Durant Had Nothing and Everything to do with Shutting Down Kobe

By Craig Kwasniewski  It wasn't his length, it wasn't his hands, it wasn't his footwork, it's wasn't defensive positioning, it wasn't THAT block but it was all Kevin Durant in shutting down Kobe late late on the way to a 101-96 win for Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant the future, Kevin Durant the league's leading scorer, Kevin Durant the humble leader of the team of the 2010's. The Kevin Durant that Kobe, in his mind, has to challenge head on.  Lakers fans are familiar with this Kobe Bryant, the one who gets caught up in the one-on-one alpha dog battle for supremacy. Never mind the score or the situration, if you challenge Kobe he'll size you up and go right back at you. Normally saved for a random December game against the likes of Dwyane Wade, we saw THAT Kobe tonight and the Lakers blew a golden opportunity to kill a young and inexperienced team and possibly sweep the Thunder. I'll be frank...  This loss was solely on Kobe...