Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook See You Again
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Now that they are healthy, Oklahoma City Thunder superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are ready to reclaim the throne as the NBA's best dynamic duo.
The mark of a slap-up hoops tandem is the ability to coexist every bit alpha dogs. Each player must be productive without stepping on the other's toes. Most chiefly, the pair must observe a manner to elevate its team to new heights.
For years, Durant and Westbrook stood alpine as basketball's best one-ii punch. This season, injuries to both men accept opened the door for other tandems to pale their claim every bit the NBA'southward tag team champions.
Gold State Warriors guards Stephen Back-scratch and Klay Thompson came into the 2014-15 season with anybody from NBA.com'due south Sam Smith to Bleacher Report'south own Grant Hughes calling them the NBA'south best backcourt. They've justified that past existence productive (both above 21 points per game and 39 percent shooting from three) and leading the Warriors to the league'south best record at 29-5.
Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving—not Kevin Love—has emerged as LeBron James' best sidekick in Cleveland. James' one-time teammates, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, have been keeping the Miami Estrus in the playoff race, while the Houston Rockets' James Harden and Dwight Howard continue to make their case every bit the league's best inside-exterior duo.
With competition for their old crown at an best high, it's only a matter of time before the Thunder buddies work themselves back into the give-and-take.
The Dynamic Offense of Durant and Westbrook
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Putting points on the board has always been Durant and Westbrook's strong suit. KD is a four-time scoring champion, while Russ averaged at to the lowest degree 21 points per game for the past 4 seasons.
This yr hasn't been whatsoever dissimilar. While they are kept off the leaderboard due to a lack of games played, the efforts of Westbrook (26.2 points) and Durant (25.0 points) would rank second and fourth in scoring, respectively. Westbrook (29.59) and Durant (29.xi) are also second and tertiary in player efficiency ratings, respectively, per ESPN's Hollinger stats.
The duo has been productive in other areas as well. Both average more than five rebounds a game, and Westbrook is unofficially 12th in the league in assists with 7.1 dimes per game. Here's a expect at how the twosome'southward combined stats compare to other summit pairs:
| Combined Stats of NBA'due south All-time Tandems | ||||
| Players | Squad | Combined Points Per Game | Combined Rebounds Per game | Combined Assists Per Game |
| Russell Westbrook & Kevin Durant | OKC | 51.2 | 11.8 | 10.seven |
| LeBron James & Kyrie Irving | CLE | 46.2 | eight.4 | 12.seven |
| Stephen Back-scratch & Klay Thompson | GSW | 44.5 | 8.5 | eleven.i |
| Dwyane Wade & Chris Bosh | MIA | 44.2 | 11.7 | 7.v |
| James Harden & Dwight Howard | HOU | 44 | 17.4 | eight |
| ESPN.com | ||||
The first two months of Durant's season were marred by injuries and a struggle to return to aristocracy class. Later missing the team's offset 17 games following foot surgery, it took the reigning MVP some time to shake off the rust. But equally he was getting back into the swing of things, he suffered a sprained ankle against the Warriors on December. 18. Equally a parting shot, Durant became the first player in NBA history with 30 points in under 20 minutes that night.
The ankle injury kept Durant down for half-dozen games, and he came back with a vengeance on New Twelvemonth's Eve confronting the Phoenix Suns. The Washington, D.C. native unleashed death penalty to the tune of 44 points, ten rebounds and 7 assists in hands his best operation of the year.
"Information technology felt proficient," Durant said afterward, per the Associated Printing. "My teammates wererunning plays for me and getting me open shots. I only tried to finish for them. My shots felt good and that win felt better."
Since his 2nd triumphant return, Durant has contributed 29.6 points, 8.iv rebounds and 3.6 assists in five games. On the flavour, he's shooting 52.2 pct from the field and 42.five pct from downtown. He'south too posting an offensive rating of 117.6, which is skillful for 20th in the NBA. It's safe to say the Durantula is back now.
As for Westbrook, he made a strong render from a cleaved hand (32 points, viii assists and seven rebounds in 24 minutes confronting the New York Knicks on Nov. 29) but has had trouble finding the bottom of the basket. His 43 percent shooting from the field and 26.iv percent mark from three are his worst efforts since his second pro flavor.
