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| courtesy of Keith Allison |
A lot of people call the United States Senate, the most exclusive club in the world.
I'll take issue with that. After all, there are 100 senators. That's certainly exclusive but entrance into the world of NBA superstardom is a much more difficult goal to obtain than becoming the senior senator of Nevada.
When you say Wilt, Magic, Larry and Michael or these days Kobe and LeBron, it's the equivalent of Madonna or Britney -- everyone knows who you are talking about.
Kevin Durant is now knocking at the door of that privileged club.
Upset that he let his teammates down in Memphis with one of the worst games of his young career in Game 6, Durant, the best pure scorer in the game, vowed to be more aggressive and make sure that it wouldn't happen again on the biggest stage of them all in professional basketball -- a Game 7.
Mission accomplished.
Durant scored 39 points on 25 shots Sunday leading his Oklahoma City Thunder to an easy 105-90 victory over a plucky Grizzlies team and a date in the Western Conference finals with the Dallas Mavericks.
After scoring just 11 points in Friday's Game 6 loss, Durant went to the basket early and often on Sunday to help the franchise reach the conference finals for the first time since 1996, when the then-Seattle SuperSonics beat Utah in seven games before losing to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals
"I just attacked," said Durant.
"I was so upset with myself for letting my guys down by not playing my game (on Friday). I wasn't aggressive at all," he said. "But I stayed with it. I was just positive and confident and kept the faith in the things that got me here."
The fourth-seeded Thunder took control of the game near the end of the third quarter, burying the never say die Grizz under a barrage of three-pointers before snuffing out any spark of a comeback in the fourth.
Nick Collison helped with his tough interior defense, Russell Westbrook certainly contributed with a triple-double of 14 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, while James Harden continued his emergence by scoring 17 off the bench, including a trio of three-pointers during the Thunder's big third quarter.
But the team's success has always had more to do with Durant than anyone else, which is why the Thunder couldn't afford a repeat of Game 6, when the NBA's leading scorer shot just 3-of-14 and all but disappeared as Memphis took control in the second half.
"I guess I can say it now: He stunk last game," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "But he doesn't take anything for granted, so I knew he would come back and have a fantastic game."
Trying to shake off the feeling of his rare clunker, Durant instead continued his poor shooting in the first quarter. He was 2-for-9 but still scored eight points, including four during a 10-2 run that gave Oklahoma City an early 18-15 lead.
The Thunder carried a 21-17 advantage into the second and went up by 11 when Durant's three-pointer made it 40-29. Moments later, Westbrook found him for an alley-oop circus layup to keep the lead at 11.
Durant scored 18 points in the first half on 6-of-13 shooting and Oklahoma City took a 42-34 edge into halftime. He had nine points during the 14-2 run that pushed the Thunder's lead from 52-49 to 66-51. Durant capped the burst with a block, then a three-pointer at the other end.
Durant overcame the slow start shooting to go 13-of-25 from the field, including 4-for-9 from three-point range after he was just 1-for-9 on Friday. He scored 13 points during Oklahoma City's 30-24 third quarter, hitting a pair of threes during a 14-2 run that put an end to Memphis' historic run.
The Grizzlies were already the only No. 8 seed in West history to win seven games in a single postseason, besting the previous high was six by the 1993-94 Denver Nuggets, and were just a win away from becoming the first eight seed to reach the conference finals.
Thanks to Durant, they are now searching for tee times.
"We didn't make shots and we gave up 17 points in transition," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. "They deserved to win, they earned this win. Durant showed the heart of a champion. But I'm also proud of my team and where we are and where we're heading in the future."
The work is not done for the Thunder, however...
Kevin...meet Dirk.
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