Thunder's Kevin Durant is getting ‘dialed in'

Durant enters tonight's game at Charlotte shooting 48.6 percent in December, shaking off a slow shooting start that had some questioning his MVP front-runner label at the start of 2010-11.

Durant started his streak in game No. 27 last season. Tonight marks the Thunder's 29th game but just the 25th for Durant, who has missed four games due to injury. And Durant admitted he senses that he's hitting his stride.

“I feel that a little bit,” Durant said.

Durant's statistics from last season and this year are eerily similar.

In the Thunder's first 26 games last year, Durant averaged 27.1 points on 44.8 percent shooting. He shot just 28.4 percent from 3-point range. Through Durant's first 24 games this season, he's averaging 27.4 points on 43.9 percent shooting, along with a 29.8-percent clip from 3.

But Durant has connected on 46 percent or better from the field in five of his past eight games, and his rhythm and timing have looked much improved from earlier in the year.

Durant credits film study. After his second-worst shooting display this season — a 7-for-22 effort against New Orleans on Nov. 29 — Durant decided to dissect some tape. The results were borderline shocking.

“I wasn't disciplined on my shot,” Durant said. “I was fading on my shot and I wasn't using my proper mechanics. Lately, I've just been trying to stay with my shot.”