Kevin Durant poured in 44 points in Oklahoma City’s 114-106 victory over the Nuggets yesterday to move into seventh place on the NBA’s all-time Christmas Day scoring chart. Twenty-one of those points came in the third quarter alone.

Durant registered his point total on 14-20 shooting including four three-pointers and was 12-15 from the line.

Also a big congratulations to Amare Stoudemire for swatting six shots which represents a tie for second most in Christmas history with Larry Smith (1980) and Terry Tyler (1979).

Dwight Howard also blocked five shots to move into an eight-way tie with a few notable players like Shaquille O’Neal (1999), Moses Malone (1986), and Elvin Hayes (1976).

Other notable statistics from yesterday’s games:

Unfortunetly there were no other huge performances numbers-wise that entered the Christmas NBA record books this year.

You were so close, Monta Ellis! 39 points and a win over the Blazers will have to do, though.

Who are the top ten scorers in Christmas Day history after Kevin Durant’s explosion?

Glad you asked!

Here they are:

(NOTE: Pictures don’t represent actual Christmas Day games)

**1. Bernard King - King scored 40 points in the first half of this one **

YEAR: 1984

TEAM: NEW YORK KNICKS

POINTS: 60

**2. Wilt Chamberlain - Wilt grabbed a record 36 rebounds as well **

YEAR: 1961

TEAM: Philadelphia Warriors

POINTS: 59

**3. Rick Barry - Barry was on his way to a career-best 35.6 scoring average that season **

YEAR: 1966

TEAM: San Fransisco Warriors

POINTS: 50

**4. Jerry West - West would average 28.7 points on the year **

YEAR: 1963

TEAM: Los Angeles Lakers

POINTS: 47

**5. Tracy McGrady - An in-his-prime McGrady was too much for Detroit **

YEAR: 2002

TEAM: Orlando Magic

POINTS: 46

**6. Dominique Wilkins - Nique averaged over 30 PPG for the 2nd time **

YEAR: 1987

TEAM: Atlanta Hawks

POINTS: 45

**7. Kevin Durant - Last season’s scoring champ and putting up 28.1 this year **

YEAR: 2010

TEAM: Oklahoma City Thunder

POINTS: 44

**8. Tracy McGrady - McGrady’s 1st season in Orlando resulted in a career-high 26.8 PPG **

YEAR: 2000

TEAM: Orlando Magic

**POINTS: 43 **

**9. Michael Jordan - Has there ever been anyone more dominant than Jordan in 1992? **

YEAR: 1992

TEAM: Chicago Bulls

POINTS: 42

**10A. Tracy McGrady - A rookie LeBron James dueled with McGrady in 2003 **

YEAR: 2003

TEAM: Orlando Magic

POINTS: 41

**10B. Brandon Roy - Due to knee troubles Roy may never be the same - so sad. **

YEAR: 2009

**TEAM: Portland Trailblazers **

**POINTS: 41 **

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HONORABLE MENTION:

Dwyane Wade - 40 points in 2006

Congrats Durant! I’m sure you’ll be climbing up this list in the near future.

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