Daily Thunder.com

Zach Lowe of Grantland writing about Game 3, but with some fascinating post-Westbrook stuff: “Durant dribbled the ball 377 times in Game 3, about 240 more dribbles than he averaged per game for the season, according to data provided exclusively to Grantland from the SportVU camera system installed in 15 NBA arenas, including in both Houston and Oklahoma City. That number is between 50 and 100 fewer dribbles than the most dribbly point guards — Tony Parker, Westbrook, Mike Conley, Damian Lillard, et al. — averaged in recorded games, but it’s in the same neighborhood as the per-game averages for some point guards who don’t pound the ball quite as much (Kyrie Irving, Ricky Rubio, Ty Lawson, and others), per the SportVU data. Durant touched the ball 111 times in Game 3, almost double his season average, and a number that would’ve led the entire league, per the camera data.”

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: “Outside his locker on Monday night, the smile curled over Beverley’s mouth. As the Rockets guards go, Beverley (16 points, four rebounds, three assists and no turnovers) had been far better in every way than Harden (15 points, three assists and an ungodly 10 turnovers). Out of nowhere, Beverley refuses to stop impacting this series and suddenly is turning into a cornerstone player for the Rockets’ future. For now, he’ll simply be the most hated man in Chesapeake Energy Arena on Wednesday night. Nevertheless, Beverley promises it won’t be the most volatile setting of his young career. At 24 years old, he’s been to basketball oblivion and back, and these circumstances bring out the ferocity with him.” Keep Reading…

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “The performance was powerful, if inefficient. Durant had the ball in his hands to the start game, dictating tempo and turbulence and constructing for these Thunder a 26-point lead. From bringing the ball down the court to lunging at Jeremy Lin for a steal as the Rockets guard called timeout, the way Patrick Beverley had done on the Game 2 play to injure Westbrook, there hung an element of tribute in the air. Nevertheless, Oklahoma City lost the lead, largely because Durant struggled to make too few of his 30 shots, because Kevin Martin and Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison missed 21 of 27 tries together. At times, yes, Durant tried too hard, but the statement to his teammates was unmistakable in the absence of Westbrook: I can do this. Most of all, he needs to show them: We can do this.”

Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “Durant showed up Saturday night at the Toyota Center badly wanting to transmit to the rest of the basketball universe that the Thunder won’t be just rolling over and waiting ’til next year in the wake of the lunchtime confirmation that Westbrook, after undergoing knee surgery, indeed won’t be back this season. But the wild ride that ensued, with Harden uncharacteristically missing five free throws and committing two costly turnovers in the final two minutes after playing more than 40 minutes without one, left a different sort of impression. Now everyone knows just how heavy Durant’s load just got if he simply wants to lead Russ-less OKC back to the Western Conference finals.” Keep Reading…