Fuck Yea[h] NBA

Kevin Durant scored his 32nd and 33rd points last night with about 15 seconds remaining in the game. He hit a bank shot to give the Thunder the lead, 117-116. They would hold on to win 119-116 despite Monta Ellis scoring 30 first-half points, and adding 18 in the second half. It didn’t matter.

Durant’s bank-shot made me think of Bird’s towards the end of their improbable comeback over Philadelphia in the 1981 ECF’s. Bank shots aren’t in the usual arsenal for NBA superstars. They’re much more content to take the midrange jumper head on, and few players really develop the bank-shot; even Bird was loathe to use the backboard on a long-range 2-pointer at an angle. Scottie Pippen loved to pull up and drain the bank-shot, but we just don’t see it that often.

Last night’s shot by Durant was pretty in its effortless glide from backboard to twine. It didn’t richochet off the board directly into the hoop, as most bankers will do, but—instead—lofted off the glass almost as if the rim didn’t want to dirty itself on such a sublimely smooth arc and spin. 

Durant finished with 33 to go with 10 boards, 7 assists, 2 blocks and only 2 turnovers. Westbrook had 31 (to go with 9! turnovers), Harden 18 and Daequan Cook 17 to augment Durant’s total and keep pace with the hot Ellis.

David Lee helped Ellis out with a triple-double: 25 points, 11 boards and 10 assists, and Stephen Curry was 7-9 from the field for 16 points and 10 dimes. But in the end, the Warriors couldn’t get a bucket after Durant’s gorgeous banker.

Mark Jackson can now begin bitching at the refs. 

[San Francisco Gate; h/t Daily Thunder]