[Highlight] 5 years ago Kevin Durant had a near series ending winner.
that 1 inch on this shot defines so much of Giannis legacy
And KD’s
Only thing is Harden was done after that game there was no chance he plays the rest of the playoffs. Blake was shot too.
Even if they win this series and beat Atlanta. Hard to see them beating Phoenix.
the suns winning changes alot of the early 2020s because the kd trade likely never happens
Wouldn’t be the first time KD joined a champion after losing to them lol
Fr the legacy boost for Booker, Ayton, CP3, Monty, etc. would be huge. Everything would be different on both the west and east conferences.
Well if he lost to Phoenix in the Finals first, his eventual trade to the Suns would have made more sense
Idk but if Kyrie came back then maybe they could beat phoenix
People are denying this, but I remember watching that series and feeling like no one was stopping that Nets team if they made it past that game. They were quite good.
They were busting the Bucks ass even without Harden who got injured in the first minute of game 1. They still almost beat them once Kyrie went down.
Very bizarre playoffs. Tons of injuries all around.
Nets and Clippers were the best teams going into the playoffs. Mavs had to face a full squad Clippers and no one else did.
lol yeah….they were the best team in the league that year…people love to forget that one…
They did look scary but all 3 of them were rarely healthy at the same time that whole season.
Doubt it. Another factor is the Hawks series because even if they did beat the Hawks the chance of another injury happening was still pretty high, especially to KD who would be gassed after the Bucks series. One reason why the 2021 Suns were so good was because they were so healthy compared to the rest of the West at the time (AD was out, Murray was out, Kawhi was out) even against the Bucks, Giannis was clearly still reeling from his hyperextension.
Harden was done before this game and basically that entire playoff run IIRC. Hamstring. This was the playoffs Kyrie was good until he landed on Giannis foot in game 4. Joe Harris was #1 three point shooter for regular season by a lot and disappeared in the playoffs. This is like showing up to battle as the Red Power Ranger thinking you got crew, and the Blue Ranger is the only one that shows up.
We have a scenario where either Harden or CP3 wins a ring
I’m fine with that either Harden and Blake get a ring or CP gets a ring
So a good chance this fucked up CP3 and Booker’s legacies too.
And the Nets
And Harden’s
And ours
And mine
What about the entire OT after where KD did nothing?
They’ll just say how tired he was when Giannis who has the most exhausting play style in the league still managed to play elite defense and hit a shot in OT
…Who is younger and hasn’t torn an achilles? You don’t say
Downvoted even though KD had the entire team on his back for 3.5 consecutive games at that point
The part where he was gassed after 47 minutes of being Nash’s only option because Joe Harris forgot how to shoot? Yeah, what about it?
You’re biased as a nets fan, but you’re also right. He was soooooo tired after that. That’s why he airballed I think another game tying attempt near the end.
I felt bad for KD here. He stared at that air ball with such hope in his eyes and then it wasn’t even close. Some real Carlton shit
Still didn’t come through in overtime.
It also affected the legacies of KD, Kyrie, Harden, CP3, and Booker.
Booker is a polar bear in Arlington Texas
Beautiful reference
CP3 and Booker were probably going to lose to the Nets in the finals anyways. Idk that this made much of a difference for them.
If he moves back an inch, he could’ve regularly missed instead, too.
Obviously impossible to change the past but that exact shot has the margin to go in by 1 inch back
And this is why rings culture is stupid
As a Bucks fan I can tell you every aspect of that moment: where I was sitting, who was there, what I was wearing, what I felt, what I said. It was HUGE!
yep lol
Especially when you consider that Rick Carlisle would be coaching the Bucks right now instead of the Pacers. It was common knowledge at the time that if Bud lost that series Larsy was going to fire him and had Carlisle waiting on standby.
If we are playing the what if game, bucks could’ve won the next year. No giannis hyperextension and less mileage on Khris, could’ve beat the Celtics and warriors that year
A championship in the books is worth a billion in the hypothetical dimension.
Lack of court awareness then goes scoreless in OT.
Tried telling her that 1 inch is alot but she just doesn’t get it
Giannis undercutting Kyrie on a layup defined his legacy
The short ramp up off-season where all the stars were out come playoff time who were in the bubble the previous season bc Bucks were eliminated relatively early. Easiest road and deserves more of an asterisk and scrutiny given that context
Both feet on the line. I remembered it being only 1 and closer.
