Coming into last night’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the Oklahoma City Thunder were the hottest team in the NBA riding a nine straight game win streak and looking for their tenth consecutive victory over Amare Stoudemire and company.

Over the past nine games, Kevin Durant has been making a serious case for NBA MVP as he has been on a scoring tear as he has scored 30 or more points in seven of these last nine games including a 45 point performance against the Golden State Warriors. Not only has Durant been grabbing everyone’s attention in the NBA, but the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to be getter better with every passing game and look like they are headed for their first playoff appearance since relocating from Seattle.

The Phoenix Suns on the other hand have also been playing at a very high level as of late having won eight of their last 10 games over teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks who could all very well be playoff bound.

With that being said, the Thunder were in for a run for their money on Tuesday night as they tried to win their tenth straight against a very good Phoenix Suns team. The one glaring advantage the Thunder had in this game before tipoff was Steve Nash (back and abdomen) and Leandro Barbosa (wrist) sitting out with injuries.

As usual, Kevin Durant put on a show against the Suns with a game high 36 points and eight rebounds, but even with the his impressive performance, the Thunder couldn’t pull this one out as the Suns were able to stay neck and neck with Oklahoma City the entire game.

The Suns were led by recent trade bait Amare Stoudemire  who scored a team high 30 points and nine rebounds, but it was the high flying Jason Richardson that sealed the deal in this one by hitting a game-winning floater at the foul line with .7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Along with hitting the game-winning shot, Jason Richardson also ripped down 13 rebounds to go along with 20 points and a couple of steals.

There is still a ways to go in the second half of the NBA regular season, but I won’t be surprised to see these two high powered offenses go head to head in the playoffs.

Related posts:

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3. Lakers Blowout Thunder in Impressive Game 5 Victory
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5. Are the Phoenix Suns a Legit Contender in the West?