After Russ: It's a new start for the Oklahoma City Thunder

No one knew.

Russell Westbrook had a chance to put the Oklahoma City Thunder ahead in the final moments of Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series against Portland. He tried a layup with 18 seconds left. It missed.

No one knew that was the 17,350th and final shot he would take as a Thunder player, the last time he would touch the ball in an Oklahoma City uniform, the end of an storied 11-year run that — when factoring in both regular-season and postseason games — saw him score more points than anyone else in franchise history.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley (7) dunks during the second half of the team's NBA basketball exhibition game against the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Oklahoma City. (AP PhotoSue Ogrocki)

A new day has arrived in Oklahoma City. The Thunder — one of only two teams to have a better-than-.500 record in each of the last 10 seasons, San Antonio being the other — have pushed the reset button. Westbrook is gone to rejoin James Harden in Houston, Paul George has taken his still-unfulfilled pursuit of a championship to the Los Angeles Clippers, and Oklahoma City is thinking about the future.

"We're still 100 percent focused on building the most sustainable path for an elite team in Oklahoma City, realizing that that's something that eventually we're going to embark on, but we're not at that point yet," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "And we think that this season is one that we should really dive into and experience."

The cupboard is far from bare. Chris Paul — whose first NBA "home" game was 14 years ago in Oklahoma City, back when the New Orleans Hornets had to temporarily relocate there in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — is back in the city, just now as part of the Thunder. He was the big piece the Thunder got back in the trade that sent Westbrook to the Rockets.

Wearing a Chinese-style shirt, Houston Rockets' Russell Westbrook attends a news conference after the team's NBA preseason basketball game against the Toronto Raptors Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, in Saitama, near Tokyo. (AP PhotoJae C. Hong)

Paul was the subject of more trade speculation after the deal between the Rockets and Thunder went down. But he insisted that he's happy to be back in Oklahoma City.

"I think that's the thing that fuels me is competition and always trying to get better, always trying to pay attention, seeing how I can improve," Paul said. "I've got an unbelievable team around me, people who try to help me day in and day out."

That night against Portland in April, Westbrook missed the go-ahead layup, and Damian Lillard made a 37-footer at the buzzer to give the Trail Blazers a 118-115 win — ending the Thunder's season, ultimately ending Westbrook's tenure with the team as well.

"I think our focus right now is on the team that we have," Presti said. "It's going to be a different iteration of Thunder team than we've seen over the last several years. But I would just say that we're going to take a very long view to make sure that we're putting ourselves in position to have a long run of success in Oklahoma City as we possibly can and not shortcut that process."

Here are some things to know about the Thunder this season:

NEW FIVE

Paul will likely be joined Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari, two of the pieces in the George trade to the Los Angeles Clippers, as new starters for Oklahoma City. The faces will change, but the team's mission will not, said returning center Steven Adams. "The one thing this organization does really well is you keep consistent with the values. Doesn't really matter who the players are," Adams said.

ALMOST 200

The first Thunder win this season will be a milestone for coach Billy Donovan. He enters the year 199-129 in his four seasons with the club. In Donovan's first 25 seasons as a head coach — counting his college stints at Marshall and Florida — he's finished with a winning record 22 times.

GALLINARI RISING

For Gallinari, this era of pace-and-space NBA basketball seems to work wonders. He set career bests last season for points per game (19.8) and in field-goal percentage (46.3. He likely would have set another career high for 3-pointers made in a season if he had more appearances; he had 161 3s in 68 games last season, 25 shy of his personal-best 186 in 81 games for New York in 2009-10.

FACING RUSS

The Thunder won't have to wait long before facing Westbrook as an opponent for the first time — Oklahoma City goes to Houston on Oct. 28. But the Rockets and Thunder play only three times this season, and that means Houston's trip to OKC on Jan. 9 will be Westbrook's lone appearance as a visitor on his former home floor during the 2019-20 campaign.

ELDER MOVEMENT

The Thunder are revamped, but certainly didn't bring in a bunch of inexperience. The three oldest players on their roster this season — the 34-year-old Paul, 31-year-old Gallinari and 28-year-old Mike Muscala — are all newly acquired.

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero had 31 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Suggs added 24 points and the Orlando Magic handed Cleveland the worst playoff loss in franchise history, winning 121-83 on Thursday night to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Franz Wagner finished with 16 points and eight assists for the Magic, who led by 43 points in the fourth quarter on the way to the third-largest margin of victory in a playoff game. They earned their first playoff victory since 2019 and the first on their home floor since April 26, 2011.

They can even the series with a victory at home Sunday.

Jarrett Allen had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot 39% from the field and 23.5% from 3-point range. Caris LeVert added 15 points and Donovan Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists.

76ERS 125, KNICKS 114

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 50 points, making all four 3-point attempts and scoring 18 in a potential series-shifting third quarter to lead Philadelphia to a win over New York in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Embiid boldly stated “we’re going to win this series” after the 76ers dropped Game 2.

With one of the finest postseason efforts of his career, Embiid became the third player to ever score 50 points against the Knicks in the postseason and kept the hope of a Philadelphia series comeback very much alive.

The Knicks lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

Embiid was 13 of 19 from the floor overall, made 19 of 21 free throws and hit five 3-pointers.

NUGGETS 112, LAKERS 105

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Gordon had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, and Denver moved to the brink of the second round with a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their first-round series..

Jamal Murray scored 22 points as the defending NBA champion Nuggets won their 11th consecutive meeting with LeBron James and the Lakers in dominating style.

Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points for Denver, which took control in the third quarter and cruised through the final minutes to its fifth straight road win over Los Angeles, starting with its sweep of last season’s Western Conference finals.

Game 4 is Saturday night in Los Angeles. No NBA team has ever rallied from an 0-3 playoff deficit.

Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) makes a shot as he gets past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)