Despite that, Westbrook still leads the league with an offensive box plus/minus (estimate of points per 100 possessions a player contributes above league boilerplate) of 9.eight and an overall box plus/minus of eleven.three, per Basketball game-Reference.com. He besides makes upwards for his lackluster shooting affect by unleashing highlight reel dunks like this one against the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 7:
Durant and Westbrook's gaudy offensive numbers may be skewed past their lack of fourth dimension on the court, simply their ability to hit the ground running is a good sign going forward.
Underrated Defense force
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Whether overshadowed by their ascendant offense or considering their piece of work isn't as obvious, Westbrook and Durant don't get the credit they deserve on the defensive end. Westbrook, in item, made it a point this season to do whatever he could to plant himself as the league's best stopper, as he toldUSA Today Sports' Sam Amick:
I defend every night but I told myself in the summertime time that I actually needed to lock back in defensively and attempt to exist the all-time defensive player in the league. …
…For us to win games, we've got to defend. We tin can score with the best of them; we can do that every nighttime. But I recollect defense is something that we've got to take pride in every bit a unit of measurement. Information technology starts with me, and my job is to be able to come up out and set the tone defensively and kind of continue going from in that location.
Westbrook has certainly done his part and then far. His 2.17 steals per game rank him third in the league, with simply Curry and the Memphis Grizzlies' Tony Allen better at pilfering the rock. The Long Beach mistiness is also third with a steal percentage (rate of possessions that terminate in a steal when a player is on the floor) of 3.vi.
Meanwhile, Durant's quiet demeanor has translated to his stealthy efforts on D. According to NBA.com, opponents shoot 42.2 percentage with KD guarding them, compared to 44.seven percent ordinarily. He also posts a defensive rating of 102, which is on par with known defenders such every bit the New Orleans Pelicans' Anthony Davis and the Warriors' Andre Iguodala.
This chart offers a expect at how Durant's and Westbrook's individual defensive efforts stack up against the balance of the pack.
| Durant and Westbrook'south D Vs. Other Acme Twosomes | ||||
| Name | Team | Dedicated Field Goal Percentage | Normal Opponents' Field Goal Percentage (Difference) | Defensive Rating |
| Russell Westbrook | OKC | 46.v | 44.seven (+two.3) | 101 |
| Kevin Durant | OKC | 42.2 | 44.7 (-2.v) | 102 |
| LeBron James | CLE | 43.viii | 44.4 (-0.half-dozen) | 108 |
| Kyrie Irving | CLE | 47.4 | 43.8 (+three.6) | 110 |
| Stephen Back-scratch | GSW | 39.4 | 43.9 (-four.6) | 98 |
| Klay Thompson | GSW | 37.5 | 43.ii (-five.eight) | 101 |
| Chris Bosh | MIA | 49.3 | 46.6 (+2.7) | 108 |
| Dwyane Wade | MIA | 40.8 | 44 (-3.2) | 112 |
| James Harden | HOU | 43.four | 44.vi (-one.2) | 100 |
| Dwight Howard | HOU | 46.9 | 46.5 (+0.v) | 98 |
| NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com | ||||
Among these contingents, Back-scratch and Thompson take done the best chore of locking opponents down. However, Durant and Westbrook aren't that far backside. The Thunder duo'south ability to friction match or even surpass The Splash Brothers' work on defence volition go a long mode to making them the league's best accommodating tandem.
Rocky Widner/Getty Images
For the get-go fourth dimension in a long time, Durant and Westbrook face an uphill battle to reclaim the title of the NBA'south all-time one-two punch. While the duo was busy nursing injuries, some of the league's best tandems saw an opportunity to found their flag.
At present that KD and Russ have leapt over the biggest hurdle of the season in getting salubrious, the real work tin can be done. The first step is leading the Thunder to the playoffs. Any merits to being the league's top pair becomes moot without the postseason, and Oklahoma Metropolis is currently ii-and-a-one-half games behind the Phoenix Suns for the eighth seed in the Due west.
If Westbrook tin can regain his shooting touch and Durant tin can stay good for you, the ii dark-horse MVP candidates have the gamble to take back what used to exist theirs.
The Thunder buddies are no longer watching the throne.
They are set up to bring information technology back to Oklahoma City.
Note: All stats current equally of Jan. 10 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted.
Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2326201-are-kevin-durant-russell-westbrook-again-the-nbas-top-1-2-punch
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