MANCHESTER, England -- A superstar in the United States, Kevin Durant has enjoyed being just a "regular person" during his time in Britain this week. On Tuesday, Durant was back to being the centre of attention. The Oklahoma City Thunder was behind 51-48 at halftime against Philadelphia 76ers in an NBA pre-season match in Manchester when Durant came alive, scoring 14 points in the third quarter to turn the game on its head and put his team 83-74 up. Durant stayed on the bench for the final quarter, giving him 21 points for the match, and although the Sixers pulled level at 85-85 with 8.43 minutes left, guard Reggie Jackson (29 points) led the Thunder home to a 103-99 victory. "I like what he has been doing in pre-season," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said of a player who has led the NBA in scoring in three separate seasons. "He has come back even better." Durant scored a game-high 24 points in the Thunders 95-82 victory over Fenerbahce Ulker of Turkey on Saturday but started slowly three days later, making just 3 from 10 from the field before halftime. If the Sixers thought he was off colour at that stage, they were to be mistaken. It wasnt just Durants third-quarter scoring, it was also his quick passing, his leadership. Barking orders from the bench during the fourth quarter, he could easily have been the Oklahoma City coach. "We demand a level of play and he is as coachable as any player I have seen in this league," Brooks said. "He is going to continue to get better. He has the talent, the skill, the body, the touch, the gifted game. But he also has an unmatched work ethic." Manchester can hardly be called the hotbed of basketball in Britain -- there were plenty of empty seats in the 21,000-capacity Phones 4u Arena -- but a sign of the sports growing appeal in the country is the staging of a regular-season NBA game between the Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks in London in January. And a slew of Premier League footballers, including Manchester United players Rio Ferdinand and David de Gea, were courtside to see the Thunder and the Sixers step up their preparations for the new NBA season. After missing out on the playoffs last season, the Sixers are in a rebuilding phase under new coach Brett Brown and have lost All-Star guard Jrue Holiday, who was traded to New Orleans on draft night. However, they held their own against one of the NBAs standout team for three quarters. It was Durants brilliance in the third quarter, which the Thunder won 35-23, that was the difference, along with 20 turnovers. "I am really proud of our guys," said Brown, who had 20 points from Tony Wroten. "I see carry-over (from training)," he added. "Thats the Holy Grail." Like the Thunder, Philadelphia has been on a week-long tour of Europe as the NBA looks to promote the sport around the world, and beat Bilbao Basket 106-104 in Spain on Sunday. The NBA season starts in three weeks time, but the league hasnt seen the back of Britain. "Its a great atmosphere here, the fans are unbelievable," said Durant, who won gold with the U.S. team at last years London Olympics. "I think they deserve basketball, especially regular-season basketball. Im sure well see that in the future." Austin Adams Mariners Jersey . - The Carolina Panthers believe Steve Smith lost "top-end" speed, a big reason the franchise parted ways with its all-time leading receiver. Omar Vizquel Jersey . -- Los Angeles Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton will be sidelined for at least two weeks because of a strained calf muscle, and pitcher C. https://www.cheapmariners.com/2805k-floyd-bannister-jersey-mariners.html .com) - Tonight will go a long way in determining the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference. Randy Johnson Jersey . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer. Pat Borders Mariners Jersey . The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2. Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Julia Mancuso and Tim Jitloff, respectively.Taylor Lewan, the consensus third-best left tackle prospect and possible Top 10 pick in the upcoming draft, will have some explaining to do in pre-draft meetings with teams. The Michigan lineman faces three assault charges stemming from an incident in December, according to a report from ESPN. The report states Lewan is scheduled to be arraigned in Appril on one count of aggravated assault and two counts of assault or assault and battery.dddddddddddd The charges stem from an incident in which two Ohio State fans claim they were assaulted following Michigans loss to Ohio State last year. Lewan contended at the NFL Combine that he was breaking up a fight, and had nothing to do with the fight. ' ' '