Kevin Durant

For someone who hasn't yet declared for the NBA draft and has more than a month to do so, Kevin Durant is finding himself making news these days - and not even as a result of anything he's been saying or doing. NBA commissioner David Stern has levied $60,000 worth of fines this month to Boston, Charlotte and Golden State over officials' either sitting next to Durant's mother (Celtics' Danny Ainge, executive director of basketball operations) or talking about Durant (Bobcats managing director Michael Jordan and Warriors head coach Don Nelson)

OKLAHOMA CITY - Kevin Durant had the ball in his hands and LeBron James in his face. With 10 seconds left in Game 2, the NBA Finals were providing all the theater anyone could ask. Two superstars going head-to-head, the Miami Heat trying to hold off another stirring rally by the Oklahoma City Thunder, television ratings reaching levels last seen when Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal played for the Lakers. James forced Durant to miss that tying attempt - perhaps getting away with a foul - and the Heat held on for a 100-96 victory Thursday night that evened the series at one game each.

LONDON - One more for the gold, and seemingly nothing that can prevent it. This U.S. men's Olympic basketball team might not slow down until it's standing at the center of the medals platform again. Kevin Durant scored 19 points, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony added 18 apiece, and the U.S. team powered its way back to the gold-medal game by beating Argentina, 109-83, on Friday night. "Anything less than this would have been unsatisfying for us," Anthony said. "We believe that we could get here, and we're here now. We got one game left.

As quick as lightning, the Oklahoma City Thunder returned the 76ers to reality. The Thunder dismissed the Sixers, 111-93, last night at the Wachovia Center. The Sixers entered the game with back-to-back victories, both over playoff-bound teams. This glimmer of improved play was dashed as emphatically as Kevin Durant's baseline jam in the third quarter: In the final minutes of the game, Oklahoma City's lead reached 25 points. The Thunder, led by Durant's 26 points and 10 rebounds, improved to 45-28.

The NBA's career scoring leader in the All-Star Game, Kobe Bryant has never been just about offense. "I'm known for my defense," Bryant said. "I can defend. I'm pretty smart with my defense. " Pretty good, too. Ask LeBron James. Bryant blocked James' jumper, turning it into a dunk by Kevin Durant that helped the Western Conference put away the East 143-138 on Sunday. Bryant may not leap like Blake Griffin, but he can still get up when he needs to, especially when the defenseless part of the All-Star Game is over and it's time to stop somebody - even the league's best player.

Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points; J.R. Smith hit the tiebreaking shot with 1 minute, 10 seconds left; and the New York Knicks overcame Stephen Curry's NBA season-high 54 points to beat the Golden State Warriors, 109-105, on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Curry was 18 of 28 from the field, finishing one shy of the NBA record with 11 three-pointers, in a performance that had the crowd hanging on his every shot. But the Knicks finally stopped him with 1:28 to play when Raymond Felton blocked his shot with the score tied at 105. Elsewhere: Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant recorded his third career triple-double and the host Oklahoma City Thunder finished a perfect three-game homestand by routing the shorthanded New Orleans Hornets, 119-74.

LeBron James versus Kevin Durant. It is the story of these NBA Finals. Except to the guys who share the top billing. One of them will emerge with his first championship and probably the title of best player in the game. It could be James, the three-time MVP. Or it might be Durant, the league's scoring champion the last three seasons. All they know is whoever it is won't have done it alone. "Everybody is going to make the most out of the matchup of me versus LeBron, but it's the Thunder versus the Heat," Durant said Monday.

76ers swingman Andre Iguodala is among 15 players who were selected as finalists for the 2010 USA World Championship Team. The survivors of the team's recent workouts in Las Vegas were announced Wednesday. Chester native and NBA Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans did not make the cut. The team will re-assemble Aug. 9 in New York City, where it will train from there Aug. 10-16. The official 12-man USA roster will determined after the camp is complete, though USA Basketball chairman jerry Colangelo said a few more players may make the trip overseas for the games.

Brand-new Trail Blazers center Greg Oden - the 7-foot center out of Ohio State - was introduced yesterday to a few thousand Portland fans at a lunchtime rally, some 16 hours after the team took him with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. "I'm loving it here, and I'm going to have a smile on my face for a long time to come," Oden said. The Blazers also sent forward Zach Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau to the Knicks for Channing Frye and Steve Francis. The No. 2 pick, Texas forward Kevin Durant, greeted SuperSonics fans at a rally in Seattle, along with Georgetown forward Jeff Green, acquired when the Sonics traded seven-time All-Star Ray Allen to Boston.

