|
It was the midway through the second quarter when Kevin Durant drove left down the lane and was met by Greg Oden with a blocked shot. Oden was called for a suspect foul. Durant went to the line and proceeded to calmly sink both free-throws.
The split second match-up was just another exchange between two players inseparable by basketball history in Portland’s 83-74 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday afternoon. For Oden and Durant it was part of the common link these two young men have experienced since the ultra heavy hype which surrounded the top two picks in the 2007 NBA Draft.
Back on that night in late June two years ago, Oden – the first overall selection by Portland – sat at a post-draft podium packed around media at Madison Square Garden and spoke about how his name would forever be associated with Kevin Durant.
That will be the case every time Durant and Oden meet on the court, even despite playing different positions or their primary roles (Kevin is “the man” for the Thunder. Greg is the man standing next to Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland) on their respective teams.
This isn’t even the classic debate of "Did Portland Make The Right Decision In Drafting Oden?" Speak with anyone in the Blazers organization, and they’ll all tell you a million times over they’d still take Oden if Portland had a draft do-over today. What’s interesting now is to watch how these head-to-head match-ups between Oden and Durant have played out in their young careers.
Greg gets bragging rights for team wins.
Kevin easily has the scoring edge.
On Sunday, Durant scored 16 points on 3-for-21 shooting. Oden had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
But it wasn’t always like this. The numbers weren’t always that similar. In fact, the first year they came into the league Durant was a one man show on his way to NBA Rookie of the Year honors. As he sat out the his entire rookie season with microfracture surgery, Oden could only watch as Durant – then representing the Seattle SuperSonics - dropped 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in a 89-79 Christmas Day loss to Portland at the Rose Garden.
It wasn’t until Durant’s inaugural year with the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2008-09 season, that the "Oden versus Durant" show finally aired.
Greg played sparingly logging 16:14 minutes in a loss in Oklahoma City to the Thunder on February 26, 2009. He finished with as many points (4 pts.) as he did fouls, leaving him to watch Kevin drop 31 points in the win. The two teams met again five days later, this time in Portland, with the Blazers securing the win. Oden notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Durant was also solid – he finished with 20 points on 6-15 from the field, with 8-10 from the charity stripe.
It was no contest when the Blazers and Thunder met later that April. Back then, Oden came off the bench for Portland and played about 15 minutes with 8 points and 8 rebounds. Durant didn’t play his best basketball in that game, but regardless he finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds on 4-13 from the field.
About a week later, it was more of the same for Portland with another easy win over Oklahoma City. It was Durant’s lowest outing against the Blazers with 10 points in 31 minutes. Conversely, Oden played big off the bench. He went for 16 points and 9 rebounds in roughly 20 minutes.
Another chapter of the "Oden versus Durant" book was written on Sunday in Portland’s early season win. And who knows how thick this showdown book will finally read as these two careers meet as one on the court.
One thing is for sure: Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are perpetually connected.
photo: espn
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 
Greg is at 13ppg and Durant is 14.75 ppg against each other. And I believe Greg has now won the all of those games (again excluding the first). Interesting, very interesting.