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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 15, 2010

Durant claims scoring title

 •  Late-season run propels Bulls into NBA playoffs


Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant scored two of his 31 points as the Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-105, last night.

SUE OGROCKI | Associated Press

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant earned himself a place in NBA history. And a trip to the playoffs, made it even more special.

Durant scored 31 points to finish the season as the youngest NBA scoring champion, and the Oklahoma City Thunder survived a sloppy second half to head into the postseason with a 114-105 win over the Memphis Grizzlies last night.

"It's something I really wasn't coming into the year saying I wanted to get but it feels good to be a part of history and something I'm going to always remember," Durant said. "It feels even better to get 50 wins."

The 21-year-old Durant finished with an average of 30.1 points, 0.4 ahead of Cleveland's LeBron James, and supplanted 22-year-old Max Zaslofsky of the 1947-48 Chicago Stags as the youngest scoring champ in NBA history.

MAVERICKS 96, SPURS 89

Jason Kidd and Jason Terry led a 16-2 run at the end of the first quarter, putting host Dallas ahead for good en route to beating San Antonio and setting up a first-round playoff matchup between the teams.

BUCKS 106, CELTICS 95

Jerry Stackhouse and Luke Ridnour scored 17 points apiece, and visiting Milwaukee won its regular-season finale as Boston rested Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in preparation for the playoffs.

MAGIC 125, 76ERS 111

Jameer Nelson had 21 points, Vince Carter scored 17 and Orlando, the No. 2 seed in the East, made 11 3-pointers to break the NBA single-season record for 3-pointers made with 841 in its victory over Philadelphia.

HAWKS 99, CAVALIERS 83

Rookie Jeff Teague had career highs with 24 points and 15 assists as host Atlanta, the No. 3 seed in the East, cruised past Cleveland, the East top seed who rested LeBron James.

HEAT 94, NETS 86

Michael Beasley had 25 points and 13 rebounds and host Miami wrapped up the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating New Jersey (the fifth team in NBA history to lose 70 games) in double overtime.

RAPTORS 131, KNICKS 113

DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani each scored 24 points as host Toronto beat New York, which became meaningless when Chicago beat Charlotte to clinch the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.

WIZARDS 98, PACERS 97

Rookie Cedric Jackson made a 3-pointer with 1:31 to play for a 98-97 lead as host Washington held off Indiana in a season-ending game for two lottery-bound teams.

PISTONS 103, TIMBERWOLVES 98

Tayshaun Prince added 20 points to rally visiting Detroit from a 16-point deficit and past Minnesota, which tied the franchise record for fewest victories (15) in a season, in the season finale for both teams.

HORNETS 123, ROCKETS 115

David West had 35 points and 10 rebounds, rookie Darren Collison added 26 points and 11 assists and visiting New Orleans beat Houston in both teams' season finale.

CLIPPERS 107, LAKERS 91

Steve Blake had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his first career triple-double, Chris Kaman added 22 points and the Clippers ended with a 29-53 record to miss the postseason for the 15th time in 17 years.

WARRIORS 122, TRAIL BLAZERS 116

Stephen Curry scored 42 points and visiting Golden State finished its season with a victory over playoff-bound Portland, the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

SUNS 100, JAZZ 86

Steve Nash had 11 assists in just three quarters, Amare Stoudemire finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, and visiting Phoenix beat Utah to earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.