Yesterday was an eventful night in the NBA with all the stars on full display, where ultimately Team LeBron erased a 20-point deficit to defeat Team Giannis by the score of 178-164. Kevin Durant scored 31 of those points on 10-15 shooting from the field, including hitting 6 of 9 shots from behind the arc, contributing to his team's new All-Star Game record of making 35 three-pointers on the night.
"We just didn't want to lose," Durant told ESPN's Rachel Nichols after accepting the MVP trophy on the court after the game. "We know they had a lot of talent over there that can do multiple things. We just wanted to turn it up a bit on the defensive side. I think the group that closed the third quarter really changed the game for us. It is fun being around such greatness. Seeing how these guys operate on the day-to-day. I'll miss my time here."
Durant was later asked where the MVP honors ranked in his long list of basketball achievement, to which the 10x NBA All-Star replied that each victory is special in its own way. This was the second time Durant won the All-Star Game MVP, his first coming back in 2012, to add to his back-to-back NBA Finals MVP's over the last two seasons. Additionally, he also won MVP of the league back in 2014.
"It's all sweet to me," Durant said when asked to compare the awards, "I mean, it's hard to rank. Everything's special. But it's cool to be out there with some of the best players to ever play the game, and to win an MVP here in front of my family and friends is pretty sweet. I just keep trying to rack them up, I guess."
Source: Instagram