One of the most interesting parts of this is Jrue’s body blocks the broadcast shot of KD’s feet. Inside the arena KD knows it was a two and the broadcast score shows a tie; any review was purely to confirm that. If we had a clear broadcast shot, it would have been pretty obviously a two — very close, absolutely, but you can usually tell while watching.
Instead, though, Jrue is in the way of the view, Marv Albert doesn’t see the score or the play and calls it a three, and everyone remembers the feeling of watching this and thinking KD won the game. So that memory replaces what actually happened.
Marv was calling a freethrow line J a three at that point.
I actually remember a literal freethrow line shot and he said “now they’re saying it’s a 3 he had a foot on the line” and he’s several feet INSIDE the 3pt line.
Yeah he was terrible for his last 5 seasons
Do people not know to look at refs? He was pretty insistent that was a two immediately and right after.
Lol maev is such an idiot
I’ve never seen the play. I only know about it. I was at my best friends surprise birthday party. So seeing that this play wasnt as close as folklore was jarring just now lol
Yeah I don’t remember it being this obvious, it’s not really as close as the commentary made it sound. And they still had OT to go win it, but they still couldn’t make it happen.
In the moment I remember thinking it was a 2 before they looked at it.
It’s because over time that play always gets described as “the Nets lost by a toe.”
I also remember it being called a 3 on the floor and then overturned via replay, but it was pretty clearly called a 2 by the refs right from the jump. It’s funny because this is one of the plays I think about when I say that replay is a necessary evil.
Harden played 3 games, including all 53 minutes of an overtime game 7 on a grade 2+ hamstring injury and essentially sacrificed his prime rushing back the next season, jumping right into heavy minutes and back to backs instead of load managing to cover Kyrie going AWOL over the vaccine.
This series essentially ended harden’s prime, but the mismanagement of his recovery afterwards was almost as bad.
This nets team and the 2018 Rockets were his two real chances and both got derailed by massive injuries. You don’t really get many more cracks at it then that unless you’re on a dynasty level franchise.
He gets games from 2016, 2017, or games from past his prime brought up all the time as chokes.. but the majority of those teams were not contending for a chip so it’s hard for me to believe it cost him a ring not being able to carry a team with Pat Bev as your 2nd best ballhandler to the finals.. 2018 and 2021 were his chances. Sucks.
Don’t try to tell anyone the nuanced truth about Harden’s bad luck here. They’re never going to give him his flowers and he’ll go down slandered as just a foul-baiting choker.
He can be a foul-baiting choker and have bad luck.
yeah, and just choker for sure. his resume in playoff games is terrible.
No it’s not lol
It’s better than 95%+ of allstar caliber players from his generation
i mean he is no doubt also a foul baiting choker
Good enough to beat your sorry ass fake 1 seed
I mean james harden was still choking during that series its just that the rest of his team showed up
????
Mobley and Mitchell didnt win their minutes without harden a single time that series lol
The harden lineups carried the cavs
No way a pistons fan is calling any player a choker
name one other star who has more TOs than FGM in 25% of his playoff games
Maybe he doesn’t want flowers and he just wants credit or props. Do you know that he wants flowers?
People conveniently ignore that Harden skipped out on his rehab to go party in Houston. That’s not bad luck why he reaggravated it
what do you think a rehab program looks like lmao. Do you think he’s locked in a training fascility 24⁄7
He skipped rehab sessions to go party in Houston
Apparently your “nuanced truth” is just it’s never Harden’s fault, he just had bad luck and he never choked.
So nuanced.
Harden playoff failure are half his own fault at shrinking in biggest moment and half plain bad luck. That’s the nuanced truth if you are looking for it.
I literally never said he was faultless. You’re continuing to prove the point that it’s not worth anyone’s time trying to get people to give him respect for what he gave to basketball.
Apparently the mere suggestion that a few really important moments during his career that have nothing to do with his individual play could have gone much differently is the same thing as completely absolving him of blame.
Fuck man as a huge harden believer I remember this 2021 bucks series with agony… harden could barely fucking move but you could still see how badly he wanted it. Left it all on the floor and still wasn’t enough man
Nah, his Houston team should have beaten the Warriors it took 27 straight missed 3’s and a Harden fumble to lose it.
