Daily Thunder.com

Chris Mannix of SI.com: “The confidence inside Durant, in this Thunder team grows by the day and everyone is on the same page. Talk of a rift between Durant and Russell Westbrook is old news, and the whispers that maybe, just maybe these two alpha males can’t play together get quieter by the day. Westbrook is a critical cog but this is Durant’s team. Soon, it could be his league, too. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ceded the throne to Michael Jordan, Jordan to Kobe. It’s assumed that, eventually, Kobe will step aside for LeBron. Durant may have a say in that. As the injury to Chris Bosh puts the title hopes of the Super Friends in Miami in doubt, the door is open for someone else to seize Kobe’s throne. Someone, perhaps, more like him.”

Chris Broussard of ESPN.com wonders if a ring would make KD the game’s top player: “To find a cautionary tale, all you have to do is go back five seasons to when James was annihilating Detroit in The Palace, leading an unheralded and largely untalented cast of Cleveland Cavaliers past the ballyhooed and championship-proven Detroit Pistons as a 22-year-old. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that in 2012 James would still not have a ring. Honestly, I thought he’d have at least two and probably more by now. So let’s let this thing play out first. But if the way it plays out is with Durant averaging 30 points per game in a postseason that ends with an Oklahoma City title, it might be hard to argue that the skinny scorer in OKC is not the baddest baller on the planet.” Keep Reading…

George Karl: “I think all season long everybody in basketball thought Oklahoma City was the best team in the west, but were they mature enough to show that? I think last night, I think everybody right now, I think it’s going to be a San Antonio-Oklahoma City thing. San Antonio is playing with so much flow and rhythm and rhythmatic offense and their defense is not great but it is solid. It’s still a pretty good defensive team. Their offense is so in flow right now I love watching San Antonio play. And this is the time of year where there’s a separation and I’m not ready to sign the contract but I’m pretty sure Oklahoma City is a higher degree than everybody else right now, along with, probably, San Antonio. … I’m very prejudiced toward the west. I’ll be honest with you, I think there’s four or five teams in the West that can beat Miami.”

Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN LA on adjustments: “Cohesion for the pick and roll defense. Too often Russell Westbrook was able to turn the corner and step into a mid-range jumper without being bothered. Same with Kevin Durant. The Lakers have to apply more pressure higher on the floor, and more importantly need to make sure everyone is on the same page in his coverages. Clearly that wasn’t the case Monday night. Westbrook, Durant, and particularly James Harden are all elite level scorers handling the ball on the pick and roll, and will require elite level defense in response. It’s not simply a question of playing the Kobe Bryant-on-Westbrook card. They tried that in Game 1, and it wasn’t effective because the overall coverages weren’t good.” Keep Reading…