The Houston Rockets picked up an important win on Thursday night. They defeated the Orlando Magic 113–108 to secure their 37th victory of the season. The win was powered by the elite performance of Kevin Durant, who dropped 40 points. But this wasn’t just another big scoring night. Durant made history, and afterward, his reaction said everything about what the moment meant to him.
Kevin Durant Couldn’t Contain His Joy After Thursday Night’s Win
If we see following the game, Durant was informed that he had officially become only the sixth player in NBA history to reach the 32,000-point mark. Now hearing that his name now sits alongside legends like LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan clearly hit him emotionally.
Durant couldn’t hide his smile as he listened to the list of iconic names.
“I mean just to be mentioned in the same category as some of the greatest athletes of all time, not just basketball players, greatest athletes of all time. I’m just honored and blessed and grateful for all the people that invested in me along the way. … It’s been a long journey and I’m looking forward to keeping it going, but it’s pretty cool,” Durant said during a postgame interview.
Durant now has 32,006 points in his career. He is just 286 points away from surpassing Jordan and moving into the top five on the all-time scoring list. Meanwhile, James continues to extend his lead at the top, with over 43,000 career points and counting.
While catching James may be unrealistic, Durant climbing higher into the top five feels almost inevitable if he stays healthy.
Thursday’s game wasn’t just about total points either. Durant also matched Bryant for the fifth-highest number of 30-point games in league history. He now has 431 games with at least 30 points. The only players ahead of him are some of the best offensive players ever, including James, who leads that category with an incredible 575 such performances.
Now, if we look at the game, it was not an easy start for Houston. The Rockets found themselves trailing by seven points after the first quarter, and things didn’t get much better before halftime, as they entered the break down by 10.
However, the team completely changed the momentum in the second half. They scored 38 points in the third quarter. Then they followed that up with another strong push. They scored 32 points in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
The Rockets are sitting comfortably in a strong position for playoff contention right now, and with Durant playing this kind of basketball, the sky is truly the limit.
