.jpg)
Swing And A Miss
Reggie Miller checks in with quite possibly the worst idea ever tweeted for the Nets in Game 6
Like many of you, I was in awe of Kevin Durant's epic 49-17-10, Rucker-Park-like performance on Tuesday night in Brooklyn. He went for 40-plus three times in the regular season and once in the Conference Quarterfinals series against the Boston Celtics, but none of those games were quite like Game 5 against Milwuakee. It was a vintage Durant-is-going-the-f-off night in a must-win game.
What were you thinking as you watched it? Personally, I was thinking 1. this is all time, and 2. I hope he replicates it in Game 6, and 7 if necessary, and in the Conference Finals and the Finals, too. Watching the all-time greats do all-time great things never gets old.
Reggie Miller, an all-time great shooter himself, was apparently not on the same wavelength as some of us while watching Durant go crazy. After the Nets took a 3-2 series lead, Miller took to Twitter and said "I'm just going to throw this out there to see what the responses will be..." He then proceeded to throw out one of the worst ideas in the history of basketball and potentially the history of mankind:
What. On. Earth. Yes, that's a great idea, actually, Reggie. Instead of using your $164 million man, who absolutely looks like his old self and should have plenty in the tank considering he missed almost two seasons, you should sit him in a close-out game and then hope for the best in Game 7, the ultimate toss-up game in sports. Brilliant stuff.
Now, in fairness to Reggie (can't believe I'm even doing this), Durant did play all 48 minutes, and he is just "suggesting" the idea and not saying this IS what the Nets should do, and, lastly but not leastly, if you look around the league right now, you'll notice guys are dropping like flies. Donovan Mitchell is banged up for Utah, Kawhi Leonard will miss Game 5 for the Clippers. One of Durant's teammates, James Harden, looked like a shell of himself but toughed it out for 46 minutes (!) on Tuesday night, and another one of his teammates, Kyrie Irving, doesn't appear to be returning any time soon. Chris Paul is out indefinitely for COVID-19 protocol reasons in Phoenix, and Joel Embiid is playing hurt, too. Perhaps the Nets could avoid losing two more their studs by resting them in Game 6 and, like Miller says, go ALL IN on Game 7.
LOL, yeah right. This ain't the second of a back-to-back during a regular-season week in December. This is the Conference Semifinals, with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals on the line. Resting your two stars, who literally carried you to an incredible Game 5 comeback win, is one of the dumbest things ever uttered. Miller asked for responses, and by god did he get responses:
What's crazy about Miller's suggestion, though, is that no one would be all that surprised if it actually happened. In this era of treating athletes like fine China, especially one like Durant who might literally be fine China, him sitting in street clothes for Game 6 would be a bit head-scratching at first, since it's the damn playoffs, but ultimately we'd all be like that Alonzo Mourning GIF. Disgusted at first, but then just shake our heads and make peace with it soon after. Maybe Reggie is playing 4D Chess.