When Kevin Durant made his game-winning jump shot for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Dallas Mavericks, he proved something to me. Durant drove into the paint and then made an off-balance shot that bounced around but ended up going in, to give the Thunder the 99-98 win in Game 1. Durant proved he is playing smarter ball right now.
Too many times in game this season, there will be under ten seconds left in the game and the Thunder will do everything they can to get the ball into Durant's hands. Durant will then wait as time runs out and then get into position to take a 3-point shot. I don't care if they are losing by one or three, Durant will try to hit a three to win the game.
Early in the season, I was annoyed when Charles Barkley said that was a bad shot for Durant to attempt and a bad play call for head coach Scott Brooks to make. His thought was that the shot itself was a low percentage shot. I hate to give Barkley any credit, but he was right.
Durant is hitting 49.6-percent of his shots from the floor in 2011-12. He is hitting 38.7-percent from beyond the arc. Go to the Dallas playoff game specifically and Durant was hitting 37.0-percent of his shots, an uncharacteristically bad shooting night, while only hitting 16.7-percent from 3-point land. During the season, Durant was 10.9-percent less likely to make the shot when he forced a three with the time running out.
In the Dallas game, Durant would have been 20.3-percent less likely to have made the shot from the 3-point line. During a time out, the network had their microphones on while Scott Brooks was talking to Kevin Durant on the sidelines. Brooks told Durant that the three will be there, but if a lane opens, to drive to the basket. He was telling Durant to play smart. Don't be a hero, just get in the best position to make the basket.
Durant took the in-bound pass and made his way along the perimeter. A lane opened and he moved in to the basket and made his shot from the paint. His chances skyrocketed 20-percent and he made the game-winning shot. It wasn't the 3-point miracle shot that makes highlight reels but the fans in the Chesapeake Arena didn't care.
Kevin Durant played smart and made the right decision. Now the Oklahoma City Thunder are 1-0 against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2012 NBA playoffs.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.
Source: NBA.COM
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