Kevin Durant tied a playoff career high on Saturday night, pouring in 41 points while also adding 14 rebounds and four assists. The only criticism — he needed 30 shots to do so.
Efficiency aside, Durant did exactly what he needed to do as the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their series lead over the Houston Rockets to 3-0. When looking at the numbers from Saturday night, Durant certainly didn’t have one of his better shooting performances, that much is clear. In fact, he was 11-of-13 from the free throw line, so if you subtract those points from his stat sheet, Durant actually scored only 30 of his 41 points off his 30 field goal attempts.
That might sound a bit shocking, but it simply does not matter. Durant scored 41 points on Saturday night and thanks to a ridiculous roll on his final attempt from the outside, did exactly what Oklahoma City needed him to do — guide them to victory. Russell Westbrook missed his first game since beginning his career in the NBA five seasons ago and is out for the remainder of the playoffs after suffering a torn meniscus. With that being said, Oklahoma City is not going to care how efficient Durant is anymore, as long as he produces and it leads to victory.
The scary thought about Durant’s inefficiency on Saturday is that he did still score 41 points despite shooting the ball at only a 43.3% clip. In fact, he shot 51.0% from the field during the regular season, so just think of what he could be capable of as his attempts will surely continue to increase. Durant’s 30 shots on Saturday were 13 more than his per game average of 17 during the regular season.
Numbers aside. Efficiency aside. Durant needs to produce and lead his team to victories at this point. It does not matter how he goes about doing it.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
