The crowd knew what was coming before he stepped on the court.
“Starting at guard ...” the announcer began, and a burst of cheers welcomed Russell Westbrook back.
That was before the Thunder sputtered to a 131-120 loss to the Kings on Sunday, despite a 32-point, eight-assist and 12-rebound performance from Westbrook in his first game back from offseason arthroscopic knee surgery. Now Oklahoma City has three days to figure out how to how to take advantage of his return before Boston comes to town.
“I think it's important, “ Thunder coach Billy Donovan said of being able to practice with Westbrook in and Dennis Schroder with the second unit.