PHOENIX — The comparability surfaced not lengthy after Kevin Durant completed off the Chicago Bulls on Monday. Within the last seconds, the Phoenix Suns ahead buried a double-pump, did-he-just-do-that jumper to present the Suns a 115-113 win.
WATCHING ON REPLAY ALL NIGHT LONG! pic.twitter.com/EEw60HC8Uf
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 23, 2024
For those who thought Durant’s unimaginable shot resembled Michael Jordan’s iconic double-pump jumper to remove the Cleveland Cavaliers in Recreation 5 of the primary spherical of the 1989 playoffs, you’re not alone. A few the Bulls from that very group agree.
An analyst for NBC Sports activities Chicago, Will Perdue watched Monday night time’s recreation from a studio in Chicago. As quickly as he noticed Durant’s shot drop, he instantly acknowledged the importance.
“That was a double-pump!” mentioned Perdue, who was in his rookie season out of Vanderbilt with the Bulls throughout the 1989 playoffs. “That’s the identical factor Jordan did in opposition to (Craig) Ehlo in ’89. I used to be there!”
These round him weren’t satisfied.
“Watch it once more,” Perdue mentioned.
Clearly, the circumstances had been totally different. Chicago’s win in 1989 got here in a first-round elimination recreation, win or go residence. Phoenix’s recreation Monday night time unfolded throughout the center of the season. And in contrast to the 1989 recreation, when Chicago trailed Cleveland 100-99 when Jordan obtained the ball, this recreation was tied when Suns guard Grayson Allen ready to inbound with 6.3 seconds left.
However like 1989, all people within the constructing knew the place the ball was going. In 1989, it was Jordan. On Monday at Footprint Heart, it was Durant. Jordan needed to double-pump to maintain Ehlo from blocking it. Durant had to take action to maintain streaking Alex Caruso from deflecting it from behind.
Phoenix’s inbounds go went to large man Jusuf Nurkic, who dished again to Durant. Chicago’s went on to Jordan. Durant took one left-handed dribble. Jordan took two.
Durant double-pumped and shot from 17 — good.
Jordan double-pumped and shot from 17 — good.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Perdue mentioned he remembered Jordan’s shot prefer it was yesterday. In 1989, he was caught behind Invoice Cartwright and Dave Corzine within the Bulls’ rotation. The play had unfolded on the far finish of the court docket, away from the Chicago bench. Perdue stood on the baseline in Cleveland’s Richfield Coliseum. He noticed Jordan bounce. He noticed him double-pump.
On Monday, he noticed Durant do the identical, altering his shot mid-air as a result of Durant noticed Caruso coming from behind.
“Caruso virtually blocked it — and there’s a defender within the entrance?” Perdue mentioned. “That’s a type of issues, it’s virtually like spidey sense. He’s obtained a 3rd eye. Or a watch behind his head or one thing. … The proper timing of the pump after which to take it again up, after Caruso had swung by to go up and shoot it. And should you discover, it was so pure the online barely moved.”
How laborious is it to make such a shot?
“Principally, like taking a automobile that’s going 100 mph, jam on the brakes, throw it in reverse and go the other way,” Perdue mentioned. “After which nonetheless jam it again in first gear and return the best way you’re going. To attempt to have the ability to cease all that inertia to be able to try this, on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s 12.”
The similarities don’t finish with Durant’s last shot. The truth is, his efficiency Monday night time just about mirrored Jordan’s from 1989. Test this out:
Within the first half …
Durant was 4 of 13 from the sector.
Jordan was 5 of 13.
Within the second half …
Durant scored 30 factors.
Jordan scored 30 factors.
Within the fourth quarter …
Durant scored 17 factors.
Jordan scored 17 factors.
For the sport …
Durant completed 16 of 32 for 43 factors.
Jordan completed 17 of 32 for 44.
In 1989, Sam Vincent was a reserve guard for the Bulls. Within the Recreation 5 win over the Cavs, he performed eight minutes, gathering two factors and two assists. He was on the bench when Jordan broke Cleveland’s coronary heart.
“We realized how large the second was by way of the win and advancing within the playoffs, however we didn’t understand the historical past that may be created round ‘The Shot,’” Vincent mentioned. “A really impactful shot. An incredible shot. One in every of many for Michael. However it had important significance for the way the Bulls type of grew up from there.”
Vincent missed Durant’s shot. As males’s basketball coach at Beacon Faculty in Leesburg, Fla., he was watching movie Monday night time, making ready for Friday’s recreation in opposition to Maintain Striving Prep. However after The Athletic despatched him the video, Vincent agreed to have a look.
His response: Oh, wow.
“After it a pair occasions,” Vincent mentioned, “I did see the unimaginable, uncanny comparability to that shot Michael took in Cleveland.”
“What Kevin Durant did tonight, that was particular.”
– Head Coach Frank Vogel🎥 Relive KD’s game-winner from all angles. pic.twitter.com/ckmqI30c6U
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 23, 2024
Vincent mentioned each gamers used their distinctive abilities to their benefit. For Jordan, it was his capability to hold. (“I don’t see how he stayed within the air that lengthy,” shocked Cleveland heart Brad Daugherty had mentioned after the 1989 recreation.) For Durant, it was his size.
“I don’t assume it’s a shot that you simply follow, however I believe a shot that you simply do follow — which I do know Michael practiced loads and I’m certain I’ve seen footage of Kevin doing it as properly — and that’s with the ability to take a tough penetration dribble to a spot after which actually elevate,” Vincent mentioned. “You follow that shot time and again and in a recreation, the protection closes out. However since you labored on that shot, it’s a bit bit simpler to maneuver the ball to have the ability to get that shot off.”
Durant, 35, has performed properly all season, however these days he’s taken his recreation to the next stage. The Western Convention Participant of the Week, he had 40 factors in a house win over Indiana. An evening later, he torched the Bulls. On Wednesday, he had 12 factors, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Phoenix routed Dallas, 132-109. After a gradual begin, Phoenix (26-18) has received seven in a row. Immediately, these preseason championship hopes don’t look so unrealistic.
In his seventeenth season, Durant has performed a number one function within the reversal.
“I hope that the Phoenix Suns followers really perceive what they’re witnessing,” Perdue mentioned. “And this has nothing to do with age. This has to do with greatness.”
(Picture of Durant’s game-winner Monday in opposition to the Bulls: Garrett Ellwood / NBAE through Getty Photographs)
