Kevin Durant gets assertive on defense

PHILADELPHIA — Four months into his rookie season, mild-mannered Kevin Durant shed his choirboy image and twice verbally ripped into referees during Wednesday's 118-106 defeat at Milwaukee.

Rasheed Wallace would have been proud.

The first tongue-lashing occurred midway through the third quarter after the Sonics rookie jumped in front of Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva to cut off his drive to the basket and draw a charge.

Instead of an offensive foul on Villanueva, official Bennie Adams gave Durant a blocking foul, which sparked an animated appeal punctuated by flapping arms and a few choice words.

Minutes later, Durant was hit with another foul while trying to stop Desmond Mason, and he launched into another uncharacteristic rant.

"I don't know if it's something I need to do," Durant said. "Talking to officials like that or just talking to anybody on the court whether it's the other team, coaches or fans, that's not really my style. I like to just play my game and let my game talk for me.

"But I just felt those were some close calls, and my defense is something that I'm starting to really take pride in."

Durant, the No. 2 pick in last year's draft, has been the most scrutinized rookie since No. 1 pick Greg Oden underwent knee surgery that prevented his playing this season. Durant was the consensus pick to win the rookie-of-the-year honor at the start of the season. But the 6-foot-9 guard has fallen out of favor with a few NBA observers, notably TNT analyst Charles Barkley.

Durant had his streak of three rookie-of-the-month awards snapped this week by Houston's Luis Scola, and some believe Atlanta's Al Horford will claim the yearly prize at the end of the season.

"First off, if Al Horford were to win, then I'd be happy for him because he's a heck of a player," Durant said. "Winning rookie of the year is not my focus. I'm trying to come out here and get better every day and help my team win games."

Durant is often criticized as being a one-dimensional, offensive-minded player with a low shooting percentage, but in reality, he's developed into a versatile defender.

Not only does the 20-year-old lead the Sonics with a 19.5-point scoring average, he often defends the opponent's best player in the final quarter.

On Wednesday, Durant contained Michael Redd for most of the game, but he had difficulty against Villanueva and Mason.

"I'm biased because I want everything to go my way," he said. "Obviously, I've got to be smarter on how I play defense. I've just got to learn the little tricks of the trade on what I can do and what I can't do in this league as far as playing defense. I've just got to educate myself on how I need to play without fouling. So I blame that on myself.

"I thought I was there, but I might have been a tad late. In this league, you have to be set. The next time I know what I've got to do."

Notes

• The Philadelphia 76ers (28-33) had three off nights before tonight's game against the Sonics (16-45).

• Ex-Sonics players Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp and former coach George Karl will appear at 11 tonight on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period." Payton has been a guest host this week.