Durant scores 44 points as DC All-Stars topple LA's NBA counterparts

Kevin Durant scored 44 points to lead Washington's Goodman League to a thrilling 135-134 victory over the Drew League from Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Locked-out NBA stars from both cities played in the game on the campus of Trinity University. The stands were packed beyond the listed 1,500 seat capacity and the crowd watched local hero Durant walk away with the game's Most Valuable Player honors.

The overflow crowd ringed the court while scores of local and national media lined the track above the court, basking in the hardwood contest for coastal supremacy, one that was more intense than even the players anticipated.

"Yeah, it was," said Durant.

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Harden's game face was showing behind his full beard before the game, intensity that was not surprising considering the Los Angeles players paid their way to travel East.

He said the battle to show which city has the best talent was "why we set this whole thing up. Both teams are going to play hard."

Though his Thunder teammate was in the next stall of lockers over, Harden made it clear they were not teammates on this day.

"I don't want to hear nothing about that Kevin Durant or Thunder up," he said. "We're enemies."

That was obvious in the final seconds as Durant swarmed Harden, forcing a double clutch shot that never reached its target as the long limbed forward from the D.C. suburbs got a piece of it.

"It was a good battle, it was back and forth," said Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson, another D.C. area native. "The L.A. team came back, made a game of it. In the end KD made the free throws and made the right plays. So did John Wall."

The dunking started off the opening tip and never let up, though defensive intensity existed throughout. Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee won the initial jump ball and then flushed home an alley-oop for the Drew squad. Moments later his NBA teammate Wall set up Durant for a high-rising dunk.

"Whenever you team up with the leading scorer in the NBA, it's always going to be easy to find assists," said Wall, who finished with 28 points.

San Antonio Spurs guard Gary Neal and Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins were among the nine NBA players on the court late in the game, both playing for the Goodman League. McGee and Toronto Raptors forward DeMar DeRozan joined Jennings and Harden along with NBA veteran Marcus Banks.

NBA players have been a part of summer league action for years, from the asphalt court in D.C's Barry Farms to the indoor gym at the Drew League. This offseason the participation has been greater then in past years because of the work stoppage.

"I would say so, a lot more guys are playing in the summer leagues, a lot veteran guys as well," Harden said. "It's a good thing to get everyone on the court at the same time."

Wall has been a staple on the summer league and exhibition game circuit this summer, far more he said than if the offseason was of the normal kind. Happy to play in these games, sure, but Wall expressed his frustration over the labor standoff and for a very pure reason.

"Everybody thinks it's all about the money," he said. "It's not about the money. I just want to play basketball, I love to play basketball."