Sports Daily: Kevin Durant is on Fire Edition

[RaychelSnr]

It's official, Kevin Durant is on fire.

Last night, Durant topped off his 41 point performance with a game winner against the Atlanta Hawks at home. Over his last 13 games, Durant is averaging 37.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 53.7 percent overall, 41.5 percent from deep and 88.1 percent from the free throw line.

The Thunder currently have the second best record in the league and the best in the west, and this is all without Russell Westbrook. Meanwhile, the Pacers continue to light it up in the East, with the defending champs trailing close behind.

Sound Off: At the midway point of the season, is Kevin Durant the MVP? Do you think Miami will repeat as champs this year? Who do you have playing in the Finals anways?

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[lilteapot]

At this point, absolutely KD is MVP and I honestly don't think it will change. He's been on a tear for the entire season and he won't slow down enough for Lebron to catch up. He will have to average 30/10/10 to win over KD and Lebron doesn't seem like he's gunning for anything except a third title.

I want Miami to win, but I just have a hard time believing wade and oden will be healthy enough to give Miami what they need to survive an Indiana series. Everybody's saying they'll flip a switch in the second half and they dominated San Antonio on Sunday but their defense was still an issue and I don't think they will have the energy to play tightened defense for prolonged periods of time.

I have Indiana vs okc or spurs in the finals.

[OkayC]

okc and indy in the finals. possibly the spurs, but parker has to, i repeat, has to be healthy. miami at this point is probably 50/50 with indy in a seven game series if oden continues to play well. but what stood out to me in both indy and miami games is that hibbert was near invisible in the box score. he didnt have double digit points or boards, to me that says something about there bench and defense. and if hibbert and west play well, then thats the icing on the cake for indy.

idk if miami will threepeat, but i doubt it. theyve looked gassed so far this season, when in times past theyve just looked uniterested. i think theyll turn it up for the playoffs, but not to as high of a level for as long as weve seen in the past.

And yes so far kd is mvp, and i dont see that changing though its possible that it could.

[AlexBrady]

Picking an MVP in a team sport is silly. Fact is that the role players are just as important as the stars.

Durant is a wondrous player, but OKC's gameplan is flawed. You can't just give him the ball 30 feet away and ask him to shoot over double teams. That won't work in the playoffs. I like the foul line isolations better.

And Westbrook still isn't a real point guard. He forces shots and penetrations and can't run complex sets.

[Jamesmaster]

Only injuries or a nuclear assault can keep Durant from the MVP.

Health will obviously also be a key for the playoffs. If the Pacers stay healthy, I think the Heat have no chance, especially not with Wade being as healthy as a 95 year old. Really interested to see how he will do in a long playoff series.

In the West anything can happen I think, although I see the Thunder go to the finals if they have Westbrook back.

[TheRealHST]

What KD is doing is Jordan like. I don't want to cause and uproar and completely compare KD to MJ but scoring wise, it's reminiscent. He is the most exciting player i the NBA right now

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheRealHST

What KD is doing is Jordan like. I don't want to cause and uproar and completely compare KD to MJ but scoring wise, it's reminiscent. He is the most exciting player i the NBA right now

Agreed, he's going nutts right now. Other players have had big streaks like this more recently, guys like LeBron, Kobe, Iverson, and Jordan.. It's rare company.

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheRealHST

What KD is doing is Jordan like. I don't want to cause and uproar and completely compare KD to MJ but scoring wise, it's reminiscent. He is the most exciting player i the NBA right now

Would be cool to see an old school like shoot out between he and LeBron tomorrow. Like an old Bird and Nique or Jordan and Nique showdown.. Don't know that we'd see something like that from LeBron though.