Jeff Green has been sharing the court with Kevin Durant since Christian Braun was in kindergarten, but his best help in guarding the Suns superstar is an accurate measurement.
At morning shootaround prior to the Nuggets’ 97-87 win in Monday’s Game 2 against Durant and the Suns, Green said he had no institutional knowledge of Durant’s game despite both entering the league in the 2007 draft. Durant, who finished with 24 points on 27 shots in Game 2, was selected by Seattle with the No. 2 overall pick. Green was picked by Boston at No. 5 and was traded to the Super Sonics on draft night. In the past 16 years, Green and Durant were teammates in Seattle and Oklahoma City for a few years before parting ways and spending much of their careers as opponents.
“I’ve known KD for a long time. Watching what he’s done throughout the 16 years that we’ve been in the league has been amazing. If I had an answer for that, I’m pretty sure somebody would’ve stopped him already,” Green said. “He’s really 7-(foot)-1. I think now he’s got to be at least 225, 230 (pounds), can score at any level. It’s tough to guard. It takes five guys.”
Durant led the Suns with 29 points on 19 shots in Game 1 but was responsible for seven of Phoenix’s 16 turnovers. Braun picked his pocket a couple of times in the front court, while Bruce Brown closed the game with a couple of thefts that led to Denver dunks.
“It’s just the pressure, I think, we put on them, how aggressive we were. I think guys did a really good job of sticking to the gameplan,” Braun said.
“Obviously, they’re going to be a little tighter (with the ball) this game, for sure.”
Aaron Gordon started with the Durant assignment once again in Game 2. The elite scorer, who’s listed at 6-foot-10, missed his first four shots Monday and committed a turnover before he got a short jumper from the baseline to drop. When Gordon subbed out of the game late in the first quarter, Nuggets coach Michael Malone put his rookie on one of the game’s best scorers.
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“It was way before the playoffs started that I realized Christian needs to be out there,” Malone said pregame. “His energy, his defense, his toughness, he makes winning plays.”
Phoenix put Durant in some isolation sets against Braun, and he made the first shot he took against the 22-year-old. Braun was successful in making Durant work the rest of the first half, as he started the third quarter with nine points on 13 shots, including a 1-of-7 mark from 3-point range.
“He’s comfortable with pretty much any shot on the court,” Braun said. “He’s good with his left, good with his right. (He) can a do a little bit of everything – play in the post, hit 3s. He’s obviously a tough guy to guard.”
Green guarded his old friend in the few minutes neither Gordon nor Braun were on the court. Braun said he looked forward to the assignment, even if his veteran teammate didn’t offer much information on Durant publicly.
“Just doing your work early, pushing him out. I mean, my job, I got six fouls. I’m not playing the whole game, so my job is just to be physical with those guys. They’re obviously really good. They get to their spots. They hit tough shots, but … the most important thing is just making it difficult every single time they touch the ball,” Braun said.
“There’s going to be times in the series when they hit a tough shot, but you just got to make the next one tougher on them. You just got to be really consistent.”
