Miami: LeBron James won the last two MVP awards but his grip on the trophy could be slipping after Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Miami Heat 112-95 on Wednesday.
Durant, who has finished second to James in MVP voting three times in his career, scored 33 points to stretch his 30-or-more points streak to a dozen contests.
Durant said he looks forward to these contests against the two-time defending champions Heat and he’s not taking anything for granted.
“It could be my last game every time I step on the floor so I got to give it my all,” the 25-year old Durant said. “He’s [James] a great competitor and I love playing against him.”
James finished with a game-high 34 points in front of a crowd of 19,673 at AmericanAirlines Arena, but it wasn’t enough to give the Heat their fourth straight win at home.
“They beat us pretty good. From the second quarter on they did what they wanted to do,” James said.
This was a rematch of the 2011-2012 NBA finals and the Thunder and Heat remain two of the best teams in the league, but it didn’t live up to the pre-game hype.
Durant shot 12-of-23 from the floor and added seven rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who have won nine straight games.
