06/13 (Durant) Quickie

Of the many reasons to enjoy watching and rooting for Kevin Durant, his implacability remains a big part of it -- what happens when he turns it on (like he did in the 4th quarter last night) is remarkable.

And yet! His explosion feels more like a ripple -- it's a placid dominance. ESPN.com's Henry Abbott had my favorite take off the game last night, about how Durant's dominance is so simply effective.

I call it "minimalist" -- Abbott marvels at the way Durant scores so quickly, usually on "easy" shots -- easy because he moves and makes decisions quickly when he gets the ball.

We talked about this when he was at Texas and then when he got into the league: He is, quite arguably, the perfect scoring machine... precisely because the effort is so seemingly simple.

More:

*Rough night for Dwyane Wade: Losses -- especially Heat losses -- need a goat, and Wade assumes that role today. Usually he bounces back, but when the Thunder surged in the 2nd half, Wade looked like he had a bit too much mileage on his tires. That doesn't get easier as the series goes on (especially if Spoelstra only plays six guys, which was clearly a miscalculation).

*That image of a glum Pat Riley on TV near the end was amazing.

*Bryce Harper hits another HR, moves his average over 300 (his OPS is like .940 or something equally amazing) and the Nats win again. He is so clearly going to be the MLB All-Star "Extra Man" winner in the fan vote later this month that they might as well put him in the starting lineup -- he is the most must-see player in baseball right now (and living up to it, per Grantland's Jazayerli).

*Pop Warner limits tackling: (1) How dangerous must it have been before that they had to cut practice tackling by 2/3? (2) Let's go back to the cardinal (and judgmental) rule: Any parent who lets their kid play tackle football is nuts.

*Must-See: Tonight's NBA TV documentary about the Dream Team.

-- D.S.