NBA playoffs 2019: Kevin Durant's 38 first-half points vs. Clippers sets personal mark, nears league record

Arthur Weinstein

NBA playoffs 2019: Kevin Durant's 38 first-half points vs. Clippers sets personal mark, nears league record image

For all the incredible things Kevin Durant has done in his career, he's never done what he did in the first half against the Clippers on Friday in Game 6 of their first-round series.

Durant scored 38 points in the first half — the most he's ever scored in a half, regular season or postseason — to power the Warriors to a 72-53 halftime lead.

It ties the second-most points scored in a half in an NBA playoff game, behind only former Warriors guard Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, who scored 39 points in a half in a 1987 playoff game. Charles Barkley also scored 38 points in a half in a 1994 postseason game.

Durant hit 12 of 17 shots from the field, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range, along with all 10 free throws, to run up his tally.

The NBA postseason scoring record for a game is 63 points, set by Michael Jordan on April 20, 1986 in a first-round series against the Celtics. That's well within reach the way Durant is playing.

 

Arthur Weinstein