IT MAY BE the biggest assist Kevin Durant has ever made. Yesterday, the Thunder forward announced he is donating $1 million to an Oklahoma tornado disaster relief fund. After news spread of Durant's donation, the Thunder announced it is is also donating $1 million. And, the NBA and the player' union are combining on another $1 million pledge. At least 24 people, including nine children, were killed by a massive tornado that tore through the suburbs of Oklahoma City, including Moore, which was one of the hardest-hit towns.

David West scored 20 points, Paul George added 19 and the Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks, 102-95, on Sunday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden. D.J. Augustin had 16 points for the Pacers, who built a 16-point lead while New York's Carmelo Anthony was on the bench in foul trouble in the third. Anthony finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Thunder top Grizzlies. Down by one in the final minute, Oklahoma City's Derek Fisher poked the ball away from Memphis' Mike Conley, springing Kevin Durant into the open court with a chance to put the Thunder on top. Durant sank a jumper with 11.1 seconds left for the last of his 35 points, lifting the Thunder to a 93-91 victory over the Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference semis.

RUSSELL WESTBROOK relishes the moments when an opponent challenges him and his Thunder teammates and it becomes time to respond. Rookie Patrick Beverley showed a willingness to go toe-to-toe with the Thunder's All-Star point guard, and the Houston Rockets didn't back down despite a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Then it was up to Westbrook and the Thunder to come up with an answer. Westbrook and Kevin Durant each scored 29 points, and Oklahoma City recovered after squandering its big lead to beat visiting Houston, 105-102, last night and take a 2-0 series lead.

OKLAHOMA THUNDER star Kevin Durant is talking a little playoff smack. Durant and the Thunder lost to the Miami Heat in five games in last season's NBA Finals, and finishing second didn't sit well with him. "I've been second my whole life," Durant told Sports Illustrated. "I was the second-best player in high school. I was the second pick in the draft. I've been second in the MVP voting three times. I came in second in the Finals. I'm tired of being second. I'm not going to settle for that.

Zach Randolph had 25 points and 19 rebounds, and the host Memphis Grizzlies ended Utah's playoff hopes with an 86-70 victory over the Jazz on Wednesday. The Grizzlies' victory meant the Los Angeles Lakers were assured of making the playoffs and rendered their late Wednesday game against the Houston Rockets moot. Meanwhile, Memphis, the Western Conference's fifth seed, still held out hopes for home-court advantage if the Los Angeles Clippers lost at Sacramento in another late game.

KEVIN DURANT scored 29 points, Russell Westbrook had 21 before getting ejected in the final 3 minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs by beating the visiting Sacramento Kings, 104-95, on Monday night. Tyreke Evans, the Kings' second-leading scorer, did not return after grabbing at his troublesome left knee following a drive to the basket late in the first quarter. Durant hit a three-pointer and Westbrook set up Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam during a string of 11 straight Thunder points midway through the third quarter that stretched the lead to 75-51.

LeBron James scored 20 points in 29 minutes and Rashard Lewis added 19 on a huge night for the Miami bench as the Heat beat the Boston Celtics, 109-101, Friday, to tied their franchise record for home wins in a season. The Heat erased an early 13-point deficit with a 41-point second quarter to win their 35th home game to tie the standard set in 2004-05. Dwyane Wade, back after missing six games with a bruised right kneecap, scored 11 points in 34 minutes. Elsewhere: Deron Williams scored 33 points to lead Brooklyn, 117-109, over host Indiana, securing home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

DRIVING TO the basket in crunch time, Raymond Felton slipped and lost the basketball. All he could do was lunge back at it and bat it toward J.R. Smith as the shot clock ticked closer to zero. For the second straight possession, Smith beat the buzzer - this time with a three-pointer - and the visiting Knicks closed out a 125-120 victory Sunday over Oklahoma City. "He makes plays like that. He makes tough shots. Sometimes I think he likes to take the tougher shot than the easier shot.

Carmelo Anthony collected 36 points and 12 rebounds, J.R. Smith hit a pair of shot-clock beaters in the final two minutes, and the visiting New York Knicks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 125-120, on Sunday for their 12th consecutive win. The Knicks reached the 50-win mark for the first time in 13 years. Russell Westbrook had 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists for Oklahoma City, which fell a game behind San Antonio for first place in the West with five games to play. Kevin Durant scored 27, slipping behind Anthony in the NBA scoring race.