Thunder-Lakers: Durant’s help limited

For all the talk about Russell Westbrook’s great Game 1 against the Lakers – and I’m leading the parade – and Kevin Durant’s off night, Durant still led the Thunder in scoring. He had 24 points; Westbrook had 23.

Much of that is because Durant put up 24 shots to Westbrook’s 16, but it shows how much the Thunder depends on Durant’s scoring.

Durant led the Thunder in scoring 75 times in 82 games. One of those games, he tied with James Harden for honors. Westbrook led the Thunder four times, Jeff Green twice and Harden once solo.

L.A. LAKERS / NBA PLAYOFFS: Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant pauses as his team calls a timeout during the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening game of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Sunday, April 18, 2010, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 87-79. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) ORG XMIT: LAS109

That’s an amazing dominance of being a team’s leading scorer. For comparison, LeBron James led the Cavaliers in scoring 73 times in 76 games (he missed six games), counting four games in which he shared scoring honors. So basically, Durant and James are about even in how often their teams depend on them to lead the squad in scoring.