Kevin Durant Says He Has Peace After Losing to the Memphis Grizzlies

After missing an enormously important jumper in the dying moments of Game 5, Kevin Durant and the OKC Thunder went home for the summer. KD is proud of the competitive spirit OKC showed after Russell Westbrook’s season-ending knee injury, and says he can live with the disappointing results in these Playoffs. Per the Oklahoman: “Reggie Jackson’s 3-pointer with less than 20 seconds left pulled the Thunder within two and Zach Randolph’s missed free throws on the other end gave OKC one more chance to pull off the win. But Durant’s shot in the final seconds — like so many of his others in the game — was off the mark and Memphis held on for the win. ‘KD did a good job of getting open and catching the ball,’ Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. ‘He had a great look. That’s the shot we wanted.’ As the teams shook hands following the final buzzer, the remaining fans kicked up the chant of ‘O-K-C’ for one final time this season. Durant had his worst shooting night of the season, going 5 of 21 from the floor and finishing with 21 points. ‘I gave it all I had for my team,’ Durant said. ‘I left it all out on the floor.’ Durant seemed to wear down in the second half of Game 4 and his struggles continued early in Game 5. He missed seven of his eight first-quarter shots and never found an offensive rhythm. He played all 48 minutes, but neither Durant nor Brooks blamed the off night on Durant wearing down. Memphis coach Lionel Hollins thought Durant got tired, though. […] ‘We had a really good season,’ Durant said. ‘It was a joy playing for these guys. It was a joy playing for this great city. We came up short. […] ‘I have peace going through this run,’ Durant said. ‘We really had to come together. We’ve really seen us grow as a group. The only way it would be frustrating is if we came in with an attitude because Russ was out and we didn’t do that.’ […] ‘Down the line, we’re going to look back at this and really appreciate it,’ Durant said of this rough patch. ‘Sometimes you’ve gotta ride out the storms to get to the sunshine.'”