Kevin Durant is expected to be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player when the results of balloting are announced in the coming weeks. The Oklahoma City Thunder forward’s yes-I-can-top-this season included another scoring title (32.0 points per game), a streak of 41 consecutive games with at least 25 points and a No. 2 seed for his team in the Western Conference playoffs.
The coup de grace may have come Monday night when Durant converted an outrageous four-point play that helped force overtime in Game 2 of a first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies. Though the Thunder went on to lose the game in the extra session, tying the series at one game apiece, the utter clutch-ness and degree of difficulty on the 3-pointer (while being fouled) is hard to overstate.
It ranks as the defining moment (so far) in a season full of them. Here’s the best of:
1. vs. Grizzlies, April 21
Just an impossible-angle, falling-down corner 3-pointer over a 7-footer while being fouled with your team down five in the final seconds of a playoff game. No big deal.
2. at Raptors, March 21
Loses control of the ball with six seconds left and … not a hint of panic.
3. vs. Hawks, Jan. 27
Everyone in a red jersey is watching him. Four of those Hawks are chasing him around. And still.
4. vs. Rockets, Dec. 29
A couple things to note here: Picking up his head of steam around midcourt. The percussive sound of net-ripping picked up by the backboard mic. And his partner on the poster? None other than former OKC teammate James Harden.
5. vs. Warriors, Jan. 17
OK, this is more than one shot. It’s a 19-field-goal symphony that produced a season-high 54 points. Take a minute and a half and enjoy.