Warriors' Durant questionable for visit to OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant was emotional last season during his first visit back to face the Oklahoma City Thunder after signing with the Golden State Warriors.

A year later, after helping the Warriors win a title and unloading on the Thunder on Twitter during the offseason, Durant said his emotions have changed entering the Warriors' first trip to Chesapeake Energy Arena.

"It's just a regular game for me now," Durant said Tuesday after the Warriors finished a practice in New York before traveling to Oklahoma City for the Wednesday game. "I learned to tune out the crowd, I learned to tune out the bull -- and just play."

Durant, who was once a hero in Oklahoma City but who now draws plenty of ire from Thunder fans, might not play Wednesday. He sprained his left ankle Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers and then missed the Warriors' win over the Brooklyn Nets the next night.

He is listed as questionable for Wednesday.

"I don't know," Durant said Tuesday. "We'll see how it feels in the morning, but right now, it feels good."

Golden State coach Steve Kerr hopes the atmosphere in Oklahoma City will be more subdued than a year ago when Durant scored 34 in a 16-point win.

"We're a year removed from the first one, so hopefully it'll be a little less hostile," Kerr said.

Durant's Warriors are looking like a championship team again, starting 13-4 and winning nine of their past 10.

On the other side, Oklahoma City (7-9) remade its roster in the offseason with an eye toward competing with Golden State.

The Thunder added not only stars Paul George and Carmelo Anthony but role players Raymond Felton and Patrick Patterson as well.

The team that last season was Russell Westbrook and four role players now has a legitimate big three to compete with the Warriors' Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Yet entering play Wednesday, the Thunder are just looking to find their footing.

Most everything has been a struggle early in the season, with the Thunder regularly building big leads before letting them slip away.

Just in the past two games, the Thunder blew a 23-point lead in San Antonio dissipate before losing 104-101 to the Spurs, and then they blew a 19-point lead in New Orleans en route to a 114-107 defeat Monday night.

"It really doesn't matter who we have next at this point," Westbrook said. "It's really about us. Regardless of other teams, we know if we play the way we're supposed to play for 48 minutes, it's hard to beat us. That's all we worry about as a team."

Thunder coach Billy Donovan added, "To be able to play against high-level, elite teams, you're gonna have to play for 48 minutes."

While Oklahoma City has struggled to maintain big leads, the Warriors have specialized in falling behind early before turning things around and pulling out wins.

Four times this season, Golden State trailed by 15 or more points before coming back to win. The Warriors were behind by 24 to Philadelphia on Saturday before coming rallying for a 124-116 victory. On Nov. 2, the Warriors trailed San Antonio by 19 before outscoring the Spurs 100-61 the rest of the way to win in a blowout.