Kevin Durant left behind indelible moments and unimpeachable numbers in the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
The last game, Brooklyn’s 115-111 Game 7 loss against the Bucks, featured both. Durant’s final points of the season came on a 23-foot, turnaround jumper with one second remaining. Had Durant’s toes landed a few inches further back after the spin it would have been a series-clinching 3-pointer. It gave Durant 48 points, the most ever scored in a Game 7.
Durant went on to play all 53 minutes, going the distance in two of the final three games in the series. It was his third 40-point game of this season’s playoffs; the Nets had three in their history before that. He set a franchise record with 411 points in just 12 playoff games. His eight 30-point playoff games were another franchise record. He posted five double-doubles in seven games against Milwaukee, including his 49-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in Game 5, another first in NBA history
He finished the playoffs averaging 34.3 points while shooting 51.4 percent overall and 40.2 percent from 3-point range and averaging 9.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.6 blocks, and 1.5 steals.
“I don't know what more Kevin could do,” said Nets head coach Steve Nash. “It's just out of this world.”
Durant opened the playoffs with a double-double — 32 points and 12 assists against the Celtics. When Boston won Game 3 to cut Brooklyn’s lead in the series to 2-1, Durant came back with 42 points in the Game 4 road win, setting the Nets up to close it out in Game 5.
The Milwaukee series changed course in the opening minute, even if the Nets didn’t feel it at first. James Harden exited Game 1 43 seconds in with a hamstring strain, but Brooklyn still cruised to a 2-0 lead. But after dropping Game 3 in Milwaukee, they lost both Game 4 and Kyrie Irving with a sprained ankle.
Irving did not return in the series, but in his absence, Harden did, playing 46 minutes in his Game 5 return and all 53 in Game 7.
“I can't even speak about how much we missed Kyrie out on the floor and how much we miss James to start the series,” said Durant. “And seeing him, you know, I could go for 40 minutes on both of those two, on how much they care about us and how much they put their bodies on the line and help us out as a team. Kyrie had a gruesome ankle injury, and he was thinking about when could he play next. And that shows that he cares about us so much. James playing on one leg came out there and gave it his all, 48 minutes in Game 5, 40 last game and then what, 50 tonight, you know? There's nothing but respect and love for those two guys; we missed them out there. But we still had a chance to win.”
With Harden limited and Irving out, Durant assumed an even greater responsibility, with Nash shifting the initiating of the offense more towards his hands as Game 5 went on. In the middle of the series, Durant rang up four straight double-doubles and he was a rebound shy of another in Game 7.
In the Milwaukee series alone, Durant averaged 42.7 minutes, 35.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game.
Jeff Green has seen the full span of Durant’s career from their time together as rookies in Seattle and then for the next few seasons in Oklahoma City. He played against him in the 2018 NBA Finals, when Durant won his second straight NBA Finals MVP, and then was reunited in Brooklyn this season.
“Simply amazing,” said Green. “He put us on his back for multiple games now, led us. Led us. Gave us great hope. Gave us all he had. He did everything possible to keep us right there. Couldn’t ask for more. That’s about it man. That guy’s special. On and off the court. That’s my brother for life. I’m glad I had a chance to go out there and fight with him on that court and battle with him. I hate the way it ended. I loved watching him again go to work. That’s my brother. It was fun.”