Kevin Durant's Thunder Victory Credited to 51-Point Game

By Clare Morris, Christian Post Contributor Friday, February 24, 2012

Kevin Durant has hit his career high scoring total, racking up 51 points in Saturday's overtime win against the Denver Nuggets. Durant's impressive 51 points makes him the league's highest scorer so far this season, and he and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets in overtime, 124-118.

But the win wasn't only due to Kevin Durant's impressive point total. Durant was helped by teammates Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. Westbrook also put up huge numbers, scoring a total of 40 points for the Thunder. Ibaka played a solid game and earned his first triple-double. He scored 14 points, pulled down 15 rebounds, and swatted away 11 shots. According to AOL news, the Thunder's performance on Saturday was historic, as this is the first time in the history of professional basketball that a team has had three separate individuals put up such impressive numbers in one night.

Saturday's Thunder-Nuggets game was hotly contested, and was characterized by multiple lead changes. At the start of the second half, the Thunder went on a 20-0 run, but Denver came back, and came back strong. And with just under nine minutes to go, the Nuggets lead by nine points, 93-84.

But Kevin Durant wasn't about to let the Nuggets run away with the game. He lead Oklahoma City to a comeback in the waning minutes of the game. With just 43 seconds left, Oklahoma City was down by five points, 111-106. With 30 seconds left in the game, Durant got off a three point shot and sunk it, narrowing the Nugget's lead. But time was dwindling and Denver was still up by a basket.

With just over four seconds left in the game, Durant drove the ball through traffic, entered the paint, and dunked- successfully sending the game into overtime. Durant crossed the 50 point mark in overtime, by hitting two free throws while the home crowd chanted "MVP!" repeatedly, Tulsa World Repots.