OAKLAND – Kevin Durant says he doesn’t enter games with a specific approach, doesn’t choose nights on which he’ll be aggressive with his shot or takes his defense to another level or becomes a facilitator.
“The spirit just tells me what I need to do out there,” Durant said Tuesday after shootaround. “And I try to adapt.”
I asked Durant about his game strategy because it has, of late, been more variable than usual. Only once in his first 67 games did he take fewer than 10 shots and 80.1 percent of the time he took at least 15, though his attempts took a dramatic rise during the three-week stretch in November when both Steph Curry and DeMarcus Cousins were out of the lineup.
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Over the last six games, though, Durant has taken fewer than 10 shots three times, including a season-low five Sunday against the Hornets.
It’s an appreciable change. One of greatest scorers in NBA history – and someone who normally lives to get buckets – has been more actively facilitating the action, a “point forward” running the offense as a “point forward.”
Durant, over the last six games, is averaging 7.0 assists and 13.3 field-goal attempts, numbers more commonly associated with point guards.
“I don’t go in there planning to do anything,” Durant said. “If I have one shot at the end of the first quarter, it’s because of how the game plays out. If I’ve got seven assists by the end of the second quarter, it’s just how (opponents) play me.
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“I’m not looking to go out there not shoot the ball – or shoot too much. I’m just out there playing,” he added. “If I happen to ‘empty the clip’ one night and don’t shoot well, I make adjustments on my own when I go home, or when I wake up, or when I come into the gym, or right before the game, or in between quarters or when I go underneath the basket.”
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Durant’s efficiency has not been greatly affected by his current tendency, as he shot 54.9 percent from the field over the last six games and is at 51.6 percent this season.
‘I’m trying to make adjustments on how I need to be better the next time I step on the floor,” he said. “So, I don’t predetermine anything. I just let my game take over, and the spirit will tell me what I’ve got to do.”
The spirit has, lately, been fickle. As spirits tend to be.