Thunder at Magic
The Oklahoma City Thunder kicked off the Billy Donovan era with a come-from-behind win over the San Antonio Spurs and announced their intention to get back to the top of the Western Conference. The Thunder will try to make it 2-0 when they visit the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Donovan is headed back to the state in which he won a pair of NCAA National Championships with Florida to coach against the NBA team by which he was briefly employed in 2007 before heading back to college. The former point guard is sticking around in the NBA this time and watched as his new team shot 48.8 percent from the field in the 112-106 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday. The Magic are on their fourth coach since being spurned by Donovan and failed to get Scott Skiles his first win when they fell 88-87 at home to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. “It’s frustrating to be that close in the game and then to not come away with the win,” Orlando forward Tobias Harris told the team’s website. “It’s real disheartening, but with these things, we’ve got to learn from them.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Oklahoma, FSN Florida (Orlando)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (1-0): Kevin Durant struggled to 22 points on 6-of-19 shooting in his return from foot surgery but Russell Westbrook hit a key 3-pointer among his 33 points and Enes Kanter went for 15 points and 16 rebounds off the bench. Donovan is using Kanter and starting center Steven Adams in a rotation and leans on Kanter on the offensive end. “The most important thing is to just stay focused and locked in to what coach is telling me to do,” Kanter told reporters. “When I’m out there I’m just trying to do my best and help my teammates.”
ABOUT THE MAGIC (0-1): Orlando came out on the bad end of a questionable goaltending call toward the end of the game but Skiles was not willing to make excuses for his team. “(The Wizards) made the plays that they had to make and we didn’t,” Skiles told reporters. “That’s kind of what it came down to.” The Magic were hoping to get stronger on the defensive end under Skiles and limited Washington to 39.3 percent shooting in the contest.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder took both meetings last season by an average of 17.5 points.
2. Orlando PG Elfrid Payton came up two assists shy of a triple-double on Wednesday (11 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists).
3. Oklahoma City went 21-of-22 from the free-throw line in the opener, with Westbrook recording the lone miss.