The next showdown?
Kevin Durant and Russ Westbrook to meet again in All-Star game — as teammates.
Neither Russell Westbrook nor Kevin Durant had an answer for the AllStar question.
It’s not like they’ve ever been in this position before. Well, they have, but not as members of the Thunder and Warriors.
Saturday was a day of firsts for the former teammates, and it won’t even be the most awkward reunion of the month, as Westbrook and Durant will play alongside each other in the NBA’s All-Star Game on Sunday.
“I don’t know,” Westbrook said of what it’s going to be like in New Orleans to be on the same team as Durant and three other Warriors. “We (are) gonna find out.”
This time last year, Durant and Westbrook were preparing to loft alley-oops to each other on the fast break for the Western Conference. That was before Durant
went to Golden State in free agency July 4, 2016, and before Saturday’s 130-114 Warriors win in Oklahoma City in which Draymond Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson all walked out of Chesapeake Energy Arena with cupcake shirts in hand.
Fans at The Peake had a bonanza poking at Durant with the term he, Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins once used to reference players they thought were soft.
Standing in the Thunder locker room after Saturday’s loss, Westbrook nixed the notion of a rivalry between the Thunder and Warriors. He tried to squash the outside infatuation with he and Durant’s relationship status. Said Westbrook, “He plays for his team, I play for my team.”
Not this weekend. For Western Conference practices, in the locker room and come tip-off for the All-Star Game, they’ll be working together again, even though they aren’t on speaking terms.
Durant and Curry were voted Western Conference starters. Green and Thompson are reserves alongside Westbrook.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is coaching the West and has decisions to make. One is easy — Kerr already said in late January he’d have all four Warriors on the court at one point during the game.
“I can guarantee you that will happen at some point because that’ll be a pretty cool thing,” Kerr said Jan. 28.
Who’s the fifth? Could it be Westbrook? When asked about it that day, Kerr reportedly grinned and politely walked away.
Westbrook won’t be on Thunder Island by himself in his quest for an unprecedented third consecutive All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. There are connections throughout the West team. Kerr’s Warriors staff, which will coach the West, includes former Thunder assistant Ron Adams. Westbrook will be reunited with James Harden, who remains his friend. Thunder rookie Domantas Sabonis will be in Saturday’s Rising Stars Challenge.
But eyes will turn, yet again, to Westbrook’s interactions with Durant. In last season’s 196-173 West win, mere minutes after the tip in Toronto, Westbrook hopped off one foot from beyond the 3-point line and flipped the ball upward to a baseline-streaking Durant, who reached high to flush a one-handed dunk.
Who knew then the AllStar Game would become the only place to potentially see the WestbrookDurant connection?
Durant didn’t, and he doesn’t know how it’ll work this weekend. But his answer aligned with Westbrook’s.
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” he said Saturday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. “I really can’t tell you how. I don’t know.”
THUNDER REPORT CARD
Kevin Durant’s return to Oklahoma City was not just any regular-season game. Golden State beat the Thunder 130-114 on a Saturday night of crazy emotions, and the grades reflect a strange night at Chesapeake Arena.
Player emotions
B
Russell Westbrook got into a shouting match with Durant. Andre Roberson and Durant put their heads together like conjoined twins, earning Roberson a get-out-of-jail-free card for maybe 20 air balls. But on this night, that was probably restrained behavior. Westbrook was overly-aggressive in the first quarter, trying to squeeze passes into tight spaces, and finished with 11 turnovers, but he often overpasses in the first quarter.
Backcourt play
A
Golden State has two All-Star guards. OKC counters with Westbrook and Victor Oladipo. The Warrior duo played really well; Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined to make 16 of 31 shots (51.6 percent), and each scored 52 points. Westbrook and Oladipo combined to make 23 of 41 shots (56.1 percent) and score 67 points. Westbrook’s 11 turnovers hurt, but the Warriors outscored the Thunder just 24-19 in points off turnovers. These teams are even in the backcourt. But one of these teams has Kevin Durant.
Post play
C
Steven Adams did not have a strong game. He had 13 points but just three rebounds. OKC was outscored by 16 points with Adams on the court, which means the Thunder played the Warriors even with Adams on the bench. Meanwhile, Golden State’s JaVale McGee, playing for the injured Zaza Pachulia, scored 16 points and missed only one of his eight shots. McGee had four dunks as the Warrior pickand-roll was working great. The Thunder has to have a big game from Adams to compete with Golden State.
Fan emotions
B
All the cupcake stuff was fun, particularly the 9-year-old girl in costume. The booing was expected, and frankly, sort of impressive, considering it was never ceasing. Hard to keep the voice going that long. But the Warriors said some of the heckling coming from behind their bench crossed the line, and NBA teams have heard a lot. The venom directed at Durant is understandable, but keep it classy, OKC. Golden State coach Steve Kerr was a TNT announcer at the game six years ago when LeBron James returned to Cleveland for the first time as a member of the Miami Heat, and Kerr said he thought the venom was a little worse in Cleveland.
Bench
B
When Westbrook took his first rest late in the first quarter, the game was tied 22-22. When Westbrook returned 5½ minutes later, Golden State led 45-30. Billy Donovan changed up his rotation in the second half and played Westbrook the entire third quarter. But this time, OKC played OK without Westbrook. The Warriors led 105-87 after three quarters, and when Westbrook returned with 8:35 left in the game, the Thunder had crawled within 108-96. Of course, the Thunder reserves are disadvantaged against Golden State, since Kerr almost always has two all-stars on the court at all times.