It often happens without you even noticing it. Itll be the middle of the third quarter, the game is progressing without much happening of note, and youll glance at the box score and see it.Kevin Durant, 20 points.Durant is arguably the worlds best scorer, and that has been increasingly clear over the past five years or so. He owns four of the past seven scoring titles.What makes him so special is his consistency. Last season, he scored at least 20 in every game he played, except for one -- at the Washington Wizards, in which he pulled a hamstring late in the second quarter and played only a half. He finished the regular season sitting on a streak of 66 straight games with at least 20 points. You could pencil him in for at least 20 before tipoff.As Durant transitions to the Bay Area to play with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, hell face an adjustment period of learning his new teammates and how his scoring talents fit in the free-flowing Golden State Warriors system. He might get fewer shots. He might see the ball less in crunch time. But even with the changes, Durant is going to do what he does -- hes still going to score, and hes going to make 25 a night look as easy as it possibly can.When Team USA plays China on Tuesday, Durant will play his first game at Oracle Arena since leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Warriors. The fans in Oakland will get their initial glimpse of the Kevin Durant experience. Here are six other things that are part of it:Hes a microwave. Everyone has seen the Rucker Park video, right? Its almost scientific at this point: Durant needs two shots to go in, consecutively, to be hot. It wasnt unusual for him to shoot 2-of-9 in a first half, then drip to 2-of-11 in the third quarter. But either with a pull-up 3, or a pretty floating jumper off a pindown screen, once Durant gets a couple to drop, hes recalibrated. A 2-of-9 start will be a 10-of-19 finish.That even works in the clutch. Like last December in a ho-hum game against the Sacramento Kings:?Durant had a triple-double -- 20 points, 10 rebounds and ... 10 turnovers. He struggled shooting, looking disinterested and disjointed. He played terribly, by his own admission. Thats the word he used to describe his night.But in the final 90 seconds, he hit two clutch jumpers, including the go-ahead game winner with 23 seconds left. Thats Durant. Even when it looks as if hes off and its just one of those nights, hell show up and pop a few jumpers and win you a game.Oh, and you can bank on this: If he hits consecutive 3s, a third one is going up, no matter what.He cares about his numbers. He often likes to pretend he doesnt. But he does. Durant obsessively tracked his shooting numbers in games, and he would routinely check with Thunder scorekeepers to be sure he had it right. Hed sometimes go to them and try to talk them into counting a bad shot attempt that air-balled as a turnover. Hed grab printed-out box scores between quarters and scour them.Not unrelated: Durant avoids taking long-distance, end-of-quarter shots. Warriors fans love watching Curry unleash those soaring 60-footers that inexplicably seem to go in, but dont expect to see that much from Durant. Hes a serial buzzer clutcher. He has even admitted to it.It depends on what Im shooting from the field, he said in 2013. First quarter if Im 4-for-4, I let it go. Third quarter if Im like 10-for-16, or 10-for-17, I might let it go. But if Im like 8-for-19, Im going to go ahead and dribble one more second and let that buzzer go off and then throw it up there. So it depends on how the games going.Curry has kind of made it his thing to let it fly, so maybe Durant will happily find him in those situations. Or maybe hell start caring less about his numbers.Hes a better defender than he gets credit for. Using his length and size, the 6-foot-9 Durant grabbed a lot of defensive attention in the postseason, when the Thunder would play small with him at the power forward spot. But Durant has long been playing stellar defense, especially in one-on-one situations. He knows how to use his length, taking away jumpers and forcing drives from smaller players.Hes not necessarily a big shot-blocker or steals guy, but its difficult to score on him in isolation situations. He can guard 1 through 5 and relishes big matchups against other top-scoring small forwards.With the Warriors, Durant will likely have less of a responsibility to score, and he can focus on creating more havoc on the defensive end. And maybe start building that reputation.Put him on the block and its near-automatic points. Durant isnt known for being a great back-to-the-basket post-up guy, but get him the ball with single coverage on either block, and the chance of him scoring is nearly guaranteed.Durant especially likes turning over on his outside shoulder toward the baseline and fading a bit on it. If the defense doesnt bring help, Durant gets that off against anyone.?He has a temper. Durant doesnt mind picking up a technical foul. Hell snap at officials after perceived missed calls. He had eight techs last season, which was way down from his 16 in 2013-14. His go-to complain move is to throw both arms in the air with his palms open toward the sky.He can pass. Durant regularly unleashes the kind of pass that makes you go oooooh and bring a hand halfway up to your mouth. He loves throwing backdoor bounce passes but knows how to fire the fancy no-lookers, too. His playmaking has been one of his biggest improvements the past few years, going from a big guy with a soft handle and iffy passing instincts to having the ball on a string with a high-level drive and dish ability.Durant does get a little weak with the ball, though. In the postseason, he called himself out for too many soft, one-handed passes, and when he gets trapped or doubled, hell often react poorly and throw a lazy pass. The Warriors hit him with traps often, and Durant saw his turnovers jump in the Western Conference finals. Guess he wont have to worry about that as much now. Barry Sanders Lions Jersey . