Kevin Durant and the phantom cam is basically like Walter White and a barrel of methylamine. Made for each other.
Kevin Durant’s reign as the NBA’s scoring champion is over.
Needing 70 points tonight against the Bucks in the Thunder’s finale, Durant will instead sit the game, posting on his Instagram “if you disappointed I didn’t try to go for the scoring title, oh well!!”
Durant won three consecutive scoring titles coming into this season, putting him in company with only six other players — Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, Neil Johnston, Bob McAdoo and George Gervin. A fourth would’ve narrowed that list to just Wilt and MJ.
Still, scoring title or not, what an incredible season from Durant. He finishes averaging 28.1 points on 51.0 percent shooting, 41.6 from 3 and 90.5 from the line, putting him in the elite 50-40-90 club. Keep Reading…
Carl Bialik of the Wall Street Journal on the scoring title: “But to Durant, a 70% true-shooting percentage over five games is nothing extraordinary. He did it over five different five-game periods this season, including three non-overlapping ones. His TS% in April has been even better than Anthony’s: 68% to Anthony’s 62%, as Melo went a bit cold after his five-game run. Meanwhile, before that run began Anthony had no five-game period this season with a TS% above 65.1%. Throughout the season, Durant has been almost as good as that, wit a true-shooting percentage of 64.7%, second-best in the NBA. James’s 64% is third-best. Just four players in NBA history have averaged at least 25 points per game while playing in at least 60 games and shooting with a higher true-shooting percentage than Durant has this season — and only one more has done so while topping James’s mark.”
Tom Habertstroh of ESPN.com: “Want to know why OKC’s offense improved this season even without James Harden? That Kevin Martin guy can score the rock. According to SportVU, Martin scored 0.494 points per touch in the 55 games tracked by their cameras, which is the highest efficiency in their database. He may not get the ball all that often playing next to Durant and Russell Westbrook, but Martin is making the most of it, scoring 802 points on 1,623 touches. Contrast that efficiency with teammate Kendrick Perkins who has received 273 more touches this season than Martin, but scored 554 fewer points. Perhaps Martin should get the ball more.” Keep Reading…
I love Brian Davis.
Sometimes he can get a little wild, a little over-the-top, a little crazy with his commentary. But I enjoy his passion and enthusiasm for the game. He enjoys what he’s doing, and you can tell.
I think Davis does a good job of blending being an unabashed homer — which I think to a regulated degree, is necessary for any local announcer — and being objective enough to call it as he sees it. Him and Grant Long aren’t the league’s best announcing tandem (hello Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel), but take a tour around League Pass and you’ll realize they’re up there.
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “The Thunder just did what they’ve done this year, took care of a team at home. Beat the stuffing out of the Kings and clinched the No.1 seed in the West. Russell Westbrook was athletic, Kevin Durant was quietly tremendous, and the defense did its work. Pretty great season after the Harden trade supposedly buried them.”
Sekou Smith of NBA.com: “A dangerous Lakers team battled a hobbled San Antonio Spurs team, the same Spurs we’ll see this weekend, and won an emotionally charged game to move one step closer to locking up that No. 8 seed. If the Lakers can keep up the same sort of intensity for another week and a half, that first-round matchup in the playoffs will be considerably more difficult than it might have with Bryant in the mix and the rest of his teammates taking their usual backseat. The Thunder have every reason to be confident, if they do indeed match up with the Lakers in this weekend. They still have decided advantage on the perimeter with Durant and Russell Westbrook leading the charge. And Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins are more than capable of dealing with Howard and Gasol inside.” Keep Reading…
Check.
The Thunder are the West’s No. 1 seed.
With a 104-95 rolling of the Kings, the Thunder put away their 60th win and more importantly, the Spurs.
(The quick and dirty: The Thunder held a 24-point second half lead, but the Kings cut it to 10 in the fourth quarter. Scott Brooks, who appeared to be trying to let the second and third units close the game, brought the starters back to close things down. They did with no problems, and the Thunder cruised to No. 60. Kevin Durant was fantastic, again, going for 29 on 10-16 shooting with seven rebounds and eight assists, Russell Westbrook had 21 with eight assists, and the bench showed well with 30 points, despite being without Kevin Martin.) Keep Reading…
vs. 
Kings (28-52, 8-32 road) vs. Thunder (59-21, 33-6 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 112.5 (1st), Kings– 106.2 (12th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 102.6 (4th), Kings – 111.3 (29th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.4 (9th), Kings – 93.6 (8th)
View from the enemy: Cowbell Kingdom
The Thunder have an opportunity here. They can clinch the West’s top seed, homecourt throughout the Western playoffs, and a 60-win season. They’re at home and playing a bad team. All signs point to getting this done as long as there’s a strong focus. Keep Reading…
Headlines
- Serge Ibaka named first team All-Defense
- Report: KD reaches settlement in ‘Durantula’ lawsuit
- Derek Fisher fined $5,000 for flopping
- Durant finishes runner-up to LeBron for MVP
- Thunder-Grizzlies second round schedule released
- Report: LeBron to be named 2012-13 MVP
- Kevin Durant on Royce White: ‘Who is that?’
Player Power Rankings: Final marks
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5 | WEEK 6| WEEK 7 | WEEK 8 | WEEK 9 | WEEK 10 |WEEK 11 | WEEK 12 | WEEK 13 | WEEK 14 | WEEK 15 | WEEK 16 | WEEK 17 | WEEK 18 | WEEK 19 | WEEK 20 | WEEK 21 | WEEK 22 | WEEK 23
Think back to October 29.
That was a day after the Thunder traded James Harden to Houston. With the reality of it settling in, that’s when fans and media started the process of readjusting and re-evaluating the Thunder as a title contender. Without the Sixth Man of the Year, with such a shock to the system, what was this team now?
Keep Reading…