Battier scores 18 points and contains Durant

[Dash]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dhOwhxW1Po

 

I haven't seen Battier play so well on both ends of the floor in a long time. Nice to see some signs of life from him. Durant was held to 18 points on 7-18 shooting and also only allowed Durant to get to the free throw line just twice.

[The Lone Granger]

He rose up when he was absolutely needed against Durant. Great to see him do that.

 

I've been a Battier fan for quite some time now, and I agree that he hasn't played that well on both sides of the court for quite some time. His shot I wouldn't be worried about, because every shooter goes through a tough shooting stretch like this, he just needs to keep shooting. As for defense, it almost looked like he had lost a step there for awhile, but now we see that he still has that hard-nosed defensive talent left, and that's definitely good to see for Houston.

[Real Deal]

I would give him props, but I have a feeling it was mostly on Kevin (he's been shooting poorly so far this season, under 43%) and that Battier just found a rhythm. Because Durant is doing more shooting now that Westbrook is dominating the ball, it makes sense that Battier would get in a couple of good games against him to begin with, especially considering how he has had trouble shooting the ball all season long.

 

I'm sure Houston fans would love to see Battier play like this all season long, but I wouldn't bet on him doing it.

[Dr. Feelgood]

I love Battier, one of my favorite players in the league. He's not afraid to do the dirty work and 9 times out of 10 will guard the best player on the other team from PG to PF depending on the player. Class act too, very humble.