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- Nets coach Avery Johnson said he was concerned about playing DeShawn Stevenson and Shawne Williams heavy minutes. Stevenson would start, and Johnson hoped to play Williams about ten minutes.
- The Nets announced that guard Damion James will undergo right foot surgery on Tuesday at the Indiana University Health Hospital in Indianapolis. According to a press release, the surgery will “involve the replacement of a screw in James’s fifth metatarsal.”
- “I’m just trying to tell him that’s going to be fine,” the Thunder’s Kevin Durant said. Durant and James played together at the Uarsalniversity of Texas.
- Durant spoke about spending the summer and fall playing street basketball across the country. “People see you on TV,” he said. “They say, ‘oh he’s not that good’ or ‘stuff he’s doing in the league, he can’t do here.’ So I like to prove people wrong.” Durant was especially fond of getting to compete on the playgrounds of New York City. “It was a dream of mine to play at Rucker Park,” he said.
- This game marks the first of three in three days for the Nets. The Nets and Thunder engaged in a triple overtime thriller last season in Newark, won by the Thunder. With Durant out, Russell Westbrook registered 38 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists. “Video game numbers,” Durant said of some of Westbrook’s statistical exploits.
–Jake Appleman
