LOS ANGELES — At the moment, it was the shot that tied the game with 1:30 left in a close contest with the Lakers. Kevin Durant got the ball in transition, drove into Austin Reaves and drew the and-1.
It was also the bucket that moved Durant past Hakeem Olajuwon for 12th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. This one had extra meaning for Durant and his mother, Wanda, who was courtside at the game.
“My mom had a crush on Olajuwon when I was a kid. So that’s all I used to hear in the house. It wasn’t Jordan, it was Olajuwon in the house, you know?” Durant said. “And so ma, she told me to study [Olajuwon] since a kid, and so really admire his game and his journey as a man and as a basketball player. So it’s always amazing to be up amongst the greats.”
Durant is among the greatest scorers the game has ever seen and lived up to it on Thursday night with 39 points, but it wasn’t enough against LeBron James, who played the entire fourth quarter and had a couple of buckets late to spark the Lakers to a 100-95 win.
