2015 NBA scores: Magic-Thunder have already given us a Game of the Year candidate

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 91 points and you can only feel bad for the poor Orlando Magic.

by Tim Cato

Oct 31, 2015, 12:01 PM UTC

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

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There's a certain sympathy you should be feeling for the Orlando Magic this morning. It's the type of feeling you get when you hear about natural disasters affecting people in a local town, or when the neighbors down the street have their house burn down when nobody was home. To Orlando, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were a natural disaster. They sure as hell didn't deserve to lose in double overtime.

But what are you to do when that duo combined for 91 points on 32-of-66 shooting. Ninety-one points, yes, you read that right, making up 65 percent of Oklahoma City's total scoring in a 139-136 double overtime win. For three quarters, Orlando blew the Thunder out. They led by 18 headed into the fourth quarter. After a heartbreaking season opening loss at the hands of a last-minute John Wall floater, the Magic seemed on a path to notch their first win of the year.

But sometimes, natural disasters strike and there’s nothing you can do about it.

As Oklahoma City charged back into the game in the fourth quarter, it still looked like Orlando would hold on. An Elfrid Payton layup with 1:23 left broke an 8-0 Thunder run and gave them a four-point lead. Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon each hit a pair of free throws to extend the game. But with 13 seconds, Kevin Durant sprung open on an entirely too simple play and tied it up.

Then Oladipo did this. Crises averted.

And then Westbrook did this. How is that fair!?

Oladipo gave the Magic a buzzer beater of their own at the end of the first overtime, but the Durant and Westbrook show was too much to overcome by the time the second overtime rolled around.

There’s sympathy for the Magic, sure. It won’t give them back the two wins that they nearly had at the buzzers, but at least they looked good doing it. Any wrong can be righted this early in the season. Orlando can make up for these losses, even if they hurt at some point down the road. Sometimes, you get hit with a natural disaster, or even worse, two of them. There’s nothing they can do about tonight but move on.

3 things we learned

Karl-Anthony Towns is the real deal. The Timberwolves rookie big man helped Minnesota demolish Denver on their own court, scoring 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting with 14 rebounds and four blocks. He hit mid-range jumpers, drove to the basket repeatedly finishing in traffic, led a fast break and even threw a pass that surprised Kevin Garnett and netted him an easy layup.

It’s tough to react to what we’re seeing so far this NBA season without overreacting, but Towns’ pure athleticism has blended so easily into his game through a couple game that’s it’s hard not to see him becoming a star -- health assumed, of course. Just watch this monster double-double in his second-ever NBA game and tell me it doesn’t look like that.

The Pistons are still rolling. The only matchup on Friday night between two 2-0 teams ended with Detroit staying unbeaten on the back of a monster double-double from Andre Drummond, who notched 20 points and 20 rebounds for a 98-94 overtime win. Chicago fell to 2-1 and they'll happily take it, given that they're probably still riding high from a late-game beating of LeBron James' Cavaliers on opening night. Three games is no sample size to judge a team on, but the Pistons sure have started the season strong.

Durant and Westbrook is too good of a combo. While we feel bad for the Magic, seriously how great are those two? Their 91 combined points was more than the 76ers, Nuggets and Nets scored in regulation as a team. If there was ever going to be a team that had two viable MVP candidates, this is the one.