Durant averaged 28.03 points per game this season and becomes the youngest ever to win three scoring titles. Only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain won four-straight scoring titles. Jordan was 25 years old when he won his third scoring title. Durant is 23.

Bryant finishes the season playing eight less games than Durant and averaging 27.86 points per game. Bryant would have needed to score 38 points to pass Durant tonight.

Durant passed Bryant in points per game Sunday when the Thunder lost 114-106 in double overtime to the Lakers.

Durant extended his lead in the scoring race scoring 32 points in each of the Thunder’s last two games at home.

Durant scored less than 20 points only five times this season. He scored over 30 points 25 times, over 40 points four times and his season-high was 51 points.

Durant increased his scoring average this season to 28.0 from 27.7 last year. Two years ago Durant averaged his career-high of 30.1 points per game.

Durant was the most efficient in his career this season however shooting .496 percent from the field, .387 percent from three and he tied his career-high with a 26.2 PER.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Kobe Bryant has a chance to catch Kevin Durant for the scoring title when the Lakers play at Sacramento tonight.

Kobe is averaging 27.86 points per game in 58 games this season. Durant has now played all 66 games and has averaged 28.0303 points per game. If Kobe scores 38 tonight his scoring average will rise to 28.0339 giving him the edge over Durant.

Kobe has scored 38 or more points seven times this season.

If Durant hangs on to the lead he will become just the seventh player ever to win three-straight scoring titles.

Michael Jordan did this twice most recently from 1995-98. The others are Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, Neil Johnston, Bob McAdoo and George Gervin.

It is amazing that Durant’s competition this season is the 33-year old Kobe. Even more amazingly, Kobe has won the scoring title just two times total in his career.

Durant has been the more impressive scorer than Kobe this season. Durant has played seven more games, shoots .496 percent from the floor compared to .430 for Kobe and averages 19.7 shots per game while Kobe is taking 23.0 per game.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder lost their regular season finale 106-101 to the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder finish the shortened season with a record of 47-19.

Kevin Durant scored 32 points and now is averaging 28.03 points per game this season to lead the league and Kobe Bryant. Bryant will need 38 points tomorrow night in Sacramento to pass Durant.

Aside from Durant’s points, tonight’s game was pretty meaningless for the Thunder. They were going to be the two-seed in the West no matter the outcome but still, Scott Brooks played Durant and Russell Westbrook 40 and 35 minutes, respectively.

Westbrook had a great all-around game scoring 30 points with nine assists, six rebounds, three steals and four blocks. Westbrook was hitting his midrange jumper consistently in what seemed like the first time in a long time.

James Harden did not play again tonight but has been cleared by the NBA to return to action for the Thunder and he isn’t expected to miss any playoff games.

The Thunder would get another nice shooting performance from Daequan Cook tonight who made three three-pointers. He made four last night against the Kings and it is a good sign for the Thunder that he has regained his shooting touch right before the start of the playoffs.

The win for Denver now puts them a full game ahead of Dallas for the six seed in the West. That means they will be able to avoid Oklahoma City in the first round and play the Lakers instead.

The Nuggets can secure the six seed by winning their final game of the regular season or if Dallas loses their final game. That means that Dallas is the most likely first round opponent for the Thunder.

Dallas will be in Atlanta tomorrow night and Denver in Minnesota.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma City Thunder (1-game winning streak)
107.1 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.8 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
95.7 Pace (6th)
56.7 True Shooting % (1st)
51.5 Rebound Rate (4th)

Denver Nuggets (2-game winning streak)
106.1 Offensive Efficiency (3rd)
103.4 Defensive Efficiency (20th)
96.6 Pace (2nd)
55.5 True Shooting % (3rd)
51.5 Rebound Rate (4th)

The Thunder will close out the regular season tonight hosting the Nuggets. The Thunder are already locked into the second seed in the West so the result of the game really doesn’t matter.

Kevin Durant is currently 0.11 points ahead of Kobe Bryant in the scoring title race. Bryant will play tomorrow night in his final game of the season and will likely have to outscore Durant by around 6-7 points to catch him.

Denver is currently a half game ahead of Dallas for the six-seed in the West and has two games left including tonight. Dallas also has two games left. Getting the sixth seed instead of the seventh would mean playing the Lakers in the first round instead of the Thunder.

The Thunder have beaten the Nuggets both times that the teams have played this season. The first was the more memorable one with the Thunder winning 124-118 in overtime and Durant scoring a career-high 51 points.

The fact of the matter tonight is that the Nuggets have much more to play for than the Thunder and if last night is any indicator, the Thunder won’t be going all out to win this game.

Oklahoma City beat Sacramento last night but the starters did not play the fourth quarter despite trailing heading into the final period. Daequan Cook scored a season-high 19 points to lead the Thunder to the victory.

