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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Taking Preseason Seriously
Maybe it’s the fact that Russell Westbrook is out, and it means taking on more scoring responsibilities, but it just might be that playing abroad comes with certain contracts that force teams to play with their stars like it’s a regular season game, as the Oklahoma City Thunder try and keep working out any way they can to make their absentee point guard less of a problem.
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Russell Westbrook Injury Means Kevin Durant is Under Too Much Pressure
Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder were knocked out prematurely from the playoffs because of Russell Westbrook being injured, and Kevin Durant not being able to carry the team on his own. As the new NBA season approaches, at least the start of the year is going to look quite similar.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Reggie Jackson is the Key to Turn Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook into NBA Champions
The general concept the Oklahoma City Thunder have tried to follow in recent years is having a third perimeter scorer next to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, usually coming off the bench. Reggie Jackson seems to be the one that’ll step into those shoes in 2013-2014, hopefully improving enough to help the franchise win the NBA championship.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook Won’t Become Champions With Ryan Gomes
The fact that Ryan Gomes joins the Oklahoma City Thunder does make them slightly better heading into next season, but it doesn’t change the fact and the outlook of their current situation, which seems to be Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook just not having the right team around them to win an NBA title.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Kept Getting Worse & Was Running on Empty
A true superstar doesn’t hit only 23.8% of his field goals attempts (taking 21 shots) as his team faces elimination. But Kevin Durant had to be everything for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their conference semifinals series, and ended up without anything left to give in the final two games. Serge Ibaka and Reggie Jackson actually put up the numbers they were supposed to in giving him the helping hand he needed, but it was a little too late, as Durant couldn’t find anything left in his arsenal in the fourth quarter.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Needs More From Serge Ibaka & Kevin Martin
It’s hard to point a finger on the one reason the Oklahoma City Thunder have been looking so bad on the court, regardless of who is missing. Reggie Jackson is doing a good job in the place of Russell Westbrook, but Kevin Durant needs more from what worked during the regular season – Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin, who have been disappointing, to say the least, the Western Conference Semifinals so far.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Martin Was Brought Over For This
All the comparisons with the star of his former team haven’t really been kind to Kevin Martin, brought over to the Oklahoma City Thunder to fill the role of a spot up shooter from the bench, forced to do something bigger with Russell Westbrook falling down. Kevin Durant led the way to a Game 6 win, but it was Martin who was the difference maker, finally making the most of a terrible Rockets defense.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Better Off Without Russell Westbrook
When a player wants to improve his own individual statistics, having a co-star like Russell Westbrook, who takes more than his fair share of shots away from Kevin Durant, get injured, isn’t such a bad thing. But the Oklahoma City Thunder want the NBA title, not for Durant to score at will. And yet, certain numbers from the regular season suggest it isn’t the end of the world.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Doing it All Alone
He’s never played a playoff game without Russell Westbrook by his side, but Kevin Durant seemed quite comfortable doing everything on his own, despite everyone claiming the Oklahoma City Thunder and their title hopes are now doomed due to the season-ending injury to their All-Star point guard.
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Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant Makes Way for Russell Westbrook
The best team in the NBA isn’t stopping, as the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled for a fifth consecutive win.