Kevin Durant is not happy for Dirk Nowitzki: NBA play-offs Update
After blowing apart the Oklahoma City Thunder’s defence down the stretch for the second time in as many games, the Dallas Mavericks advanced to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals on Wednesday night. While a capacity
crowd at the American Airline Centre and whole of Dallas cherished their teams’ surge into the finals for the first time since 2006, the scoring champion of the league for the second time running, OKC’s small forward Kevin Durant was left shattered.
Durant, who averaged 28 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4 assists during the Western Conference Final series, tried everything humanly possible to give his young team a chance. But, every time he responded for his team, a certain Dirk
Nowitzki ruined all his efforts. Kevin’s frustration was reflected in his words when he was asked at the postgame press conference about Dirk’s success - definitely not an intelligent question to be asked in such a situation. The 22-year-old forward, who
normally remains very placid during the interviews, had a very terse, bitter and honest response.
“I’m not happy at all. I’m a competitor, man, I really didn’t care about what he went through the last three or four years. I know it’s been tough for him; he lost three of the last four years in the first round. I’m sure he’s
happy now that he’s going back to the Finals, but I’m not happy for him at all because I wanted to be there.” Durant said.
Durant was exceptional throughout the Conference Finals. He countered Nowitzki’s 48 points with his 40 in the first and nearly won the game for the Thunder. He won the game for them in the game-2. Durant was in his groove in game-3
but the rest of the cast failed to pick up the slack as Thunder lost again. In the last two games of the series, the All-Star marshalled the team impressively in the first three quarters and placed the Oklahoma City on the frontline with a comprehensive advantage.
However in both games, the Mavericks surged back in the fourth periods and thrashed the Thunder.
The 32-year-old Nowitzki was the man, who led the Mavs in both the fight backs. Durant said that he had been thinking about the championship right from the start of the series and to miss out on a shot at glory after coming so
close left his shattered.
This however, is just the start for the young forward. The learning curve only makes great players better. It took Nowitzki nine years to have a first attempt at the NBA Championship. He lost and then didn’t have a good enough
team to make it there for the next four years. He persisted though and has finally made it. Durant is very young and so is his team. He has a lot to learn and one thing is for sure, he learns quickly.
Good times are just around the corner for Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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