"Roughly 30 minutes after Kevin Durant had scored a season-high 37 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 120-109 victory at Golden State on Friday night, the two-time NBA scoring champ proclaimed forward Serge Ibaka as player of the game.

Part of this was Durant simply being Durant, once again redirecting the spotlight elsewhere inside his own locker room as he often does. However, Durant might have been right.

The 22-year-old Ibaka got off to an enigmatic start this season, but seems to have rediscovered his inner greatness and is now oozing confidence. He finished with a season-high in points (20) and rebounds (12), but a season-low in blocked shots (zero).

Durant had named Ibaka player of the game despite his streak of at least one blocked shot in 31 straight games came to an end.

Eight of Ibaka's boards came at the offensive end, which psychologically seems to count double.

"Honestly, I thought he had about 20 rebounds," Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook said of Ibaka. "It seemed like every one that was going up, he had it. He just came into tonight with a positive mindset.""