Thunder forward Kevin Durant scored 36 points and the Thunder (again) used a solid defensive effort in the second half to take Game 1 from the Miami Heat last night.

Durant started out hot, scoring OKC’s first 8 points and didn’t look back. Durant’s efficient 36 points (12-of-20 from the field) continued to add to the growing legend of the young scorer.

At the other end, despite a 30 point, 9 rebound performance, all anyone can talk about this morning is how LeBron James only scored 1 basket in the first 8 minutes of the 4^th quarter (that’s the new metric we’re using to determine how good a player is). Dwyane Wade finished with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting. Crickets.

Game 2 will be played in Oklahoma City tomorrow night.

Clown question, bro.

Enjoy the new meme, courtesy of Bryce Harper.

Following last night’s performance (see below), Harper was asked by a Canadian journalist, eh if he planned on going out for a beer afterward (folks under 21 can drink legally in Canada, eh). Harper, not missing a beat, cut off the PR person who tried to bury the question, looked at the journalist and said, “That’s a clown question, bro.”

So start using the meme now before it gets older than corgis and “Call Me Maybe.”

Yesterday’s Group A matchups managed to include every bad American stereotype about soccer: Overtly political riots outside of the stadium, flopping, Eastern Europeans, possible match fixing, and ties.

In Game 1, the Czech Republic took a 2-0 lead within the first 6 minutes of their game against Greece. What followed was an 84 minute nap by the Czechs. The Greeks (led by Spiros Vondas) managed to pull within a goal of the Czechs but could not get over the hump and gain control of West Baltimore. No word on Prop Joe’s re-up.

Game 2 (the one with the riots) featured Russia and Poland playing on Russia Day. Because, good idea. The Russians controlled much of the first half, but could not keep the Poles out of the net in the second half. Unable to sustain any sort of second half attack, the Russians just managed to keep Poland from pulling the upset. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Thanks to a Bryce Harper home run that is still on its path towards Nunavut and another solid performance from their bullpen, the Nats extended their winning streak to five games, heading into this afternoon’s contest in Toronto.

Starter Chien-Ming Wang, in what may have been his last start, barely escaped the 5^th inning, but was saved by Ross Detwiler, Craig Stammen, Sean Burnett, and Tyler Clippard, who combined to surrender just one hit in 4 innings of work.

Danny Espinosa added a homer to give the Nats a 4-2 victory.

Stephen Strasburg will take the hill in the series finale today, as Washington goes for the sweep. He’ll be opposed by Kyle Drabek. Game time is 12:37 p.m. And no, I’m not making up that start time.

Our first Euro game of the day is a must-win for the Portuguese as they take on Denmark at Noon.

However, our Euro game of the day is also our outright game of the day. 2:45 p.m. Germany v. Netherlands. ESPN. A huge showdown that could be a preview of the Euro finale, even with the Dutch loss to Denmark on Saturday.