My tweeps were chirping at me in the first quarter about a faulty stream on thebasketballchannel.com, but apparently the bandwidth problem was solved in time to show a pretty decent fourth quarter at Kevin Durant’s exhibition game in Oklahoma City last night, won 176-171 in overtime by Durant’s team.
Some stat lines:
Michael Beasley, 56 points on 25-for-35 shooting — though he disappeared in the fourth quarter when some defense started to get played, according to ESPN.com’s Royce Young.
Chris Paul, 25 assists — including 13 in the first eight minutes — among a triple-double line that included 14 points and 13 assists.
Durant, a triple-double of 42 points, 26 rebounds and 11 assists.
LeBron James, 40 points, no public comments.
Carmelo Anthony, 43 points, no public comments.
At halftime, according to Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press, Durant presented an oversized check for $100,000 to Single Parents Support Network of Oklahoma City with proceeds from the game.
John Rohde of The Oklahoman (which published a box score) noted that on the final play of regulation, the 6-foot-9 Durant missed the potential game-winner despite being guarded by the 6-foot Paul.
“Oh, it’s always a competition,” Paul said with a smile. “KD asked me why I was guarding him. (It’s) because I’m not going to let him shoot it. I want to win. It’s unbelievable. Guys don’t get paid to play in these games. Guys came out here because of how much respect they have for KD and what he does for the community, the kids and giving back. It’s all about what he’s doing and guys want to come out and be a part of it.”
Here are highlights via NewsOK Sports:
I think you are a fan of the NBA, because it’s REAL BASKETBALL, these circus exhibition games that the players are putting on are for little kids that like to see dunks and globetrotter stuff 24/7. Most adults want to see some type of organization of a REAL game.
I thought I was a fan of the NBA, but I might be more of a fan of my team and less of a fan of the league in general. Watching a game with NBA players (Even the best NBA players) where there is nothing on the line and no real point of playing other than a few nice looking highlights… isnt something that appeals to me at all. I dont know if that means im not a real fan of the NBA…..but stuff like that doesnt substitute watching my team play games and following them through out a season.