Culture of Hoops

Kevin Durant hits game-winning jumper versus Hawks

Image courtesy of Keith Allison/Flickr.

Image courtesy of Keith Allison/Flickr.

Baller Mind Frame’s No Layups brings you the hottest NBA stories on the web mixed with personal opinion from our very own Aaron Lanton. Check it often and absorb the knowledge we’re dropping on you!

Kevin Durant played the fourth quarter Monday night with the intensity of an NBA Finals game.

Showing plenty of emotion down the stretch and scowling at the Atlanta bench on multiple occasions, Durant scored 41 points to rally the Oklahoma City Thunder past the Hawks 111-109 for their eighth straight victory.

The star forward hit the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds left, capping Oklahoma City’s comeback from a 14-point deficit in the second half.

“I know we play a lot of games and a lot of people say January doesn’t mean anything,” Durant said. “But when you’re playing this game with your heart and passion like we do, sometimes you’ve got to sit back and just enjoy it.”

Durant scored 13 in the fourth quarter, including a 16-foot, step-back jumper with 25.5 seconds remaining that put the Thunder ahead for the first time since the opening 2 minutes. Paul Millsap tied it for Atlanta before Durant knocked down the decisive 12-footer while being guarded by DeMarre Carroll.

“Coach just drew it out for me and I had to make a play,” Durant said. “It was an emotional game. It was up and down the whole game. My emotions were everywhere, so I just had to try to keep it together at the end of the game and make a play for my team.” Associated Press

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUH5z9Bzdmc[/youtube]

Even the Hawk’s official Twitter account couldn’t hate on that.

On another note, can we get Paul Millsap into the All-Star game? He deserves it by any measure we can use for evaluation. – AL

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