Durant, Harden Face Off In Exhibition Showcase

The two Thunder players stole the show as a controversial call helped decide the game.

Saturday, August 20th 2011, 10:43 pm

By: News 9


Grant Belcher, News9.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just because the NBA is in a lockout doesn't mean fans can't get some high-quality basketball drama.

A top-notch game at Trinity University between two of the most exciting non-NBA leagues in the country had OKC's own Kevin Durant and James Harden at the heart of the drama.

With no offseason training camps or summer leagues because of the NBA lockout, Durant and others had some fun and took their talents to the regional courts.

Durant tore up the D.C.-based Goodman League for much of the summer and led them into a much-anticipated showdown against L.A.'s Drew League.

OKC shooting guard James Harden led the charge for the Drew League over the summer, resulting in a Thunder-based highlighted matchup between the two on Saturday.

Harden had his "Drew Crew" up 134-133 with just seconds remaining, and Durant held the ball for Goodman.

Durant drove on Harden and picked up a controversial foul call, sending him to the line. He sunk both free throws to give his team the victory in the scrimmage. Durant had 44 points in the victory.

After the game, Harden and Durant joked back and forth on Twitter about the call.

Harden gave Durant a hard time with tweets such as "hahha me and u both know that was a charge," and "LoL did we get cheated?"

Durant responded in defense of the play, with tweets back to Harden such as "NOOOO don't be like that…we gonna come to LA and get no calls so (it) don't matter."

Stats and box scores weren't the name of the game at the exhibition and weren't readily available, but both teams had rosters full of NBA stars who would normally not be around the leagues.

Brandon Jennings, DeMar DeRozan and Javale McGee joined Harden for the Drew Crew. Durant might have had a little more help with teammates such as DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and Ty Lawson.

The exhibition was as close to a full-on NBA game as anyone has seen since the Finals. The league started its lockout on July 1 and neither side has budged in the labor disputes in the past two months.

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