Kevin Durant downplays his matchup with LeBron James; Says it’s all about the team – NBA Update
The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Miami Heat in the first game of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. The series between the two NBA giants has been billed as the showdown between two of the greatest players present in the league
at the moment – Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
It is a dream matchup, a sort for which NBA fans live for. The series will see the man who has won three MVP titles in the last four years going on against the three times reigning scoring champion, but more importantly, the outcome
of this Finals will determine the shape in which the legacies of these two greats pan out.
KD however, despite calling the contest between him and James a ‘s**y matchup’, has made it very clear that the NBA Finals are not about him duelling the King, they are more about OKC taking on the Heat.
"Everybody is going to make the most out of the matchup or me versus LeBron, but it's the Thunder versus the Heat," said Durant. "It's not going to be a one-on-one matchup to win the series; it's going to be all about the team.
It's going to be fun."
"I know everybody in here is worried about the one-on-one matchup, but I can't really control that," he added. "All I can control is how hard I play and how we play as a team.”
Even if James and KD are taken out of the equation, the two teams are loaded with superstars and championship experience.
Miami have Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and a load of role players who live to defend their D, to support James, while Russell Westbrook, reigning sixth man James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and Derek Fisher shape the outlook
of the formidable Thunder, who have knocked out Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and the mighty San Antonio Spurs enroute to reaching the Finals.
However the dynamics of this Miami team are completely different as compared to these three teams. The Heat are more athletic, have a better defensive system and are just unmatchable in transition. Moreover, they have two players
in James and Wade, who can take over the game at any moment.
Durant knows what he will be up against come the Finals and has vowed to put his 100 percent in performing his role i.e. to guard and match LeBron;
"He can score at will, he's strong, he can shoot it," said Durant. "But it's got to be a team effort. I've got to play my hardest every possession, no possessions off.
"He's really good in transition. I've just got to do my work early, and we'll see what happens."
Under normal circumstances, Durant can be counted on to handle James, but these are the Finals, an unknown territory for him. James on the other hand has been there before, not once but twice. He is hungry for a ring and playing
the best basketball of his career. With the King in this mood, KD certainly has his work cut out.
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