[Basketball News]

Desagnia Diop welcomed Kevin Durant to the NBA Friday evening as he blocked the second overall pick's first shot out of bounds in the Dallas Mavericks 77-66 win over the Seattle Sonics in front of a packed COX Pavilion on the campus of UNLV.

Durant Impresses in Loss to Mavericks

[Lefty Noob]

Durant played well, but it was Dallas' 2006 first-round draft pick Maurice Ager who led the Mavs with 17 points.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

“Everybody gets their shot blocked, it’s the NBA,” Durant said of the block. “I can’t get down on myself because he (Diop) blocked it. I thought I had the clear layup but he came over and blocked it.”
Durant missed his first five shots of the game (two layup’s, two jumpers and a hook shot), but displayed some good moves in the process including a nice spin move on the block. His sixth shot, a turnaround jumper from the right corner, hit nothing but net.
“I started out a little slow but my teammates picked me up and I was able to score a bit,” Durant said afterwards in front of about 50 reporters. “It was good, I was glad to finally get back out on the court and under the whistle. Unfortunately we lost but we come out hard the next game.” Durant hit his stride in the second quarter (0-5 FG, 0 points in first quarter), hitting for 13 points (3-8 FG, 7-8 FT).

How the heck did he miss the layups?...jitters perhaps?

[Lefty Noob]

Probably. I imagine he was nervous playing with the big boys for the first time. Best to get those jitters out of the way now instead of in the fall.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Probably. I imagine he was nervous playing with the big boys for the first time. Best to get those jitters out of the way now instead of in the fall.

Still two layups...they must of been rolling on the floor with laughter...the teammates that is.