Thunder Vs. Nuggets, NBA Christmas Day: Kevin Durant Scores Season High 44 In 114-106 Win

During a Christmas Day that saw LeBron James put up a triple-double, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant may have stolen the show. Durant scored 21 points in the third quarter, and a season-high 44 points on the game, as the Thunder rolled to a 114-106 win over the Denver Nuggets. The performance bested his previous high of 34 points and increased his NBA leading scoring average on 27.5 points per game.

The Thunder trailed by two coming out of the half, but Durant changed that quickly. His huge third quarter, in which he scored 21 of the Thunder’s 32 points, gave the Thunder the lead for good. Oklahoma City breezed through the fourth, closing the game strong and leaving with a Christmas win.

An unusually cold Christmas Day? Not a worry for Kevin Durant. The Thunder’s star is white-hot in Oklahoma City, and may be heading for an all-time great Christmas performance.

Durant’s got 40 points through three quarters against the Nuggets, and helped the Thunder take back the lead with 21 in the third quarter. Oklahoma City enters the fourth period up 88-85.

It remains very hard to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder at home. Kevin Durant being on that team is an important reason why: he remains really, really good at this basketball thing.

Durant leads all scorers with 19 points, and his scoring was part of a solid second quarter that helped the Thunder make up much of their deficit to the Nuggets. Denver leads 56-54 at the half.

No ‘Melo, no problem? That’s what the Nuggets’ Nene is trying to prove.

Nene has 13 points and six rebounds, leading all players in both categories, and the Nuggets have a 34-26 lead in Oklahoma City.

The Nuggets would have had a tall task before them in Oklahoma City with Carmelo — they’re just 4-9 on the road, and the Thunder tend to play well before their raucous home crowd — but without Anthony, Denver might only be able to keep this one respectable. He’s been great against the Thunder franchise since it was in Seattle, scoring 29.6 points per game, and that sort of production is nearly impossible to replace.

Look for Kevin Durant to have a big game. He’s topped 24 points in each of his last five games, and is shooting over 50% from the field during that span.