Where there’s lightning, there’s thunder, and Kevin Durant has been striking like lightning for the past week.
The small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, in his seventh year out of Texas, is used to dropping buckets on the opposition. However, over the last four games, the “Durantula” has dominated his opponents with more than his soft touch near the hoop and his pinpoint accuracy from no man’s land.
Durant has led the Thunder to four straight wins, and he’s been demonstrating his all-around game in the process. He’s averaged 31.5 points a game along with 8.5 rebounds a game. Oh yeah, he’s shared the wealth as well with an average of 6 assists a game. Durant had a double-double in each contest except for one, a 119-110 win against the Detroit Pistons Friday. But, if it’s any consolation, he had eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals — good enough?
The first of the Thunder’s wins came Nov. 3 in a 103-96 win at home versus the Phoenix Suns. Durant’s 33 points came courtesy a 52.6 percent shooting performance. It’s one thing to score. It’s an entirely different ball game when the scoring is efficient. Eleven of his points came via the charity stripe, missing only two of his 13 free throw attempts. He also snatched 10 rebounds, but that’s what being 6-foot-9, 240 lbs can do for you.
Three nights later, the man went back to work. This time he let up on the gas as for as points are concerned, putting up a (measly) 23 points in a 107-93 win at home against the Dallas Mavericks. No, he didn’t tickle the twine as often as he normally does, but he did decide to do his best Chris Paul impression by notching 10 assists… six more than Russell Westbrook, the Thunder’s actual point guard, had that game. Durant only took two threes the entire game and connected on one, but he did damage from the free throw line again by hitting 8-9.
Then on Friday, the win in Detroit, Durant decided to return to form with a 37-point outburst in the Palace at Auburn Hills. Again, his double-double streak ended, but he was two boards and three assists away from a triple-double — not too shabby. You’ll start to see a trend form with his numbers because Durant went 17-19 from the foul line. He currently leads the NBA in free throws made (70). In fact, he’s led the NBA in the category since the 2009-10 season.
As Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Durant’s free-throw excellence continued Sunday in a 106-105 victory against the Washington Wizards. To no surprise, eight of his 33 points came from the stripe. He also snuck in six assists and cleaned glass with 13 rebounds. That’s one more rebound than Serge Ibaka, the Thunder’s leader in rebounds, had versus the Wizards.
The Thunder are ranked No. 11 in the NBA in points a game with 102.8, and a big part of that is due to Durant, who is averaging 30.2 points a game. OKC’s next leading scorer, Westbrook, is averaging 19 points a game. So by himself, Durant is amounting for about a third of the Thunder’s points. That’s impressive considering Durant averages 18 shots a game, and Westbrook usually jacks up 17.8 shots a game. Ladies and gentleman, that’s called efficiency.
OKC’s next game is Thursday night visiting the Golden State Warriors, where Durant will have to go up against the lengthy, pesky Andre Iguodala. Being that the Warriors average about 104 points a game, it should be a shootout for sure.
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