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OKC Thunder: Kevin Durant Is Back and Never Really Left

By Andrew Kennedy

Oct 20, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) dunks the ball during the second half against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Oklahoma City won 113-102. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) dunks the ball during the second half against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Oklahoma City won 113-102. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /
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Before the start of preseason, Kevin Durant was asked if it’s good to be back. His response: I never thought I left.

Maybe he was right.

Durant provided a little reminder of what he is when he checked back into a preseason game vs. the Utah Jazz Tuesday with 5:19 left. In a span of 1:26, KD scored eight points on a pull-up jumper and two threes, to give the Oklahoma City Thunder a 10-point lead.

Billy Donovan said Durant and Russell Westbrook would play about 30 minutes before the game. Durant finished with 29 points on 11 of 15 shooting in 29 minutes and Russ got a triple-double (because of course) in 35 minutes.

Normally meaningless action down the stretch of a preseason game, Donovan got a taste of what his two best players could do in that kind of moment.

Once again, something that is promising from Donovan is the lineups he had on the floor. Durant checked in at the four along with Westbrook, Steven Adams, Anthony Morrow and Steve Novak. With that group, the offense started with pick-and-rolls with Westbrook and Adams. The spacing couldn’t be much better with the shooting of Durant, Morrow and Novak surrounding the initial action.

Durant’s first three was pretty wide open out of a semi-transition look. The next came after a pick-and-roll with the ball being swung to Novak and then to Durant who didn’t hesitate.

The play in which Westbrook got the triple-double included a nice little wrinkle on the weakside. Westbrook and Serge Ibaka two-man game at the top of the key going left with Durant alone on the right side of the floor. KD motioned up toward the wing when the action started and then cut backdoor for the easy lob. Once again, great spacing that has not always been seen in OKC.

This was really the case all night and all preseason. The Thunder are not only spacing the floor better, but they seem to be quicker with their decision-making in the halfcourt. The ball isn’t stopping as much. A lot of utilizing Westbrook zipping around the floor and finding open shooters, which the Thunder have a lot of especially when Dion Waiters is shooting over 50 percent from the floor like he has this preseason.

It’s all pretty but becomes perfect when Durant looks like he hasn’t lost a step. He probably never lost any confidence but it looks like he’s at least getting more comfortable with each preseason game. His first bucket in the fourth was a classic KD move from an isolation at the top of the key. He started driving left on Rodney Hood then spun back center and hopped into an unguardable jumper from around the free throw line.

All the moves that KD used on his way to an MVP in the last full season that he played haven’t gone anywhere. It just might take some time for him to hit full stride once the regular season begins. If he does, the rest of the league should watch out because this is the most help Durant will have ever had, starting with his sidekick to his role players to the coach on the sideline.

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