He earned some of his reputation, there’s no getting away from that
I mean, on the one hand, sure, he doesn’t have control over who gets injured.
But on the other, we shouldn’t just ignore this dude eating his way out of Houston and how that impacted his health. Dude was an ironman before that. You just can’t play your way back into NBA shape.
Why isn’t it realistic that a guy that plays as much as he does just suffered a hamstring strain? He played every game, heavy minutes, never sat B2Bs. KD was out a lot, so his workload was bigger. It would make total sense that he just got hurt naturally.
It’s not like he got it at the stsrt of the season when that argument would make sense.
That year, he dropped 40 in like his first game for Houston. Then he actually tweaked his ankle, missed a game or 2 from it, but still came back and played. That could have been his out pretty easily.
People play their way into shape all the time.
You’d rather blame bad luck than a guy clearly mismanaging his health? Okay.
Injuries happen in sports. How is it “clear” that his was the result of “health mismanagement”
That’s just the spin you wanna put on it. But why would that type of injury occur well after he was in game shape if it was because he “ate his way out of Houston”
Wouldn’t it have happened way earlier than that lol
You think a guy eating a bit more at the start of the season is definitively the reason why he had a hamstring injury at the end of the season after he’s already played into fitness? An injury that happens to so many other players too?
Also there isn’t even proof that he was eating more besides some horribly angled shots because a few days later he had a picture where he looked thinner again. Plus he’s never been a thin guy, but his gut always sticks out because he has a pelvic tilt.
Holy shit Nash was trying to kill that man
Till this day, I still can’t watch highlights from that series.
Hey but your city just won a championship. That’s the same thing, right?
Don’t make me RKO you
Same. That regular season was like watching an all star game. When all 3 were healthy no one could touch them. What could have been.
Yep. Anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that the Nets would 100% have won a championship without some truly insane bad luck is just a hater. Literally took 1 inch and a global pandemic to stop this team.
I really wanted him to prove himself
Yeah I hate the hate KD gets. This was his chance to shut the haters up and he got fucked by injuries and unlucky that shot wasn’t half an inch back
His hate is 100% deserved. He’s an all time great who pulled one of the weakest moves in basketball history
I didn’t watch nba back then but people describe KD to the warriors as if SGA went to the spurs this off season.
When you put it like that, I’d never stop hating SGA
Yeah but then SGA would be taking the hardest road
Lol so he had a chance to shut the haters up and failed? Sounds like a great call by the haters
Same. Good ass series.
They should show this video to every young hooper. And not bc of Durant. Bc of PJ Tucker
PJ Tucker could NOT guard KD. But he worked his ASS off every play, every game. Even to the point of discouragement watching a dude drop 35 and avg 50-40-90 on you. But he never gave up
Way too many times people chalk this play up to being unlucky but it is bc of PJ Tucker’s effort that Durant couldn’t easily get to his spot and couldn’t easily maintain his handle. That’s what led to the foot on the line. The devil is in the details
And then in OT KD was completely gassed and that again was in part due to the energy he had to exert vs PJ Tucker
Yooo whats up PJ
You heard it here first everyone. PJ Tucker the real MVP
If you want to give PJ Tucker credit, listen to the one Pat Bev post game interview where he says “I promise you we’re trying to defend him. Him getting 30-40 is while he’s well defended.” And breaks it down in real time “what do you when he?” and clearly explains how he’s going to beat you every time because he’s (KD) just that good.
Was that not Lou Will?
It was both of them next to each other for the question and response. You might be right in terms of who literally said those words.
This moment singlehandedly saved Giannis from being the most slandered superstar today.
Not positive this is true. A Nets win here probably means a title.
Raptors, Nets, Celtics, and Knicks rings within the last 10 years?? Joel Embiid is getting memed on harder than we’ve ever seen a player memed on
As opposed to right now, where no one ever memes on joel embiid
Not since he beat us :/
Oh tru forgot ab that lol
Well u can always clown him for never making it past the second round!! they can never take that from us
Obviously not the insane run of bodies he picked up but this is probably most comparable to a Dirk 2011 lite
Why did KD not make a 3? Is he stupid?
Him injuring Kyrie saved his legacy even harder
The last great call of Marv Albert’s career. He was washed atp but he was able to give us one last “YES!”
“Great announcer, huge weirdo creep.”
