recently fired as coach. The team is 8-10 and sit in 10th place in the East.
Smith made sure that he kept new coach Jacque Vaughn out of his criticism.
“I felt very, very bad for Jacque Vaughn because those dudes showed up last night and didn’t play,” Smith said.
Kevin Durant’s worst shooting performances
2022 playoffs against Boston Celtics: Game 1 and 2
The Brooklyn Nets entire first round playoff series against the Boston Celtics could arguably be placed here, but we’ll stick with the first two games.
In the first game of the 2022 playoffs, KD went 9-of-24, and finished with 23 points, four rebounds, and three assists. He also had six turnovers.
In the second game, Durant shot 4-of-17 from the field. KD then did something he had never done before — he did not make a single shot in the second half in ten attempts. He had six turnovers again in Game 2.
2014 Western Conference Finals vs. San Antonio: Game 2
KD shot 6-of-16 in this game, finished with 15 points, three rebounds and two assists. He also went 0-of-4 from deep. He was a -26 on the floor, which stands as one of the worst plus/minuses of his career. The Spurs won the series in Game 6.
2011 Western Conference Semi’s against the Memphis Grizzles: Game 6
In 2011, Kevin Durant was only in his fourth season in the league, but had already established himself as a big-time scorer. Durant finished the playoffs that season having scored 30 points or more in seven games. He scored over 40 points three times.
It was during Game 6 against Memphis, when Durant needed to seal the deal on the series, but caved.
Kevin Durant finished the game with 11 points, seven rebounds and two assists. He shot 1-of-9 from deep and 3-of-14 from the field.
Guess the Lakers players!
