HOUSTON -- Rockets star Kevin Durant drilled a 10-foot jumper with 6:15 remaining in the first quarter Friday night against the Phoenix Suns to become the eighth player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career points.
Entering the matchup against his former team, Durant needed four points to hit the milestone. He got there with a pair of free throws and a midrange jumper on his third attempt of the night.
Durant finished with 28 points in the Rockets' 117-98 win, bringing his career total to 31,024, good for No. 8 on the all-time scoring list.
"It's incredible," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. "I played against him his rookie year and a few times after that and remember him coming in and guys trying to guard the same way [they do] now, being physical with him, take him off the ball. He's learned to adapt, to adjust. To be able to do this with the longevity at this high level efficiency-wise as well, it's an incredible career [and] a long way to go."
Durant started off cold Friday night, scoring four points in the first quarter on 1-of-5 shooting, but he caught fire in the second quarter, converting back-to-back 3-point plays to punctuate a season-high 17-point frame as Houston took a 75-68 lead into halftime. Durant shot 7-of-8 in the quarter with three assists.
"I just touched the ball a little bit more. I shot the ball with confidence," Durant said. "There's the law of averages. I missed some good shots in the first quarter. I figured if I take those same types of looks, they'll come back around for me."
Just two nights before, 37-year-old Durant lamented missing out on the opportunity to join the company of 31,000-point scorers Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James during a 121-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Needing 28 points in that contest to reach the milestone, Durant played 32 minutes but sat out the majority of the fourth quarter and finished with eight assists, three rebounds and a block to go with his 24 points.
"Damn, I could have [done] that tonight," Durant quipped after Wednesday's win when informed of how close he was. He acknowledged that career milestones still move him at this stage of what will be a Hall of Fame career.
After Friday night's win, as the team rushed out of the Toyota Center locker room to catch a late flight to Dallas for the second night of a back-to-back set against the Mavericks, guard Amen Thompson remained in awe of Durant's latest accomplishment.
"I never imagined I would be playing with him," Thompson said. "He's one of the best players ever, just what he's able to do at such a high level. It's just crazy to watch it firsthand. I'd be on the bench. Everybody is on the sideline like, 'Bro!' You know what I mean?"
Durant remains eighth on the NBA's all-time scoring list behind James, Abdul-Jabbar, Malone, Bryant, Jordan, Nowitzki and Chamberlain. If he stays healthy, it's likely he'll pass Chamberlain (31,419 points) and Nowitzki (31,560) this season and perhaps even Jordan (32,292).
"As you're coming up into the league, you look at these guys as heroes and you put them on pedestals, and you look at their accomplishments as sometimes unreachable," Durant said. "But then you get on that road trying to do your thing. That's how I've done since 2008. I've been focused on trying to be the best player I can be, and they set a standard for each player when they left the league. Guys like Wilt, Michael, Kobe -- I'm missing so many guys. They just set a standard that I try to reach every day.
"I just felt like if I locked in and did what I did, I could be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. That's the confidence I had, but I knew it was going to be a tough journey. I've got more to do. I'm grateful to still be playing, and hopefully I keep doing this, moving up the charts."