Fifteen seconds left on the clock. Tie game between Orlando and OKC, and Magic guard Victor Oladipo had the ball. He drove to the bucket but Serge Ibaka (aka Serge I-Block-Ya) swatted away the layup attempt, and OKC had possession with the clock ticking down.
Durant dribbled the ball up court, closely guarded by a Magic defender. He made a few quick moves and then pulled up for a tough three-pointer…and swish! Durant knocked it down to give the Thunder a last-minute win!
“I saw they were off-balance a little bit and [Harris] didn’t know what was going to happen, if a screen was coming; I saw he kept turning his head,” Durant said to media later. “Left-to-right cross, been working on that since I was 6 years old. Just felt confident in that shot when I let it go.”
Durant finished with 37 points, plus five rebounds, five assists and three blocks. His talented back-court mate Russell Westbrook notched a triple-double with 24 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists.
The Thunder have now won 12 of their past 13 games. They now sit in third in the Western Conference, four games behind the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs.
Durant has primarily been in the news due to his free-agency next year. If Durant leaves the Thunder, the Warriors are the significant frontrunners to sign him, league sources told media outlets.
As Yahoo Sports writes: “Outside of a Thunder championship closing down the process before July 1, there’s a strong expectation that Durant will hit the road, tour campuses and become a recruit again.”
