OKLAHOMA CITY -- As 19,000 fans roared, confetti falling from the rafters, one person walked solemnly across the court, shaking his head. Kevin Durant had a pretty good idea that Steven Adams' putback was too late. It would've saved the Oklahoma City Thunder from a stunning Game 2 loss -- and saved Durant from what was the worst shooting night of his career.
The officials huddled and made their judgment quickly: late by the hair of Adams' glorious mustache, and the Dallas Mavericks had tied the series 1-1 with an 85-84 win.
Considering Game 1's result, a 38-point blowout win by the Thunder, which was then compounded by the fact the Mavs were even more short-handed without J.J. Barea (groin), the loss itself was perplexing. But even more so was Durant's startling 7-of-33 shooting night, which featured 26 misses, tying him for the most in a playoff game since Michael Jordan in 1997.
"Just missed 'em. Just missed 'em," Durant said. "Everything looked good for me. Coach drew up some good plays. Teammates set great screens. Russell [Westbrook] delivered the ball perfect. It's on me after that. I've just got to make 'em next game."
The Mavs deserve the standard platitudes for their defensive adjustments, with Wesley Matthews doing the primary work on Durant. He didn't foul -- or at least wasn't called for any -- until finally picking up his one and only with 1:58 left in the fourth quarter. Durant only got to the free throw line five times, a clear source of frustration for what was a "brawl," as Dirk Nowitzki called it.
That's all just dressing, though. Durant was unwilling to invoke any kind of excuse postgame and shouldered responsibility as expected. Billy Donovan called it "one of those nights." Westbrook said the same. Durant too. The thing is, though, it isn't. Durant doesn't have nights like this. He has had poor shooting performances, sure, but a game where he misses 26 shots? That's not an outlier. It's downright paranormal.
What makes Durant such a bright star in a sky full of them is his uncanny ability to find a hot hand with one make. Durant has had plenty of games, even this season, where he'll start a game 3-of-12, only to finish 11-of-22. He only needs to see one drop and he's instantly on. He has called himself a microwave before for that reason.
The problem on Monday was that shot never happened. He was 4-of-14 in the first half, then he missed his first four of the second. He finally got a layup midway through the third, but then he proceeded to miss his next six before finishing a dunk in transition with seven minutes left. He missed five more, including back-to-back misses with the Thunder down two with 20 seconds left -- the second an open 3 that he left woefully short -- but then he drilled a difficult leaning 3 from the top of the key to get OKC back within a point with 9.5 seconds left.
The last miss was the most excruciating, though, because it probably was going in and would've won the game. Instead, rookie Justin Anderson flew in from somewhere near the JumboTron and got a piece of it, sending the ball to Adams, who couldn't get rid of it fast enough.
It wasn't for a lack of trying, though. Durant kept shooting because the Thunder kept going to him.
"You constantly keep feeding him," Westbrook said. "He's the best player in the world. You have nights like that. My job is to find him and find a way to get him an easy basket. He missed easy ones tonight, but I know Kevin, I've been with him for too long, and that won't happen again."
Even though it seemed to be a dumb question to ask, Donovan verified that, no, the Thunder did not in fact ever consider telling Durant to stop shooting -- because that would be a stupid thing to do.
"I have all the confidence in the world in Kevin shooting the basketball, and even though he was struggling, I think at one point I saw in the stat sheet he was 5-for-23, I was never going to tell him not to shoot," Donovan said. "He's a guy that can turn it on pretty quickly and get on a roll."
For Durant, this isn't completely foreign territory. He has had his postseason issues before, namely being dogged around the court by Tony Allen in playoff meetings with the Memphis Grizzlies. It almost seems like there's an adjustment period for him as defenders ramp up their physicality, forcing him to recalibrate. His confidence never wavered in previous struggles, with him famously bouncing back after his hometown paper printed the "Mr. Unreliable" headline.
He wasn't upset or shaken after Game 2 on Monday. He was just looking forward to Game 3.
"I was surprised," Durant said of the misses. "It's a part of it. I wish it didn't happen tonight, but it's a part of it. Got some great looks all night and just didn't knock 'em down. Just stick with my routine, don't do too much extra and go out there tomorrow and get ready for practice."
That was Durant's message the moment he hit the locker room after the deflating loss. He told teammates they had work to do tomorrow. There are two days before Game 3, two days to stew on that number -- 26 -- and think about the ones that rattled in and out, the ones that should've stayed down, the one that Anderson just barely got a piece of.
It's suddenly a series, and the Mavs have a game plan now. While it might not be a consistently attainable one, it's at least there:
Just get Kevin Durant to miss 80 percent of his shots -- for three more games.