Last night NBA superstar Kevin Durant made his return to the court after tearing his achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals. Not only did Durant play his first game back from the achilles injury, but it was his first game playing with new all star point guard Kyrie Irving and as a Brooklyn Net.
Right out of the gate, the Nets DOMINATED, and the ball movement was immaculate. It’s crazy how big of an impact Durant and Kyrie made right out of the gate. When many doubted that Durant wouldn’t be 100% himself because of the injury, he scored 10 out of the Nets’ first 18 points, outscoring his former team 10-8 until they were forced to call a timeout.
I also LOVED Head Coach Steve Nash‘s decision to play Caris LeVert off the bench. As Nash previously addressed LeVert’s role off the bench, “He’s so good with the ball in his hands there’s a case to be made that he plays that (Manu) Ginobili role”.
Caris proved that this was the PERFECT role to put him in. Once Irving, Durant, and Spencer Dinwiddie checked out, Caris LeVert checked in, and took over not only the Nets offense, but the entire game! LeVert continued to lead the nets off the bench and give the nets even more momentum than what they already had. The Nets went on the outscore Golden State 36-26 in the third quarter, and would lead by as many as 38 in the game!
Statlines:
Kevin Durant: 22 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL
Kyrie Irving: 26 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 62.5% FG
Caris LeVert: 20 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST (off the bench)
As a very big Nets fan, I really hope that this nets team can play as good as they did for the rest of the season. Hopefully for Durant and the Nets that this is only the start…
Image: NBC Sports
