It is impossible to watch Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant at their best and not think that surely, together, they can lead a team to an NBA title.
For as bad as they were collectively in a shocking Game 2 loss of their first round series (they combined to miss 40 shots), they were at their apex in closing out the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5.
Westbrook, pulling up and nailing from wherever he pleased, creating open looks. Durant, drilling from three and mid-range, attacking the basket. Both getting to the free-throw line. Together they provided 69 points on better than 50 per cent shooting.
And so that horrendous, earlier display is forgotten, and it is remembered Durant and Westbrook are two among a small handful of the very best players of basketball.
Now they get to test themselves against one of the very best teams.
• Read more: Kevin Jeffers – The Oklahoma City Thunder are fighting mad
• Also see: 2016 NBA play-offs – Previews, predictions and what we learnt day-by-day
This is the true moment the Thunder have been building themselves back up to since they went to the 2012 Finals, suffering one disappointment after another as they wandered for four years through a wilderness of bad timing and worse injuries.
Oklahoma City will face the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the play-offs, and if they are as good as they think they are they will be able to pit their strength – that is, Durant and Westbrook pushing them higher through individual, irrepressible force of will – ably against the Spurs’ en vogue ball-movement beauty.
"Look, we're not the San Antonio Spurs," Durant told ESPN in January. "We're not going to make 30 passes in a possession. We're not that.
“Of course, people want us to be that. That’s great basketball, don’t get me wrong. But we’re not that.
“We’ve got guys that can score. We’ve got two guys on this team that can get a bucket.”
Durant is right about that, of course. The Thunder, who were 18th in assist ratio (top three: Warriors-Hawks-Spurs) and 21st in assist percentage, are not about to join the Spurs-Warriors tiki-taka revolution. They are, as they always have, going to work top-down through their two superstars and see where that takes them.
Will it go any differently for them this time, though? It had better. For the very future of the Oklahoma City franchise, for this Durant-Westbrook partnership, it must.
As the other side of the western conference bracket has been waylaid by injuries, with a path to the NBA Finals, and maybe even a title, a lot clearer beyond this next round, the Spurs just might represent the last stand for this iteration of the Thunder.
Durant is a free agent in the summer. Everywhere from his hometown Washington Wizards to up-and-coming Boston to – shudder the thought – Golden State has been mentioned as a possible destination for the 2014 MVP.
He and Westbrook are at peak physical health. They have as much surrounding talent as they have ever had, or frankly ever seemed to want. Their style is defined, and for the most part they are playing the game they want to at the moment.
All they have to do is beat the Spurs. Overcome the evolution in the game, embodied by San Antonio, against which they stand asunder.
If they do not, it might be the end of this at-times wondrous, at-times infuriating Durant-Westbrook project in Oklahoma City. It is, it could be, at last now or never for this Thunder team.
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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)
Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)
Wednesday
Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)
Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)
Norwich City v Everton (9pm)
Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)
Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)
Thursday
Burnley v Watford (9pm)
Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)
Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh12 million
Engine 8.0-litre quad-turbo, W16
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch auto
Power 1479 @ 6,700rpm
Torque 1600Nm @ 2,000rpm 0-100kph: 2.6 seconds 0-200kph: 6.1 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
Other promotions
- Deliveroo will team up with Pineapple Express to offer customers near JLT a special treat: free banana caramel dessert with all orders on January 26
- Jones the Grocer will have their limited edition Australia Day menu available until the end of the month (January 31)
- Australian Vet in Abu Dhabi (with locations in Khalifa City A and Reem Island) will have a 15 per cent off all store items (excluding medications)
