'All-time great': Kevin Durant masterclass leaves NBA fans in awe
Kevin Durant left the NBA world in awe as his 49-point triple-double put the Brooklyn Nets on the cusp of eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks from the playoffs.
In his first season back after rehabilitating the torn achilles he suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals, Durant has guided the Nets to championship favouritism thanks to his transcendent play.
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The Bucks were on the receiving end of his wrath on Wednesday, with an electric second half from the 2014 MVP erasing a 17-point deficit and keying a 114-108 victory to hand the Nets a 3-2 series lead.
James Harden returned for the Nets after injuring his hamstring in game one, but the 2017 MVP couldn't offer much for Brooklyn - eventually finishing with just three points.
It mattered little though, as Durant took over the game - though a near perfect shooting night from Jeff Green kept the Nets within striking distance.
Brooklyn were without point guard Kyrie Irving, who injured his ankle in game four.
Durant playing literally every minute of the game in his first season back from an Achilles tear though, that was a surprise.
After a moribund first half in which Harden missed all six shots from the field, the Nets launched a 10-1 run midway through the third quarter to cut the lead to single digits and breathe some life into the Barclays Center crowd.
By the end of the third quarter, the lead was down to six points. Three minutes into the fourth quarter the game was tied. And then Durant really got going.
He scored 14 points in the final nine minutes, as well as dishing out two assists, capping his individual run with a back-breaking three over Bucks forward PJ Tucker to put the Nets up by four with just over 50 seconds to play.
Milwaukee were paced by 34 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo and 25 from Khris Middleton, but will need to dig deep to avoid elimination and force game seven when the series swings back to Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin.
Fans in awe over Kevin Durant NBA Playoffs masterclass
If there were any doubt Durant would be able to perform at the peak of his powers after his 2019 injury, they were put to rest against the Bucks.
You could almost feel the moment rumble, when Durant started directing traffic to clear out things, when the Bucks couldn’t capitalise on the Nets’ lack of rhythm and confusion with Harden’s return.
The game was there for the taking, especially since he didn’t take his first shot of the second half until midway through the third quarter.
Once he got rolling though, NBA fans knew they were in for a treat.
Two years ago Kevin Durant ruptured his Achilles and we wondered if he could ever be the same player again. Tonight in Game 5:
49 points
17 rebounds
10 assists
3 steals
2 blocks
48 minutes
All-time great performance by an all-time great player. pic.twitter.com/uL8pyYk6Mz— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) June 16, 2021
An absolute catastrophe for the Bucks on just about every level, and one of the greatest individual games ever from Kevin Durant.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 16, 2021
Kevin Durant just had arguably the best playoff performance ever.
James Harden playing 46 minutes and contributing to a critical win despite not being able to move or shoot is pretty impressive, too.— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) June 16, 2021
Jeff Green, in part, on Kevin Durant: "The world is witnessing, once again, who the best player in the world is."
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) June 16, 2021
GREATNESS!! Appreciate it while you can people! #KD
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 16, 2021
Giannis Antetokounmpo on Kevin Durant: "He's the best player in the world right now."
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 16, 2021
The Nets will advance to their first conference finals since 2003 if they can win on Thursday night in Milwaukee.
Game 7, if necessary, would be played in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Harden had just five points playing for the first time since leaving 43 seconds into the series opener with right hamstring tightness.
He made just one field goal - missing eight 3-pointers - but had eight assists and six rebounds while playing 46 minutes.
Jeff Green starred off the bench sinking seven 3-pointers in a play-offs career-high 27 points for the Nets.
Milwaukee had all the momentum heading into Tuesday's clash after successive wins at home and Irving spraining his ankle in Game 4.
With Yahoo Sport US/AAP
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