How Kevin Durant stole the spotlight on a wild night in the NBA
While it’s important to keep in mind that the opening day of the NBA playoffs and the opening games in each series are no more important than the next day or the next game, it’s also important to note that Day 1 of the 2014 postseason ended the way many have throughout the 2013-14 regular season – with Kevin Durant closing things out.
By the time the Thunder and Grizzlies tipped off from Oklahoma City, three road teams had already opened their respective series with wins, and a Memphis victory would have marked the first time since 1987 that four road playoff teams won on the same day.
Kevin Durant had other plans.
In Toronto, Raptors fans showcased their rabid passion for Canada’s team on a national television stage South of the border, with tens of thousands of fans cramming both inside and outside the Air Canada Centre to celebrate the team’s first playoff appearance in six years. Masai Ujiri took home sound bite of the year before the action even tipped off and the raucous ACC crowd garnered praise for their deafening enthusiasm, but at the end of the day, Paul Pierce and the Nets pulled away down the stretch to silence the crowd and steal home court advantage in the series.
In L.A., the Bogut-less Warriors found a way to steal home court themselves, stunning the Clippers in a Western Conference thriller typical of the 2013-14 campaign. Blake Griffin fouled out and showered some fans with water, Chris Paul committed a costly turnover (on a controversial call) to seal the deal and Mark Jackson called out the haters. Just another night in the wild West.
Meanwhile in Indiana, the Pacers’ slide continued into the postseason with a no-show against the eighth-seeded Hawks, who proved yet again that they match up very well with the Eastern Conference’s top seed. The Pacers may still win the series, but Atlanta’s Game 1 victory was no fluke. This is going to be a series.
And then came Durant, the Thunder and the Grizzlies from OKC. With NBA fans still reeling from the lack of home success in the day’s first three contests, KD and the Thunder flipped the Day 1 script on its head with an absolutely dominating first half that left little in doubt, outscoring the Grizzlies 56-34.
Memphis made a huge run through the third quarter and into the fourth, cutting the deficit down to as little as two in the final frame, but Durant quickly put an end to that nonsense with a flurry of quick buckets. By the time the final buzzer sounded, OKC had an impressive 14-point victory to its credit thanks largely in part to Durant’s 33 points (on 52% shooting), eight rebounds and seven assists.
The soon to be named MVP proved once again that when it comes to the 2013-14 season, it's Kevin's world, and the Grizzlies - not to mention the Raptors, Nets, Warriors, Clippers, Pacers and Hawks - are just living in it.
It was just one game on the opening night of a two-month tournament, but with the Thunder on the verge of collapse and home teams coming up empty throughout the day up to that point, Durant concluded the night as he has so many times before in this magical season of his – by putting OKC on his back and sending the league a simple proverbial message: “I got this.”