Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Durant Is Back … Ish

Not too long ago, I wrote an article explaining why Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant “struggling” this season. One of the reasons noted was the fact that he appeared somewhat tentative at times and lacking that killer instinct we’ve become accustomed to.

Well, apparently, that’s no longer a problem.

Thursday night, KD was the epitome of the term “unstoppable” as he finally had that big-time performance we’ve been waiting for. And as if to add a little extra to it, he did so against the NBA’s best team in the NBA – the 21-3 Golden State Warriors.

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The Slim Ripper posted a very efficient 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting and he started putting in the work early, going 6-for-6 right off the bat in the first quarter – including three straight 3-pointers with a defender draped all over him.

Incredibly so, all his points came within the first half of contest and the scoring tally actually set a new career-high for a first half.

Of course it wasn’t the first time Kevin Durant has terrorized Golden State for career numbers.

The last time he played against the California outfit, he dropped career-high 54 points while being guarded by Andre Iguodala, no less — the man has built a reputation as one of the best on-ball defenders in the game but time and time again, neither he nor the rest of teammates seem to know how to stop Durant.

"“He hit a bunch of tough contested 3s,” said Stephen Curry, who led the Warriors with 34 points of his own. “You tip your hat off to him.”"

Teammate, Russell Westbrook was also kind enough to add his thoughts by saying:

"“When he gets going, ain’t too much anybody can do. As you know he’s one of the best players in the world. [When he’s hot] Just sit back and watch.”"

Durant himself was a little more modest-as usual- in his post-game analysis.

"“I just made a few shots, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve been feeling good the last week or so. I just made a few shots today; that was the difference.”"

Regrettably for Durant (and OKC), his night was cut short after he sprained his ankle on a drive during the final seconds of the half.

X-rays came back negative, but since it was his right foot, the same one that forced him to miss the first 17 games of the season, the Thunder’s coaching staff opted to err on the side of caution and held him out for the rest of the game. Besides, the team did well without Durant as Russell Westbrook led the way in absence. Unfortunately, the Warriors were just too strong down the stretch.

"“I was a little nervous,” said Durant. “But I knew when I got up and started walking it felt good. So I just wanted to make sure with the X-rays everything was good.”“They had to convince me not to play,” he added. “It was the foot I had surgery. I wanted to play, I wanted to go back out there, but they just wanted to be cautious.”"

Despite the loss, at least there’s a positive to be taken at a personal level. The season high total came on a night in which he played the least amount of minutes. And to put into perspective just how special his performance was, Kevin Durant is the first player since the NBA/ABA merger to play less than 20 minutes and have 30 points.

Not even the likes of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Kobe Bryant can make such a claim.

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