NBA Finals 2019: History of Kevin Durant in the Finals

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Kevin Durant

The 2019 NBA Finals series will be the fourth of Kevin Durant's career. 

Going up against the Toronto Raptors, Durant and the Warriors are aiming to become the fourth team in league history after the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls to three-peat. 

Before the series tips-off, let's take a look back at Durant's previous performances at the Finals stage:

2012 NBA Finals

2012 Finals averages: 30.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 54.8% shooting

Appearing in his first championship series at the age of 23, Durant put up stellar individual numbers through the five-game series. 

In Game 1, the Oklahoma City Thunder's lone win of the series, KD tied his 2012 postseason high with 36 points (12-20 FG's) while also recording eight rebounds and four assists.

Alas, he and the Thunder came up short against LeBron James and the experienced 2011-12 Miami Heat squad. 

2017 NBA Finals

2017 Finals averages: 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists on 55.6% shooting

In his first season with the Golden State Warriors, Durant balled out all through the postseason including the Finals. 

Helping the Dubs wrap the series up in five games against a very competitive Cavaliers team, Durant won his first championship and also received the first Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award of his career.

The signature moment of these Finals was the Warriors' run to ice Game 3.

Golden State went on an 11-0 run over the last three minutes of the game to take an unassailable 3-0 series lead and Durant, with Durant contributiing seven of those 11 points, including a dagger three-pointer over LeBron James. 

He finished Game 3 with 31 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists on 10-of-18 shooting. The win took the Warriors' postseason record in 2017 to 15-0, one short of winning the championship with a perfect record.

They went on to lose Game 4, before closing out the series in Game 5 at Oracle Arena.

2018 NBA Finals

2018 Finals averages: 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.3 blocks on 52.6% shooting

For a second consecutive year, Durant led the Warriors to a Finals matchup against LeBron James and the Cavaliers. 

Numbers changed but the result was the same.

In fact, everybody witnessed a "deja-vu" moment with KD's clutch shot in Game 3:

Only this time, while averaging a near triple-double for the series, Durant led the Warriors to a 4-0 sweep. 

Although he finished with his first Finals triple-double in the championship-clinching Game 4, Game 3 was easily his best game of the postseason. He finished Game 3 with 43 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists on 15-of-23 shooting. 

At the time of writing, it has been confirmed that the two-time reigning Finals MVP will miss Game 1 of the 2019 NBA Finals. However, the date for his return has yet to be announced.

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