Behind a ridiculous 43 points from Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder, playing at home, beat the New Orleans Hornets 104-93.
Durant was sensational. He shot 14-of-19, including 5-of-7 three-pointers, and hit 10-of-11 free throws to get his points. He also had 10 rebounds and five assists.
The AP reports:
The league’s scoring leader hit two free throws, a jumper and a 3-pointer from the right wing, and then a driving foul-line jumper that made it 98-84 with 5:44 to play.
“Durant hit some shots that there’s no defense for,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “Some of that stuff is the same thing Chris does, the same thing David does, and you can’t overcome that.
“What I didn’t like was I thought a couple of our guys put their heads down tonight and let that get to them, and I thought some of our bench guys didn’t compete.”
Durant scored 47 points at Minnesota and then 40 against Washington in back-to-back victories last week that both went past regulation, and he shot 14 for 19 from the field in his latest scoring outburst.
“Amazing,” Jeff Green said. “He’s been scoring the ball with ease, getting any kind of shot he wants. He’s been playing well, and hopefully it continues.”
The Thunder and Hornets are both dark horse teams who could pull off an upset or two in the postseason. They’re worth keeping an eye on. Especially OKC, with a guy like Durant on their side.
