Number thirty-five, Kevin Durant had been side-lined for fifty-five games in the previous season due to injuries and surgery. It was the first time in which he and the team’s other shining star, number zero, Russell Westbrook had played together in an official game in over six months. This is all not to mention the new team members that joined via trade or selection. In fact, many were anxious to see how the new head coach, Billy Donovan, would handle the transition between college and professional coaching. Donovan had fulfilled the coaching position at the University of Florida from 1996 to April 2015. The game began with phenomenal execution on the behalf of both teams, which led to extremely close scores with back-and-forth action. Down the stretch, the Thunder had them beat in the first quarter by a narrow margin of twenty-nine to twenty-seven. Equally important, Westbrook was a key player throughout the game, nailing several crucial plays in order to keep the victory in reasonable reach. In spite of the closeness of the first quarter, the Spurs proceeded to pull away and take the lead of fifty-five to fifth heading into halftime, outscoring the thunder with twenty-eight to twenty-one in the