It was sometime after 10 p.m. local time on May 30, and Kevin Durant was still lingering on the floor of Oracle Arena. Confetti was splashed all over the floor, the Golden State Warriors were celebrating and Durant stood near the visitors tunnel, jersey untucked, just sort of ... lingering.Durant had scored 27 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7, including seven straight to cut the Golden State Warriors lead to four with 1:40 left. He was spent, both physically and emotionally. A 3-1 series lead had slipped through his hands, and the Thunder had fallen short of the Finals. His team already back in the locker room, Durant stood alone for a few seconds, before ducking through the tunnel and off the floor.The Thunder make their return to Oracle for the first time since that fateful Game 7 on Thursday and not just without Durant, but to play against him. The floor Durant walked off crestfallen in May is now his home for the foreseeable future.For the Thunder, it will be a jarring experience. Some within the organization have said they arent sure how theyll react to seeing Durant on the other bench. Some have said theyve moved on and wont be fazed. Among the latter is Russell Westbrook, who is pragmatic -- Durant is an opponent, and Westbrook doesnt like opponents. In some ways, Westbrook is ambivalent, claiming his team has his only attention. He didnt watch Durants first game with the Warriors, instead playing poker with friends and finding out about the score only when his wife told him the next morning.Westbrook and Durant spent eight seasons together, but their supposedly unbreakable bond was severed when Durant announced he was joining the Warriors on July 4. When they meet on the floor Thursday, it will be the first time theyve spoken since (assuming they speak). All eyes will be on their handshake before tipoff, but Westbrook doesnt do that before games with opponents. He sprints under the opposing basket, stares into the crowd, pumps his arms and gets ready to play. The only people he daps up are the ones wearing the same jersey as him. He says he only has one friend during a game: the ball.The Thunder have started 4-0, the lone unbeaten left in the West, and have taken on a part of Westbrooks personality as their identity. They play hard, theyre not always pretty, they mess up plenty, but they dont let up. Theres so much attention on Westbrook and Durant, its been overlooked this will be an uncomfortable night for Nick Collison, for Steven Adams, for Anthony Morrow, for Enes Kanter and for Andre Roberson. They all believed Durant was coming back, too. Everyone is fascinated by how Westbrook might play -- will he try to dunk so hard a vortex is created in downtown Oakland and Durant is swallowed whole by it? -- but its going to be worth watching Westbrooks teammates.We all played with Kevin, we all were disappointed he left, Collison said. So its not like its just Russ. Its something that were all going to deal with, seeing one of our guys playing somewhere else. Itll be a big game and everyones going to play hard for sure but theres a lot of reasons thats going to happen.Durant, by nature, is a pretty non-confrontational person. Hes easy going, easy to get along with and adaptable to any group of people. He wants the idea that theres a beef with Westbrook to evaporate. Westbrook, though, is guarded, skeptical and values loyalty. He doesnt mind butting heads with anyone, whether its a teammate, a coach or a reporter. It sets a strange scenario on Thursday, one where theres genuine unknown of what may happen.Theyre gonna play basketball, Anthony Morrow said. Thats it.The Thunder return to Oracle six months later in a different world. When they left on May 30, they thought theyd be coming back better and stronger than ever, the likely favorite to win it all. Instead, theyre a franchise that was pushed to the brink of unraveling, and building a new identity behind Westbrook. While most expected them to fall back, Westbrook only pushes forward. Asked on Wednesday after their 85-83 win against the Clippers if hes surprised at the way the Thunder have begun the season, Westbrook flashed his trademark disdain.Who said that? Westbrook snapped. A lot of folks, a reporter responded. Westbrook cut his eyes over and defiantly grinned. Thats where they went wrong. Mike Ditka Jersey . 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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers is proud to have a stat line like he had Wednesday night in any arena.Twenty-five points, 7 for 10 from 3-point range and 9 of 12 from the field.But a trip home where his high school jersey was retired Tuesday night was made even more special with an outstanding performance that helped push the Clippers to a 113-108 victory over the Orlando Magic.Rivers estimated he had about 15 to 20 family members and friends in attendance at Amway Center.Its great to have a good game anywhere but Id be lying to you if I said that its a little bit more fun to do it here, said Rivers, who starred at Winter Park High School before going on to Duke. Thats for sure.Rivers, coming off missing a game due to the NBA concussion protocol, made his biggest long-range shot with 2:18 left to give the Clippers a nine-point lead that proved too much for Orlando to overcome.We needed every basket, said Clippers coach Doc Rivers, Austins father. We were laughing and saying he needs to get hit in the head more. He was terrific.With forward Luc Mbah a Moute out with a shoulder injury, Doc Rivers went with a three-guard lineup that included Chris Paul, J.J. Redick and Austin. The Clippers gave up more than usual on defense with the smaller lineup, but they made up for it with explosiveness.The trio combined for 51 points while also keeping the Magic on their heels all night. All five Clippers starters scored in double figures.It just allows us to play at a different pace, said Paul, who finished with 16 points and four assists. We played a little faster but it just means we have to scrap. We may give up a little bit but when we are all small like that we have a lot of guys who can score.The Magic at times were able to overpower the Clippers smaller lineup. It ceertainly worked for Aaron Gordon, who had one of his better all-around games with a game-high 33 points and seven rebounds.dddddddddddd. But defensively, Orlando couldnt keep up and as result fell to 4-9 at home this season.Were doing the best we can to manage the slippage without practice time and its not good enough, said Magic coach Frank Vogel. The smaller lineups are hurting us with our ability to contest and use our size.HACK-A-JORDANIn effort to slow the Clippers offense down, the Magic turned to an often used strategy in the third quarter. They intentionally fouled Los Angeles center DeAndre Jordan, who has been a poor free throw shooter.It allowed the Magic to outscore the Clippers by nine points in the period but it didnt produce the desire results because Jordan converted 11 of 16 free throw attempts during that two-minute stretch late in the third quarter, which included six straight