by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
Kevin Durant continued his summer ball rampage last night, dropping in a game-high 59 points in the best (and most hyped) exhibition of the lockout so far.
Unfortunately for Durant and DC’s Goodman League, the jaw-dropping performance came in a 149-141 loss.
KD did most of his damage while being guarded by LeBron James (who was no slouch himself, leading his squad with 32 points) but was outmatched by the Melo League’s sheer star power.
The Washington Post reports:
“Playing against those guys was a lot of fun for me. I’m excited I got that opportunity playing against some great players, playing with some great players as well,” Durant said after his team lost, 149-141, in a game that was lopsided until the final five minutes.
Durant was aided by NBA players Jeff Green, Trevor Austin Daye, Roger Mason Jr., and Jarrett Jack, but the matchup against the Melo All-Stars was incredibly unfair — especially with DeMarcus Cousins and Jennings failing to appear, for some reason, placing more pressure on Durant. The Melo all-stars also had the high-flying Eric Bledsoe and Josh Selby, and the sharp-shooting Gary Neal to carry the load when the Big Three wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard.
Durant scored 59 points, but for most of the night, it felt like watching the Eastern Conference Finals, when James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined to make Derrick Rose resemble a helpless one-way show. [Goodman League commissioner and master of ceremony for the night], Miles Rawls mentioned during the third quarter that Durant was “doing everything but cleaning the floor” but he couldn’t outscore James, Paul and Anthony all alone.
With no official NBA action expected to take place anytime soon, there’s no telling just how many more of these kinds of games stars from the L will take part in. According to Kevin Durant, though, he’s not ready to slow down just yet.
“Whenever there’s a big game, I’m ready to play,” Durant said.
