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Kevin Durant was not pleased with his defensive effort in the Brooklyn Nets' loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The 33-year-old nailed a clutch three to give the team a one-point lead with 10 seconds left to play. However, on the final possession, Spencer Dinwiddie hit a game-winning buzzer-beater to give the Mavs a 113-111 win on the night.
Kevin Durant was guarding Dinwiddie, but he decided to help Nic Claxton in double-teaming Luka Doncic, who is normally the Mavs' closer. However, the young Slovenian found Dinwiddie to be open and passed the ball to him, which led to the team's win. Speaking about the final possession in his post-game interview, Durant said:
"I feel it was opportunity for us to get the ball out of Luka hands, I mean there were three seconds on the clock and they were rushing the pass and rushing the shot."
"I thought the probability on him making that shot was pretty low, but he made a great shot, you know it's a make or miss league, if he misses that it's great defense by us, but you know that's why he gets paid $20 million a year, to make them shots, so gotta give him credit."
Kevin Durant scored 23 points on the night while shooting 40% from the field. Despite having an off shooting night, the veteran contributed by making 10 assists.
KD has consistently emphasized the importance of defense this season and his post-game remarks indicate how seriously he takes his work on that end of the floor.
Despite putting in their best, the team fell short against the Mavs and Durant feels the result would have probably been different if he hadn't double-teamed Luka on the final possession. He said:
"I'm wondering what the game would've been like if I didn't go jump Luka right there. I wish I would've made a different decision, but it is what it is"
Coming into this game, they were on a four-game winning streak, but this being their third game in four nights, it did look like they were a bit exhausted. The Mavs, on the other hand, did a fantastic job of stopping KD, which in itself proved to be a big reason behind their win. Speaking about their defense on him, Durant said:
"It pose a challenge for sure, my teammates did a great job of playing out of it and I dont feel like we ran any sets because as soon as I came across half court, if I got the ball, I seen two people running I mean that's the first I've ever played against something like that from tip, you know."
"Everywhere I went as soon as I touched the ball, guys just setting out there to stop me, I guess they desperate for a win, I mean they've been playing that way, they started off the season struglling so I guess this was an adjustment for them and they see we were short handed too so it worked out for them."
Kevin Durant's Brooklyn Nets suffer a narrow defeat to the Dallas Mavericks
The Brooklyn Nets came into this game riding high on confidence after four straight wins. However, they were up against a Mavericks team that had done extremely well since the All-Star break. The Nets started the game in style as they racked up 30 first-quarter points.
Although the Mavs did their best to stop KD, he did manage to get some shots in and get his teammates involved. But without Kyrie Irving, it was going to get tough for him to keep going as the Mavs were doing an excellent job in containing him. The game was set to be a thriller as the scorers were 61-58 in favor of the Nets going into halftime.
Durant and the Nets played out an exceptional third quarter and extended their lead to 12 points going into the fourth quarter. Bruce Brown and Goran Dragic looked stunning and played brilliantly throughout the second half. The Mavs now needed a big turnaround if they had to make their way into the game and they did exactly that.
Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie once again led the way for them as they proved their resilience, making some tough buckets. The scores were tied at 108-108 after which Luka pulled a tough shot to give the Mavs a two-point lead. But that was soon cancelled out by Durant's clutch three-point effort, which gave the Nets a one-point advantage ahead of the final possession.
The ball was in the hands of the Slovenian and everyone would have expected him to make the final shot, but as soon as the Nets double-teamed him, he decided to pass the ball to Dinwiddie who showed up by making the game-winning shot.
