Kevin Durant Reflects on His Toughest Playoff Series
That Thunder team, like this one, was very young but fearless when facing the best. In fact, they reached the 2012 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat, led by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. It was the first championship of LeBron’s career and the first of three Finals meetings with Durant. In Kevin Durant’s long career, the 2-time Finals MVP has played in over 30 playoff series, some more memorable and significant than others. But Durant himself decided which was the toughest playoff series he’s ever faced, all thanks to a question from a user on “X,” and the answer was undoubtedly unexpected.
That San Antonio Spurs team was truly remarkable, reaching two consecutive Finals against the Miami Heat after being eliminated by the Thunder in 2012. Durant knows what he’s talking about, and those Spurs were indeed on a 20-game winning streak, including the two wins to start that series. They finished the regular season with 10 straight wins, swept the Jazz in the first round and dominated the Clippers in the conference semifinals. The Spurs won the first two games at home against the Thunder, but a majestic Kevin Durant, along with Westbrook and Harden, had the hunger to defeat the best team of that season.
After that, we all know Durant’s story: he went on to win championships with the Warriors. But since leaving the Bay Area, the closest he has come to returning to the Finals was with Brooklyn, and that heartbreaking loss to the Bucks by a foot as Milwaukee went on to win the championship. This year, after a strong start with Phoenix, the Suns have been on a downward trend. But with Durant and Booker, they can’t be counted out. They still have time, though not much, to turn things around and contend for a playoff spot in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, where the gap between the 4th and 12th seeds is only five games. The competition and level of play in today’s NBA is higher than ever.
