Heat vs. Thunder: Kevin Durant Leap-Frogs LeBron James in MVP Race

Although on paper it was simply a regular season meeting between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat, this was a telling matchup that will undoubtedly have a bearing on the Kevin Durant and LeBron James MVP race.

With a convincing Thunder victory and outright impressive numbers from Durant, the league's reigning scoring champion is now within reach of the 2012 NBA MVP award.

Heading into the final weeks of the 2011-12 NBA season, it has been clear that the race has come down to James and Durant, as both players have had two of the best seasons of their careers.

James has put up unreal numbers throughout the course of the season, posting a whopping 27 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. For the better part of the regular season, James was on pace for the best efficiency rating in NBA history.

Not to mention, the Heat have been winning games and looking dangerous all season long in spite of injuries to Dwyane Wade early on in the year.

Yet it has been Durant that has been scoring the lights out of the basketball and now has his team as the second-best team in the NBA at 37-12 this season.

In the month of March, Durant has scored less than 22 points just once. This includes four 30-point games as well as a 40-point performance.

Against James in what was an easy win for the Thunder, Durant went off for 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

James, unlike Durant, was unable to lift his team to victory and would post just 17 points, seven assists and three rebounds in the loss.

One game cannot be the only indicator of who the MVP of this season is. Yet the clear out-performing of James and a win for the Thunder certainly gives a clear edge to Durant heading into the final weeks of the season.

James has had himself a truly remarkable 2012, yet the inability to match Durant's performance will be costly if James doesn't step up his play during the season's final stretch.