If the 44 and 49-point outings prior to Thursday night's overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors weren't any example, Kevin Durant's 51-point masterpiece brought reminders of the fierce assassin he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder, something that had been dormant for most of his stint with the Golden State Warriors.

That was also the first time Durant had stringed together three straight games of 40 or more points in his prodigious career — something that wasn't hard to believe for him.

“Um, not really,” Kevin Durant told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Man, it’s tough to score 40 straight in three in a row. No matter who you are, it’s tough.”

Durant battled within himself, knowing he couldn't gloat much about his personal exploits after a bar-measuring loss against a team they could potentially meet in the NBA Finals.

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“It’s cool and all, but I would’ve loved to win tonight,” said Kevin Durant. “Especially the way we came back, fashion we came back. It’s not something I’ll hold onto after tonight. Shot the ball well finally from 3, but outside of that, it’s an L for us. But I can’t lie, when you score 50 points and do it that way with those shots, it’s sweet.”

Durant had a studly 47 points after a game-tying three before the end of regulation sent the game to an extra period, where he scored a quick four points to join Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson as the fastest trio to score 50 points individually in a season and the only other besides Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Rudy LaRusso of the 1961-62 Los Angeles Lakers.

What made the night special is that these wasn't necessarily any 50-point game, but one he managed to put up against a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in Kawhi Leonard, who constantly hounded him around the court.

Unlike his previous 50-pieces, this one has a sense of personal pride and one he'll likely hold onto for a while, despite resulting in a loss.