Game 3... this is what happened
Durant, as you'll recall, was on the pine with four fouls, an adherence to an outmoded style of thinking that doesn't hold up to logic or reason. The thought process behind sitting an important player with four fouls though there is a quarter and a half left to play is self-defeating at best and anachronistic at worst. The back and forth usually goes something like this:
Why are you going to sit him?
Because he has four fouls.
What happens if you play him?
He might get a fifth foul.
What happens if he gets a fifth foul?
Then we'll have to sit him.
So, you're sitting him so you don't have to sit him?
Correct.
Aren't you just handing yourself the punishment ahead of time, without actually earning it?
Um … he has four fouls.