Marge
an announcer being washed is hilarious
I remember him clearly saying “I’d like to bite that” under his breath too.
And of course it was confusing a 2 for a 3 (not his fault in this case, it was close)
I’m sorry but you cannot tell me Barclays and the Nets will just NEVER EVER EVER have a good crowd and rabid fanbase, I’m seeing so much stuff about that and moving the nets out of town after seeing the Knicks winning the chip
This was during a COVID year and you can still see how loud that crowd got (mind you the Knicks were also in the playoffs that year for the first time in ages), yes it’ll never be MSG but that’s fine? Nothing is MSG
I felt even more strongly about this when I attended Nets Magic this season when Egor was on fire at the end, it truly felt like a playoff atmosphere that 4th quarter and really made me feel like the Nets can have some established success and fandom here in Brooklyn
Yeah, we have fans lol. Obviously the Knicks outnumber us but the takes about us not having fans has never been true. Also lends credence to the fact that we made the right decision leaving jersey. Atmospheres like this were few and far between when we played in NJ.
The optics are bad right now cause we absolutely fucking suck and the Knicks have a great fun team that just had the run of lifetime so the “move back to NJ” takes were bound to happen. IF/when we ever get back tho this level of competitiveness and stay in that realm consistently I think those takes will start to dwindle.
There’s so many people in NYC that there’s definetly room for two teams
Yea I’ve seen flashes of the potential in Barclays center when the nets had their moments
It will never be MSG but if nets can become a winning team, you do see the potential in becoming something stable.
I think it’s more that the Nets fans are still mostly New Jersey, and Brooklyn is still mostly Knicks fans.
Brooklyn and Queens have 5 million people. Nets can scrounge 20k to show up to Barclays even if only 1% of the borough pop are Nets fans
Why in gods name would someone from Queens rep the Brooklyn Nets? If you actually live here, you already know how annoying it is to commute between the two boroughs. MSG is far easier to get to from Queens than Barclays.
Sure downvote instead of answer the question lol
I’m born and raised and still live in Brooklyn and I’m telling you rn that they will never ever ever have a good crowd and rabid fanbase. The Knicks were always this town’s only team and their incredible championships just stole the hearts and minds of any casual viewer.
Oh boy, here we go…
All the Nets needed was one of their two elite guards to not get injured and they win a title
You know it’s been a pretty brutal couple weeks to be a nets fans, I did not need to be reminded of this today man.
I still haven’t gotten over this shot. I’ll never forget Joe Harris’s performance in OT, which I actually think he could’ve won this game if even 2 or 3 of his shots went down. I was crushed. I haven’t been a fan of an NBA team since this team got dismantled.
Yeah I really wanted the Nets to win one and when it fell apart I was crushed
it’s so surreal watching everyone celebrate except the bucks (gianni’s points out that his foot is on line) and kd, who knows it’s a 2
This is still painful to watch
To this day, this is the most insane historic game I’ve ever seen. I was a Bucks fan and I just KNEW KD was gonna make that shot, and by some insane luck it turned out to be a 2.
I haven’t really watched this clip since it happened, but they way people talk, i thought he had a damn pinky toe on the line or something. He had both feet on the line lol it wasnt even really close
This was such a great game. First OT game 7 in 15 years at that point.
Also, we talk about KD, but this changed Giannis’ legacy too. There were posts in this sub daily about how Giannis would never win anything before this postseason.
Legacy level stuff, man
That series was so weird. Two all star guards get hurt. Bucks didn’t attack Harden on a bad hamstring, Joe Harris forgetting how to shoot. Durant game winner with a toe on the line.
Damn that was 5 years ago 😭😭
All I remember is the Milwaukee Bucks NBA champions in 2021. 🤷🏽♂️
Even though I think Warriors KD was peak KD, this is maybe my favorite version of him. Just absolutely putting the team on his back that playoff run.
Did it not once but twice except airballed the second time and went 0-7 in OT
he played the whole game coming off achilles tear, had a legendary playoffs performance regardless that year
Lol he played an entire regular season and a round of playoff ball before that, thats not an excuse for going 0-7 in OT
Shame, wish that Nets team had more time together and had more success.
So much is different because of a half shoe size. 😂
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Just this?
Yeah alright. This team was pretty stacked though.