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Jarrad Davis Lions Jersey . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. http://www.authenticnfllionslockroom.com/Youth-Will-Harris-Elite-Jersey/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Detroit Lions Jerseys . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Marvin Jones Jr Youth Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Excerpted from Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance by Simone Biles, Copyright ? 2016 by Simone Biles. Used by permission of Zondervan, www.zondervan.com.From Chapter 19: The Final Five... [On] Tuesday, August 9, our team did exactly what we had been training for so many years to do: We performed almost flawless routines and won team gold. If the all-around win was considered to be the jewel in the crown, the team medal was the crown itself -- the main reason we were there. On the podium afterward, feeling the heavy gold disc around my neck, I felt so privileged to be standing with my teammates. All I could think was, Wow, we did it. How long have I dreamed about this? We were so happy for each other and for ourselves, but our job was only half over. The all-around competition and the event finals were still to come. I wasnt anywhere near finished trying to make my family and my country proud.That afternoon, we told Martha that wed named ourselves the Final Five as a tribute to her. When we explained how wed all agreed on the name, she dabbed the corners of her eyes and said in her thick accent, Oh my God, I love you guys even more now! And she hugged us tightly. The rest of the afternoon and evening was a whirl of press interviews and photo ops, and then it was home to our little pod in the Olympic Village. We all fell right into bed, because we had to be up for our regular eight a.m. training the next morning. Before going to sleep, I carefully folded the green multicolored ribbon around my medal and put it at the bottom of my backpack. Later, they would give us sleek wooden cases to hold our medals, but for now, my makeshift storage would have to do.Can you believe we actually did it? Laurie whispered, stifling a yawn before we drifted off. Were not just Olympians now; were gold medalists.I was too exhausted from happiness to answer, so I just smiled. But when I awoke the next morning, I wasnt quite sure if the day before had all been a dream. I reached for my backpack and pulled out the medal, just to be sure. I unrolled the green ribbon and placed the gold disc in the palm of my hand, feeling its distinctive weight as I sent up a silent prayer of gratitude.Thursday morning, the day of the Olympic all-around competition, dawned bright and clear. The apartment was silent when I opened my eyes. The rest of the girls except for Aly had already gone to breakfast. From there they would head to the training hall. Later, they would be in the gymnastics arena to see Aly and me battle it out with the best in the world for the coveted all-around title.I went to find Aly. She was in her room and still in bed. I feel so good about today, I told her.Me too, she said, hholding up one hand for a fist bump.ddddddddddddWere so prepared. I have a really good feeling.My heart was galloping in my chest, but it wasnt nerves; it was excitement. I could hardly wait to get into the arena. Aly and I each showered and then we did our hair and makeup together in the living room. We took our time because the competition wouldnt begin until the early afternoon. I outlined my eyes in gold glitter and chose a nude lipstick instead of a bold one. The eye makeup, with my usual winged corners, was dramatic enough, and my sparkly leo would complete the effect. The night before, wed chosen the leos we wanted to wear and laid them out on our beanbag chairs. Aly had opted for the shiny red with lines of crystals fanning out from the neckline like bursts of sunlight, while Id selected a super patriotic number with sheer white crystal-studded sleeves, and dazzling red-and-white stripes running from the shoulders down both sides, framing a high-sheen blue fabric dotted with glittering stars. Id saved this leotard, my favorite, for the all-around. I hoped its shimmer would help me win gold.I was already feeling incredibly happy to be sharing this day with Aly, who was such a rock-solid competitor and friend. As we walked to the bus that would take us to the arena, we held hands like schoolgirls and bobbed our heads to the music coming through our headphones. Every so often wed hug each other and say, Youre good. Youve worked so hard. You deserve to be here. Youve got this. And then wed say, I love you so much. I love you, no matter what. Today will be a good day.Our warm-up in the training hall went without a hitch or a fall, and then it was show time. Before we walked out to compete, we always used the bathroom just in case. As I washed my hands and stared at my face in the mirror, my stomach was suddenly doing somersaults. I plopped down on a bench that was just outside the bathroom and tried to pull myself together. A few moments later, Aly walked out and sat down beside me. When she leaned her head back against the wall, I noticed she looked really pale.Are you okay? I said.She shook her head from left to right.Are you okay? she asked me.No, I said. I feel like Im going to throw up.The two of us sat there for several minutes, breathing slowly and trying to settle ourselves down.Were okay, I said after a while.Weve got this, Aly said.We can do this.Weve done this so many times.I love you, Aly.I love you, Simone.Lets go.We did another fist bump and walked out onto the arena floor.Courage to Soar releases on Tuesday, order your copy here. ' ' '
