Durant Lebron on Collision Course?
As the NBA takes its annual All-Star Break, that signals the time of year basketball fans love. It’s time to look forward to the playoffs. We still have along way to go in the regular season and Lord knows the playoffs are almost another half season long themselves, but right now it sure looks as if we may get a second NBA Finals between Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder and Lebron James and the Miami Heat in three seasons. That would not be a bad thing.
The NBA Playoffs are at their best when there is a rivalry. Magic vs Bird, Bird vs Dr. J, Kareem vs Walton, Wilt vs Russell, Jordan vs Isiah, etc. makes an already great event even a little better. We may have another one of these rivalries happening now between Lebron James and Kevin Durant.
Two seasons ago. as a young up-and-comer, Durant and the Thunder made it to the Finals against the Heat and even won Game One. But four straight lessons on what the Finals are all about and it was Lebron and the Heat celebrating the championship. The Thunder again ruled the NBA Northwest Division last season, but on their way to a rematch, Durant’s running mate Russell Westbrook went down with a season ending injury in the first round of the playoffs. The Heat went on to beat the San Antonio Spurs in a seven game classic ro win their second title in a row. The Thunder was left to wonder what if.
Two years later, the Thunder is looking like a team on a mission. Westbrook is once again injured, but Durant and his teammates are still wreaking havoc in the top-heavy Western Conference. Durant looks like if nothing else, he may be ready to unseat James as the NBA’s MVP this season. 30 point games are now second nature to Durant and on a good night he is liable to put 50 on the board. His team, who was running neck and neck with the much improved Portland Trail Blazers for the first half of the season, has now dispatched them twice in head to head games the last few weeks and has opened up a five game lead.
The surge of the Thunder has definitely gotten the attention of the Heat. They seem to have turned it up a notch as of late with some big wins on their current west coast trip. James even hit a buzzer beating three pointer to beat the Golden State Warriors in their last game leading up to the break. This gives us something to watch for Sunday.
Keep an eye on the Durant vs Lebron contest on Sunday. Normally, the All-Star Game is not much more than a bunch of guys taking turns dunking. But if the game evolves into a contest between James and Durant for the MVP trophy, then that is a signal that it is on between the two.
