Durant outdoes Millsap in Player of the Week battle
By: Joe Manganiello
Paul Millsap is fresh off an Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor, and remains the most important player for Atlanta if they want to hold onto the three-seed without Al Horford.
There is no question, however, who was the best player on the floor Monday night in Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant hit a pair of go-ahead jumpers with under 26 seconds remaining to seal a victory over the visiting Hawks. The All-Star forward finished with 41 points – he has now scored at least 30 points in eleven consecutive games, the most since Tracy McGrady in 2003 (14 games) – on 15 of 25 shooting from the field, which included a 5 for 7 night from behind the arc.
Atlanta won the first three quarters of play, taking an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter, before the Oklahoma City defense took over. Finishing with ten blocks on the night, the Thunder swatted four shots in the fourth quarter, while the Hawks shot just 39.1 percent from the field.
The Hawks managed just 22 points in the final frame; Oklahoma City held Atlanta to just 96.7 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter – which would be the second-worst mark in basketball, just above the lowly Milwaukee Bucks.
A key statistic for Atlanta all season long has been the three-point shot; 30.5 percent of their team field goal attempts this season have been from deep, the second-highest in the NBA (behind Houston). Atlanta started off hot from downtown against Oklahoma City, connecting on 11 of 20 attempts through three-quarters. But when Oklahoma City ratchets up their long-armed defense, it swallows spot-up jump shots with scary ease, and as a result, Atlanta went 1 of 5 from three-point land in Monday’s final quarter. With nothing coming from the perimeter, that put a lot of pressure on Millsap to create offense against Serge Ibaka, and locked-in Ibaka defense is an absurd obstacle for the shorter Millsap.
(Sidebar: It should be noted that Millsap finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He should be a reserve All-Star this season, considering he is the best player on one of the conference’s few playoff locks.)
Atlanta is a good basketball team, and could certainly end up with the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and a trip to the second round – which would exceed all expectations for head coach Mike Budenholzer’s debut season. But it’s not an accident that their 23-21 record would leave them out of the Western Conference playoffs standings; Oklahoma City, with the third-most efficient defense in the NBA, is simply better equipped to close out tough games.
Oh, and it helps that they have the evolutionary Larry Bird on their team, as Durant continues to shoot 54.6 percent over his last eleven games played. (Sidebar: I’m pro Slim Reaper nickname.)
Joe Manganiello (@joemags32) is a staff writer for pickinsplinters.com. He was published in the 2013-14 USA Today Sports College Basketball Preview. Peace, love, recycle and ball.
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