Suns' Kevin Durant, Thaddeus Young, Celtics' Al Horford reflect on their 2007 draft class

The closing minutes in the Phoenix Suns' home loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday was like a kung fu movie's elder masters climactically battling each other.

After being down by 15 in the fourth, Phoenix rallied behind Kevin Durant's season-high 45 points (18-of-26 shooting); he cut the lead to five with four minutes left to play.

Al Horford (nine points, team-high 12 rebounds, three assists), who started in place of the Celtics' top big and third-best scorer, Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring), nailed a dagger 3. That extended the margin to eight at the two minute mark, and Phoenix didn't recover.

Horford, 37, also helped guard Durant during switches.

“It is pretty unbelievable. I am very blessed to be in this position. Just impressive how he continues to find ways to improve and find ways to get better. KD was on tonight. It was really, really tough," Horford said after the game.

Suns vs. Celtics takeaways Celtics difficult matchup, Durant's 45 not enough without Booker

Durant, Horford and the Suns' backup forward Thaddeus Young are three of the five remaining active players from the 2007 NBA draft class -- the other two are Minnesota Timberwolves starting point guard Mike Conley and Houston Rockets backup forward Jeff Green. Those five make up the second-oldest active draft class, behind 39-year-old LeBron James in 2003.

"These moments, I don’t take them for granted. They are special," Horford said. "Only a few were in our class. Thaddeus Young was on the bench today. He didn’t get to play but, three of us from our 2007 class, here tonight. It was very cool.”

Durant, Young, Horford, Green and Conley were selected among the top 12 picks. They speak about each other as a brotherhood, cherishing memories of the days leading up to their draft night.

“It was an exciting time, like this close to achieving your dream that you’ve been thinking about every day at time, 17, 18 years of my life every day thinking about the league,” Durant said before Phoenix beat Houston on Thursday.

“Having that t-shirt on and going to that practice facility meant a lot, so all of those moments meant something. … I always think about it. You build bonds and friendships with guys that you come into the league with from the process. It’s a pretty cool deal to see Mike, Jeff, Thad, Al still in the league.”

Durant was a one-and-done from Texas and the second-overall pick by the Seattle Supersonics. Horford was chosen third by the Atlanta Hawks after his junior season when he helped lead Florida to two straight national titles. Conley, picked fourth by the Memphis Grizzlies, was a one-and-done out of Ohio State (a team also led by Portland's top overall pick, Greg Oden; Florida beat the Buckeyes in the 2007 championship). Boston took Green fifth as a junior from Georgetown. Young was drafted 12th by the Philadelphia 76ers as a one-and-done from Georgia Tech.

“We talk about it all the time," Young said. “At some point, we’ve all crossed paths and had a chance to sit down with one another. For the most part, we all think about the longevity of it and how we’ve been able to sustain and how we’ve been able to stay healthy throughout the course of our careers. It’s a blessing. I think we’re all very grateful for the opportunity that we’re still being given.”

Phoenix signed Young off waivers on Feb. 20. After Durant and Young became Phoenix teammates, Durant reminisced about his transition to the pros with him.

“Me and Thad were roommates for the Jordan Classic game. We were competing against each other in the McDonalds (High School All-American) Game. That whole process from high school up until now, we’ve been kind of linked together. Both one-and-done, like the first era of one-and-dones. We probably could’ve come out of high school but had to go to college that first year. I think we were the first class to do that.”

Seldom did college freshmen enter the league before it became commonplace today.

From the massive trend of high school players following former All-Star Jermaine O'Neal, Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett to the draft in the mid-1990s, the league implemented the "one-and-done rule" in the 2005 collective bargaining agreement that prohibited players from signing with teams or becoming draft eligible unless they were age 19 or one year removed from high school graduation.

“Me and Thad, I think were the youngest two in the league that year (2007-08 season)," Durant said. "I was the first, he was the second-youngest in the league, so we’ve almost spent half our life in the league.”

Horford said he worked out for four or five teams, Young did for a whopping 13 within two weeks, and Durant said he did for just two in pre-draft workouts.

Horford saw Durant's greatness shortly before draft night.

“I actually spent some time with Kevin up in Seattle for pre-draft," Horford said. "We worked out there for about a week, and I just remember watching him do individual workouts on the court and I’m like, ‘Oh man, this guy is tall and shooting it like that and moving in this way, just so talented.’ So that’s something I remember fondly.”

Horford laughed about Durant in the pre-draft weightlifting workout sessions, in which a then-lithe Durant wasn’t as strong as his game.

“Those were moments that we’re trying to figure it out as what’s it like being a professional, what it takes to work and things like that. On the court, he was way ahead of everybody, and it was fun to watch him work.”

Suns coach Frank Vogel, when he was a young Indiana Pacers assistant coach, remembered Durant and Oden being revered as the next faces of the league.

The 7-foot Oden was widely touted as the second coming of Patrick Ewing. However, his career didn't pan out as expected, as he was plagued by knee injuries. He missed four full seasons and played just 105 games until he ended his career with Miami in 2014.

As for Kevin Durant, that's a different story.

Many basketball historians and fans parallel Portland taking Oden over Durant to Michael Jordan and Portland's 1984 second-overall pick in Kentucky center Sam Bowie. Chicago picked Jordan third, and Houston icon Hakeem Olajuwon was taken first.

“I remember KD, the discussions about Oden and him, what he (Durant) was gonna become," Vogel said." I think everybody knew how great Greg Oden would’ve been a center in this league had he stayed healthy. I think everybody understand it, but there also plenty of the Bowie-MJ comparisons as well where it’s tough to pass on Kevin Durant, and you saw what he became in his career.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns' Durant, Young, Celtics' Horford reflect on NBA 2007 draft class