Kevin Durant to sit out final game of the season, cede scoring title to Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony will win his first career scoring title with Kevin Durant sitting out tonight. (Greg Nelson/SI) The mythology of the scoring title may not be
Kevin Durant to sit out final game of the season, cede scoring title to Carmelo Anthony
Kevin Durant to sit out final game of the season, cede scoring title to Carmelo Anthony /

Carmelo Anthony will win his first career scoring title with Kevin Durant sitting out tonight. (Greg Nelson/SI)

Kevin Durant is ceding the scoring title to Carmelo Anthony

The mythology of the scoring title may not be what it once was, but the regular-season finale nevertheless offered up the chance for the scoring race to take center stage. It would've taken an absolute explosion of scoring for Kevin Durant (28.1 points per game) to catch up to Carmelo Anthony (28.7), but the possibility led many to pine for the days where the scoring title meant something to those in contention, and thus served as the impetus for monstrous -- and memorable -- offensive performances.

For his part, Durant is apparently indifferent, and will meet the public chatter on the subject with a shrug. Durant made a statement of sorts on Wednesday by posting the following image to his Instagram account, thus nipping the notion that he should be gunning for 70 points tonight for the sake of overtaking Anthony:

Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 9.54.13 AM

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Rob Mahoney
ROB MAHONEY

Rob Mahoney is an NBA writer dedicated to the minutiae of the game of basketball, its overarching themes and everything in between. He joined the Sports Illustrated staff in 2012.