Wednesday Bolts – 12.10.14

Berry Tramel: “Kevin Durant returned Tuesday night to the friendly confines of Chesapeake Energy Arena. Actually, check that “Energy” part. The Peake didn’t sizzle with excitement upon Durant’s first home game of the season. It was almost as if the crowd realizes that Durant’s return will come in stages. Nothing like Russell Westbrook’s triumphant return 11 days prior against the Knickerbockers, when he looked the same as always. Westbrook can do that to a crowd. His game is combustible whether he’s on a 400-game streak or just coming off the injured list. Durant is different. Durant is an athletic marvel, but don’t ever forget, his basketball game is refined. Nuanced. Durant feels the game. That’s why sometimes, the game comes to him instead of him going to the game.”

Kevin Arnovitz on Doc Rivers, the exec: “But adhering to the sacrifices and discipline that enable such a setup isn’t easy. Popovich performed the role of general manager for two-plus seasons before becoming head coach. In some sense, the dual role he claimed in 1996 was a natural merging of his two previous ones. He sits at the fulcrum of that spectrum of opinion about how vital the granular work of the front office is, and that centrism is a major reason why the operation in San Antonio is the NBA’s gold standard and why a good fraction of the league’s top team executives can trace their lineage back to San Antonio.”

Kevin Durant and the Thunder are coming.

Always insightful Chris Bosh in an interview with Grantland: “You really just kind of play the game. I didn’t really take note of it until last year, when everyone was like, “Hey, the Spurs are winning the right way!” Wait, what does that mean? You can’t win a championship without playing the right way. I guess it’s just based off a perception. They don’t have the mega superstar anymore. They’ve got their three stars, and they’ve been doing it for a long time. With Timmy [Duncan] redefining his game, their mega, ultra-star just seemed more like it was the team itself. But he’s always been a team player. I just don’t know what it means, “Oh, they’re playing basketball the right way.”

Just a note: The Nets are shopping Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson.

Darnell Mayberry: “The search for consistency continues. But signs began to point toward the Thunder figuring some things out in a 114-101 victory over Milwaukee inside Chesapeake Energy Arena on Tuesday night. Progress, while slow, appears steady. At the same time, the favorable result again is most important while the Thunder gets it together.”