Last night was the first time we've seen Kevin Durant play a meaningful basketball game since June 10, 2019 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against Toronto. Durant tore his right Achilles tendon in that game and it would be his last game in a Golden State uniform. Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason, as well as Kyrie Irving. Durant sat out the entire 2020 season to heal and rehab. He is now in the Eastern Conference for the first time in his career, and the rest of the conference should be really, really scared.
Durant scored 22 points in just 25 minutes of game action in his first game back on Tuesday night against his former team in Golden State. The Nets dominated the game from start to finish. They took the lead less than a minute into the game and kept their foot on the gas all night long.
With Durant not playing for the past 18 months it would be easy for people to forget how great of a player he is and the impact he makes on a roster. Do your best not to forget though because he is about to have this team cruising through the eastern conference. Kyrie Irving is great for your roster too, but we all know Durant is the guy who will take this team deep in the playoffs.
The East has some pretty good teams in Milwaukee, Miami, Boston, Toronto, and sometimes Philadelphia. These teams will be highly competitive, but they will not be able to beat Brooklyn in a seven game series. The duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Steve Nash as the head coach, and a great supporting cast of role players makes this the most dangerous team in the Eastern Conference by far.
You can say what you want about Durant joining Golden State all those years ago after losing to them in the Western Conference Finals, but we all know even before that he had Oklahoma City in the spotlight. He took them to the finals as a 23-year-old. He won the MVP and gave one of the most remarkable speeches in recent memory. Kevin Durant did all of this in the WAY better Western Conference.
He is now sitting in the lesser Eastern Conference as a superstar veteran with a whole lot to prove coming off this injury. This team is dangerous as hell and no one should want to play them on any night. Most games for the Nets are going to look like Tuesday night, they are going to embarrass a lot of teams this season. So sit back, and get ready for the Kevin Durant redemption tour.
Comments