It kills me everytime I watch, we’ll never be back😖
Bro talking about never being back in the Eastern Semi’s
Sad
Bro is me
Best game ever?
If Kyrie doesn’t step on Gianni’s foot and turn his ankle this Nets team sweeps everyone in route to the championship. I was at game 1 where they absolutely clapped the bucks cheeks by 40. It’s one of the greatest whatifs in basketball.
I never understood why people act like this was the final shot of a game 7 in the Finals. They had 5 minutes of overtime after this and they lost. This is the 2nd round. They had to go and win the conference finals, and then the finals after that. We talk about this moment as if it was the only play between them and a championship when it was far, far, far from it.
I was at this game and it was fucking crazy hyped until it wasn’t while KD ran out of gas in OT trying to carry everyone on his back.
All time series dude loved the whole time
And that pretty much was the end of the Nets relevance
Enough
Big feet. That was his problem
Oh come on
5 years ago?!! Damn I’m getting old
This moment changed so many people’s legacies it’s crazy.
They say it’s a game of inches but this inch defines legacies. It’s so insane to think
The closest the Nets will be in a while.
KD has big feet, but I think he forgot where the three point line was this game. His foot was on the line again in OT when he took a potential game winner, and he ended up airballing it.
I gotta say, I really don’t miss Marv Albert
Kind of a bullshit call. They let players get away with this all the time.
yep, ruined a great moment.
I just gave you the actual data from nba lol
Giannis has always been good at defending KD but Bud was always dumb and never allowed him to guard the best players because of foul trouble.
Sure he definitely “cooked” (if that’s what you called scoring on a defender) him on a few shots but overall, again, was 7⁄18 fgs when guarded by Giannis.
I was working outside the Barclays center the day this was going on it was probably one of the biggest upsets for the BK nets.
It’s amazing they got every single fan in for this game
Great call from the ref there
Bro I woke up, put on the game right as they were trying to inbound. I barely had enough time to see the score and what was about to happen. KD made the shot and I really thought this was the shot of his career.
Oh hey it’s time for me to spiral into depression again
Hang the banner!!!
can’t remember another time the camera was shaking like after kd reacted to his shot
he did it again in overtime, if that went in we might’ve seen a superstar pass out on the court
What’s crazy is that he wears a shoe that is one size too big. If he wore the correct size, the Nets move on.
He had literally no help this game. If that one guy who won the three-point contest could make a single damn shot this game.
Lack of court awareness.
Then goes scoreless in OT.
Don’t even seem that long ago
i watched this while on shrooms with my best buddy shit was cash
Shrooms?! Lame as hell, why weren’t you nodding out on opioids?
there’s always next time
Running and dunking man’s legacy saved by a toe
KD coming off an achilles tear outplayed mvp giannis, KD haters will never acknowledge it either
No heart and no self awareness. This is why KD has no legacy
Why in the world Giannis, one of the few people whose defense statistically impacted KD’s entire offense, wasn’t guarding KD on this play is beyond me. KD was roasting us all game and everyone knew that he was getting the ball. At least throw a double team at him.
People who were Bud defenders drive me nuts. We won this championship in spite of Bud’s complete inability to make defensive adjustments in the playoffs.
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Giannis saved Giannis legacy
That team won a single playoff series. Important to remember that when talking about KD and Kyrie’s legacy. The next year this team was swept in the first round by the Celtics.
I had a nets fan talking shit about how Tatum would never win one and the nets were about to win 5 in a row or some shit like that. I feel bad for Durant because I actually like the guy but it was kinda cosmic justice to this one random dude having the nets implode… So fuck you one random reddit user
Honestly hilarious that KD carried an injured Nets squad whose next up is 31 yo Blake Griffin post injury & 34 yo Jeff Green to 7 games with the eventual champions being guarded by two elite defenders in Giannis & PJ Tucker while hitting a clutch series saving shot, but get criticized for failing to score in OT when exhausted (admittedly all players were).
By way of comparison, LeBron had 1 elite game in the 2018 Finals scoring 51 before getting swept in which he too failed to score in OT & this is supposed to be a staple in his GOAT legacy.
Just goes to show that narratives are completely dependent upon society’s feelings towards players.
He was never really guarded by Giannis lol he should’ve been but bud was an idiot.
Also calling a 37 year old PJ Tucker an elite defender is crazy, he was okay but he definitely wasn’t elite.