Kevin Durant Powers Thunder Past Grizzlies 112-94 In His Return

Kevin Durant might have only spent one game out of the line-up with a sprained big toe, but he announced his return in a big way. The Thunder star dropped 26 points on the Memphis Grizzlies, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a comfortable 112-94 win.

The night did not begin smoothly, though, as Durant only hit two shots during the entire first half. Oklahoma City was comfortably in control, but the NBA’s third-leading scorer wasn’t happy with himself.

The rest of the game, however was a different story. Durant only missed one shot from the floor during his 17-point half. “I missed some good shots in the first half,” he said. “I came back in the second half and I told myself every shot has to be — just — I have to focus on every shot now because I missed so many early on. It could have been a 2-for-17 night for me, so I tried to turn it into something good in the second half.”

Durant, not to mention everyone involved with the Thunder, have to be glad that his toe didn’t cause any more problems. “Our training staff did a great job the last few days,” he said. “I’m just happy to be back playing.”

He also pulled down 17 rebounds, one short of his career high. “Our bigs did a good job of boxing out, and it makes it a little easier for guys like me, Russell, the wing players to go get rebounds when the bigs do all the work,” Durant said. “I just try to get down there as much as I can and grab all those long rebounds and get out and get some easy points.”

Russell Westbrook also added 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win.

Photo:Kevin Durant by Keith Allison via Flickr Commons

Article by Joe Kozlowski