Among the many reasons everybody loves Kevin Durant — such as the fact that he’s a walking case study on the pathology of Acute GetBuckets Syndrome — is that he’s a refreshing break from some of the things people don’t like about sports. No drama, no controversy, no whining: KD is all about basketball. In last night’s Thunder win over the Knicks, Durant again went outside the norm after hitting his biggest shot of the season … Late in the fourth quarter, New York led by six after Amar’e Stoudemire‘s follow dunk that seemed to suck the energy out of OKC’s gym. But Russell Westbrook (28 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts) answered with a pull-up jumper and-one, then Durant hit a jumper over Danilo Gallinari to make it a one-point game. Then, in a funny bit of foreshadowing, some of the confetti reserved for Thunder home wins randomly fell from the ceiling onto the court, causing a delay so they could sweep it up … With six seconds left, it was tied and OKC had the ball. Durant (30 pts, 12 rebs) created some space and casually drained a fadeaway three in Gallinari’s eye at the buzzer. Now whereas every ballplayer from middle school to the NBA these days punctuates their game-winners with a snarl and a scowl like they just walked into the bathroom after John Witherspoon, Durant flashed a half-mean mug for maybe two seconds, then broke into a huge grin that he couldn’t wipe off his face … Just when you think you find something Blake Griffin can’t do, he does it. Tied up with Golden State in the final minute of the fourth quarter and the shot clock almost out, the Clippers were inbounding at midcourt. The Warriors ignored Blake (30 pts, 18 rebs, 8 asts) as he stood 30 feet from the basket because, you know, he’s a 6-10 monster of a power forward who doesn’t knock down 30-footers. So what does he do? Calmly drops a triple to give L.A. the lead for good … The more popular Griffin gets, the more we hear predictions that he’ll end up on the Lakers as soon as he’s a free agent. But doesn’t it seem more likely he’d go to Oklahoma City? Not only because it’s his hometown squad, but also because Blake could form a dynastic Big Three with Durant and Westbrook … And how is that John Wall kid doing? Last night he stepped into the arena against Rajon Rondo and walked out a winner. Late in the fourth, Wall (16 pts, 6 rebs) went coast-to-coast in about 2.5 seconds and muscled in a go-ahead layup over two defenders. Then with under a minute to go, after Boston tied it, Wall measured Rondo and banked in a three. A couple possessions later Wall almost gave the game away when he got ripped by Rondo (13 pts, 9 asts) while Washington was protecting a one-point lead, but Paul Pierce missed on the other end, and the Wizards escaped … Did the Wizards’ DJ really play “Down Bottom” off that old Ruff Ryders compilation after the final buzzer? …Read More>>
When did the Hornets turn into the Pittsburgh Steelers? One night after holding the Hawks to 59 points in a game that reportedly included a shot clock, N.O. came back last night and held the Spurs to 72 in a blowout win. Granted, San Antonio was on the second part of a back-to-back, and Gregg Popovich sat the starters most of the second half, but it was still a great defensive effort. Emeka Okafor blocked 5 shots to go with 9 points and 12 boards, while Tiago Splitter (11 pts) and Tony Parker (10 pts) were the only Spurs who cracked double figures … Apparently Parker’s personal problems paved the way for Kim Kardashian to become the NBA’s new Eva Longoria. Kim K (sitting with Snooki) got more camera time during last night’s New Jersey/Dallas game than the Nets’ halfcourt logo … Kris Humphries grabbed 15 boards to impress his lady, but he couldn’t do anything about Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs trailed by one with 20 seconds left, and of course they went to Dirk (23 pts), who had Stephen Graham guarding him. Dirk used a herk here and a jerk there, got his signature shot from his favorite spot, and the ball rolled around the rim forever before falling in … New Jersey’s last possession was enough to make Mike Fratello throw up. It appeared Devin Harris and Humphries were supposed to run a pick-and-roll, with Harris as the first scoring option. But Harris passed up his shot, looked off Humphries, and lobbed a cross-court pass to Jordan Farmar that left Farmar with barely enough time to airball a deep three. On their way to the locker room, Harris, Farmar and Humphries were still trying to explain to each other what went wrong … Other stat lines from Saturday: LeBron dumped 38 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists on the Raptors in a Miami rout; Joe Johnson put up 32 points, 5 boards and 5 assists to lead Atlanta past Charlotte; Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 boards in Orlando’s win over Houston; Andre Iguodala scored 22 to lead Philadelphia past Utah; Tayshaun Prince had 17 points and 13 boards as Detroit edged Phoenix; Marc Gasol posted 24 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks to lead Memphis past Milwaukee; LaMarcus Aldridge went for 25 points and 12 boards in Portland’s win over Indiana; and Derrick Rose notched 24 points, 8 dimes, 4 steals and 3 blocks in Chicago’s win over Cleveland, while J.J. Hickson posted 13 points and 20 boards in the loss … We’re out like scoring on the Hornets …
