[Newsbreak: the NBA is rescinding Kevin Durant’s technical, determining that it was given too hastily and Durant didn’t deserve it. JaMychal Green’s tech is also being rescinded. Durant will still have the two technicals in total from his ejection in Game 1.]
Kevin Durant has been angry lately on the basketball court, and that’s usually quite good for defending champion Golden State Warriors. It didn’t work out well when Durant got booted from Game 1 after taking the bait on Patrick Beverley’s hook, but it did work out in Game 3 when Durant exploded for 38 points leading the Warriors to convincing victory. Here’s Coach Steve Kerr on what they lost in the first game, losing Durant while the Kings merely lost Beverley:
“We talked about it the last couple days. He’s a hell of a defender who plays hard. We have a lot of respect for him. But you cannot take the bait because that’s a bad trade for us. You just can’t do it. The Clippers have made a lot of good trades this year, and that was maybe their best.”
But sometimes Durant’s anger is a helper. On his way to lighting up the Kings in Game 3, Durant drew a technical early in the game for jawing with JaMychal Green after a hard screen. (Green got a tech after the play too.) It didn’t slow Durant, but it had potentially big slowdown potential for his team. It was Durant’s third technical foul of the playoffs, and when a player amasses seven techs in the playoffs he’s forced to sit out a game. That could be devastating later in the Warriors run. But word now is the NBA is rescinding the technical, determining that it was given too hastily and Durant didn’t deserve it. JaMychal Green’s tech is also being rescinded. Durant will still have the two technicals in total from his ejection in Game 1.
Kevin Durant and JaMychal Green’s technical fouls have been rescinded, per the NBA. Durant now has just two techs in the postseason.
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) April 19, 2019
