Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant’s Game 5 performance is one for the ages

With their backs against the wall in a pivotal Game 5, all the talk going into the Brooklyn Nets‘ matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks centered on James Harden’s return from a hamstring strain.

By the time the game was over, Harden had earned respect for being a trooper through the pain and also for demanding to defend Giannis Antetokounmpo mano-a-mano (successfully, no less), but Kevin Durant was the man of the hour.

The Brooklyn Nets were desperate for a Game 5 win at home against the Milwaukee Bucks, and Kevin Durant delivered a performance for the ages.

In an absolute must-win game with no Kyrie Irving for the foreseeable future and James Harden playing on one leg, Kevin Durant unleashed perhaps his greatest game ever on the Bucks. He played all 48 minutes, didn’t leave the game even for a few seconds to rest, scored 49 points, adding 17 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks in a 114-108 victory.

It was a heroic effort, a masterpiece from one of the game’s greatest scorers ever. The fact that it came in a Game 5, tied 2-2 and going away, merely adds to the legend that will surround this game.

The Bucks have only shown life in this series before Game 5 when the Nets have told them it’s ok, and now Durant has put his boot on their throats. In the midst of Durant’s spectacular excellence, the Bucks made mistakes and foibles like it was their job, and he made them pay for each and every one. On Durant’s tier of greatness, you can’t make simple mistakes over and over and expect to live to tell the tale.

These Milwaukee Bucks are proof of that and are at risk of being reduced to nothing more than a footnote on Durant’s Hall of Fame resume.

When Durant has actually played this season, he’s been far and away the best player in the NBA. His postseason play has been more of the same, but even better. He’s averaging 33.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals per game with shooting splits of 52-43-89, and he has been both an outstanding defender and the most unstoppable offensive force in the NBA.

In this league, the team with the best player usually wins. With all due respect to Giannis Antetokounmpo and his 34 points in Game 5, nobody in the world can doubt that Kevin Durant is the best player in this series. Injuries are leaving these playoffs in shambles, with not just Irving out and Harden hampered, but the following issues elsewhere:

• Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns is out indefinitely due to COVID protocols
• Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers is out indefinitely with an ominously-worded “feared ACL injury”
• Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz has a hamstring injury
• Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers is playing with a torn meniscus
• Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks may have something wrong with his shoulder

Even if everybody was at full strength, the Brooklyn Nets could end up rampaging their way through the playoffs to an NBA championship. If somehow Kevin Durant is the only healthy star, however, suddenly the path to a title looks very clear indeed.