THE NEW ABOUT DRUANT

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant(notes) has led the NBA in scoring two years in a row. Last year, OKC made the playoffs as an eight seed in just their second year in the Midwest. This year, they are a playoff contender as a four seed in the Western Conference.

Durant is also the second-leading point scorer in the NBA post-season. He's only 22. Although not truly great just yet, like Michael Jordan or LeBron James(notes), the playoffs are bringing out the best in him. Durant is averaging over 30 points per game in the 2011 playoffs.
More importantly, he is getting more assists to his teammates. He's averaging just over four assists per game. His career average per game on assists is 1.2. His meteoric rise in the assist category not only helps the Thunder more, but also makes his stat sheet shine.

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Durant has started every game he's entered since the 2007-2008 season. He's averaged over 20 points per game in his career. Yet somehow he's not being named as a top candidate for MVP of the league.
The Thunder are the only team to have a 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference. Only Boston's sweep of New York in the east was more complete than what the Thunder are doing to the Denver Nuggets right now. Durant is listed as sixth right now on the NBA's news website as a potential candidate for MVP.
Rightfully, Derrick Rose(notes) of the Chicago Bulls is at the top the list. But sixth for Durant? He's turned it up a notch in the playoffs. Without him, the Thunder would be on the opposite side of a 3-0 series lead or worse, not even in the post-season at all.
As the Thunder won a ton of games in March and April, they become one of the NBA's hottest teams thanks to the clutch shooting of Durant. While the Lakers and Spurs faltered, OKC took it to a new level. In the parity of the Western Conference this year, only Durant's Thunder have a comfortable series lead in their first round match up.

Yes, he's still a young player who hasn't shown his playoff mettle just yet. However, Durant and the Thunder are showing they are more than capable against Denver.

William Browning is a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder ever since the team relocated from Seattle. As the closest NBA team to Branson, Mo., the Thunder serve as the regional team for southwest Missouri.

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