If you watched the broadcast of the Nets’ game on YES Network on Sunday, you might’ve heard a few times Brooklyn’s preseason matchup against the Washington Wizards was the first NBA game in which Kevin Durant played in 552 days.
Despite that, and the notion Durant’s Achilles injury is supposed to have continuous lingering effects, Brooklyn’s star forward scored 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting (0-for-2 from 3-point territory) in 24 minutes of action, scoring five of his point at the free-throw line on six attempts while also logging three rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. But, believe it or not, Durant wasn’t fully satisfied after the Nets’ preseason 119-114 victory.
“It’s the first step for me as a player, getting back on the court, getting back into my routine,” Durant told Michael Grady on YES after the game. “It felt good. I felt like I knocked some rust off early on and I just gotta keep building from here.
“I felt great in the first half. Second half, I didn’t focus-in enough on the shots that I took. I wish I’d [have] made all of those shots. I took a bad three to start the quarter and it kinda threw me off-rhythm a little bit. It’s good to just go through this stuff again, and I’ll watch film tomorrow and just keep growing.”
Durant and the Nets get back to work on Friday against the Boston Celtics.
