Kevin Durant, right, is a threat to win the NBA scoring title in just his third pro season. (Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

One of the NBA's most exciting young players visits Toronto for the only time this season as Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder face the Raptors on Friday night.

Durant, 21, has emerged as one of the league's deadliest scorers in just his third pro season. His 29.7 points-per-game average ranks second in the NBA, just 2/10ths of a point behind Cleveland's LeBron James.

The University of Texas product has improved every year since his team — at the time called the Seattle SuperSonics — took him second overall in the 2007 NBA draft. The top pick, Greg Oden, has played in just 82 games over three seasons with Portland because of injuries.

Durant, meanwhile, has climbed the scoring ladder, improving from 20.3 points per game in his rookie year to 25.3 last year to his current 29.7. And the six-foot-nine forward is doing it more efficiently. A 43 per cent shooter as a rookie, Durant is now hitting 47.7 per cent of his field-goal tries.

His team's fortunes have moved in lockstep. The Thunder were the Western Conference's worst team in 2007-08, when they went 20-62 in their final campaign in Seattle, but they improved to 23-59 the next year as they adjusted to the Sooner State, where they're now enjoying a breakout season.

Winners of 17 of 21 games since Jan. 29, Oklahoma City (41-25) is closing in on a playoff berth as the NBA regular season enters its final month. The Thunder rank fifth in the tough West, and are a good bet to land one of the eight post-season spots: ninth-place Houston is a distant six games back.

Raptors' rally stops skid

Durant, who also leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game despite his rail-thin frame, is surrounded by a strong young supporting cast.

Fellow 21-year-old Russell Westbrook is turning into an elite point guard, averaging 8.0 assists (up from 5.3 a year ago) while scoring 16.8 points per game. Jeff Green, 23, averages 14.7 points and 6.1 rebounds. Rookie James Harden, 20, is chipping in 9.0 points off the bench.

All four players had big games in their only prior meeting with Toronto this season, a 119-99 rout in Oklahoma City on Feb. 28 that was essentially over before the fourth quarter. Durant led all scorers with 29 points, Green was next with 20, Westbrook was the top playmaker with 10 assists, and Harden added a dozen points.

For Toronto, the game fell during a terrible stretch in which the Raptors dropped nine of 10 contests, sending them to the fringe of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

But Toronto snapped out of its funk on Wednesday night, rallying furiously in the fourth quarter to overtake Atlanta 106-105 on a clutch 16-foot jumper by Chris Bosh with 2.1 seconds left.

"I shot it with confidence, and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that it [was] going in," said Bosh, who earlier in the game became the first player in franchise history to reach 10,000 career points. "I'm just glad it gave us the go-ahead to win the game."

Toronto (33-33) is clinging to the final playoff spot in the East, 2½ games ahead of ninth-place Chicago.

The Raptors' next two games are on the road against the NBA's two worst teams, New Jersey and Minnesota.