3. Kevin Durant
At the end of the day, K.D. is a once in a generation kind of player. With an equally impressive stat line in Game 2 compared to Game 1, (33 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, five blocks and three steals) the Cavs proved that they still have no answer for Durant.
As I wrote at the end of Game 1, Durant completely changed the kind of basketball the Warriors play. They are no longer the team that’s going to run and gun from deep. Instead, they play disciplined, inside out basketball on both ends of the floor.
One look at Durant’s shot chart and it’s pretty clear why he is able to do what he does. He quite literally scored from everywhere tonight:
The bottom line is, asking LeBron James to lock him down for the entire game may be asking too much of even the greatest player in the world.
Through two games it’s clear that James has to do exponentially more work for the Cavs than Durant has to do for Golden State.
To have a chance in the series, someone else needs to step up on defense for the Cavaliers and either offer more help against Durant or severely limit the Warriors’ second, third, fourth and fifth options.
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