The Nuggets are not the Kings though and if the Thunder come out like they did last night, they will likely lose their final regular season home game tonight.

James Harden will not play tonight but David Stern did say in a press conference today, “We have reason to believe that James [Harden] will be available for the playoffs.”

That is most certainly good news for the Thunder who would be lost without Harden in the playoffs.

Durant scored 32 points last night to lengthen his lead over Kobe. Durant is now averaging 27.969 points per game this season and Bryant 27.862.

Durant and Kobe each have one game remaining this season. Durant will play at home against the Nuggets tonight and Kobe closes out his season tomorrow night in Sacramento against he Kings.

Here are the scenarios of what needs to happen for Durant to hang on to the scoring lead.

• If Durant scores 20, Kobe will need 28 to pass him.
• If Durant scores 25, Kobe will need 32 to pass him.
• If Durant scores 30, Kobe will need 36 to tie him exactly.
• If Durant scores 35, Kobe will need 41 to pass him.
• If Durant scores 40, Kobe will need 45 to pass him.

Crazy things have happened in the past in the NBA over winning the scoring championship.

In the 1993-94 season, David Robinson scored 71 points in the final game of the regular season against the Los Angeles Clippers to pass Shaquille O’Neal in the scoring race. Robinson played 44 minutes in the otherwise meaningless game and went 26-for-41 from the field and 18-for-25 at the free throw line.

The closest scoring race ever was in the 1978-79 season between George Gervin and David Thompson. Gervin led 26.8-26.6 entering the final day of the season. Thompson played first and scored 73 points going 28-for-30 from the field and 17-for-20 from the line and pushed his average up to 27.15.

Gervin then would score 63 points later that night including an NBA-record 33 points in the second quarter to regain the scoring title 27.22-27.15.

The race in the next two days between Durant and Kobe could end up being just as close. Durant will play first so Kobe will have the benefit of knowing how much he will need to pass Durant.

Both players seem like they are more concerned with team success at this point in their careers but there is a chance we will be treated to some huge scoring nights from two of the greatest scorers of this generation.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant scored 32 points to go with nine rebounds and did not play in the fourth quarter as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Sacramento Kings 118-110 Tuesday night.

Durant came into the game leading Kobe Bryant in the scoring department by 0.4 points per game. Durant is now averaging 27.97 points per game on the season while Bryant is at 27.86. Both players have one game left to play in this season.

The Thunder trailed at halftime and trailed by four entering the fourth quarter. Without their starters they came back led by Daequan Cook who scored a season-high 19 points in the game and made four three-pointers.

The defensive intensity was nonexistent in this one with the Thunder allowing 58 percent field goal shooting by the Kings in the first half and over 52 percent for the game.

The difference for Oklahoma City was getting to the line as they made 33-of-36 free throws in the game with Durant leading the way going 15-for-16.

Russell Westbrook only played 27 minutes and again didn’t have his best shooting night making 4-of-13 from the field and scoring 13 points. He did however add six assists and eight rebounds.

The Kings were a mess all night despite being in the game throughout. They got 32 points from DeMarcus Cousins who did not however provide the same results on the defensive end of the floor.

The Thunder will close out the regular season at home tomorrow night against the Denver Nuggets.

Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma City Thunder (1-game losing streak)
106.9 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.7 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
95.6 Pace (6th)
56.6 True Shooting % (1st)
51.4 Rebound Rate (5th)

Sacramento Kings (1-game winning streak)
100.5 Offensive Efficiency (22nd)
106.8 Defensive Efficiency (28th)
97.3 Pace (1st)
50.8 True Shooting % (27th)
48.8 Rebound Rate (24th)

The games don’t matter anymore for the Thunder. They have two games left in the regular season but they are locked in to being the two-seed in the Western Conference no matter the results.

James Harden will not play tonight after receiving a vicious elbow from Metta World Peace two days ago in Staples Center.

The Thunder probably won’t completely rest their players tonight – Scott Brooks has said before that he has no intentions of doing this – but don’t expect 40-plus minutes from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook either.

There is something to play for however and that is Durant and his chances at winning the scoring title for the third straight season. Durant passed Kobe Bryant on Sunday and is now 0.05 points ahead of Bryant in the race. It’s the closes scoring race since George Gervin and David Thompson.

The NBA has a history of players putting up video game-numbers when scoring races are like this but it is unlikely that Durant and Bryant are as motivated to win it. They’re more concerned with the playoffs at this point.

The Thunder have beaten the Kings twice in the past few weeks and are looking to win the season series 3-1 tonight with a victory.

The Kings are kind of in tank mode so a win won’t be too tough to come by, even without Harden.

These next two games really don’t matter though for the Thunder so while the Lakers game had a playoff-feel to it, these next two will be far from that.