Durant missed 18 of his 21 shots Sunday night at the Ford Center, the chief reason the good guys lost 83-74 to Portland and mathematically eliminated themselves from an unbeaten season.

Don't laugh. You might see an 82-0 season before you see a superstar go 3-for-21 again. The last NBA player to take at least 20 shots and shoot worse than 14.3 percent was Detroit's Rip Hamilton, who was 3-of-22 (against Portland) in December 2004.

Tossing the ball through the hoop from every corner of Oklahoma County seems to come natural for Durant, but Sunday night he couldn't have hit a Del Rancho chicken fry if you'd have spotted him the gravy.

"It got to the point where I would shoot the ball, it would look like it was going in and bounce right out," Durant said. "Seven or eight times in a row. Never happened to me before."

Never? "Nope," he said.

Not on the D.C. playgrounds or in Austin pickup games or in that rookie season in faraway Seattle?

"Nope."

Believe him. That's a Cleveland Browns quarterback percentage, 14.3 percent. That's an A-Rod World Series.

Would have been nice for the Thunder to stay undefeated with the Lakers coming to town Tuesday night. But the Boomers will beat no one with Durant going 3-for-21.

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley, all night long, as Durant kept bouncing shots off the rim. Durant missed eight of his first 11 shots, then cooled off, missing his final 10.

Meanwhile, Oden, the star-crossed 7-footer picked ahead of Durant in 2007, showed why one day he will be an all-star. Oden had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 10 rebounds and a blocked shot.

Every team in the league still would take Durant and his otherworldly skill set. But Oden's a big-timer, too.

Sunday night's lesson for Durant? Don't quit, even when the rim becomes an upside down peach basket.

In NBA years past, Durant "would have been out of his head" had he shot like this, Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Would have said, 'I'm going somewhere and hide.'"

But against Portland, Durant stayed even-keeled. Didn't force shots as the frustration mounted and played reasonably decent defense.

"That was a bright spot," Brooks said. "You see maturity taking place right before your eyes."

Durant mentioned his captaincy and seems to be taking it far more seriously than your usual NBA ceremonial title.

"That's part of me growing," Durant said. "I gotta lead my team in the tough times and the good times."

Durant will have few tougher times than Sunday night.

Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080; Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.