McEvoy said.ddddddddddddt was just a beautiful ride as he showed patience and poise and gave the horse every chance.We wouldnt gain anything by putting anyone else on him because no-one could hav

It was sometime after 10 p.m. local time on May 30, and Kevin Durant was still lingering on the floor of Oracle Arena. Confetti was splashed all over the floor, the Golden State Warriors were celebrating and Durant stood near the visitors tunnel, jersey untucked, just sort of ... lingering.Durant had scored 27 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7, including seven straight to cut the Golden State Warriors lead to four with 1:40 left. He was spent, both physically and emotionally. A 3-1 series lead had slipped through his hands, and the Thunder had fallen short of the Finals. His team already back in the locker room, Durant stood alone for a few seconds, before ducking through the tunnel and off the floor.The Thunder make their return to Oracle for the first time since that fateful Game 7 on Thursday and not just without Durant, but to play against him. The floor Durant walked off crestfallen in May is now his home for the foreseeable future.For the Thunder, it will be a jarring experience. Some within the organization have said they arent sure how theyll react to seeing Durant on the other bench. Some have said theyve moved on and wont be fazed. Among the latter is Russell Westbrook, who is pragmatic -- Durant is an opponent, and Westbrook doesnt like opponents. In some ways, Westbrook is ambivalent, claiming his team has his only attention. He didnt watch Durants first game with the Warriors, instead playing poker with friends and finding out about the score only when his wife told him the next morning.Westbrook and Durant spent eight seasons together, but their supposedly unbreakable bond was severed when Durant announced he was joining the Warriors on July 4. When they meet on the floor Thursday, it will be the first time theyve spoken since (assuming they speak). All eyes will be on their handshake before tipoff, but Westbrook doesnt do that before games with opponents. He sprints under the opposing basket, stares into the crowd, pumps his arms and gets ready to play. The only people he daps up are the ones wearing the same jersey as him. He says he only has one friend during a game: the ball.The Thunder have started 4-0, the lone unbeaten left in the West, and have taken on a part of Westbrooks personality as their identity. They play hard, theyre not always pretty, they mess up plenty, but they dont let up. Theres so much attention on Westbrook and Durant, its been overlooked this will be an uncomfortable night for Nick Collison, for Steven Adams, for Anthony Morrow, for Enes Kanter and for Andre Roberson. They all believed Durant was coming back, too. Everyone is fascinated by how Westbrook might play -- will he try to dunk so hard a vortex is created in downtown Oakland and Durant is swallowed whole by it? -- but its going to be worth watching Westbrooks teammates.We all played with Kevin, we all were disappointed he left, Collison said. So its not like its just Russ. Its something that were all going to deal with, seeing one of our guys playing somewhere else. Itll be a big game and everyones going to play hard for sure but theres a lot of reasons thats going to happen.Durant, by nature, is a pretty non-confrontational person. Hes easy going, easy to get along with and adaptable to any group of people. He wants the idea that theres a beef with Westbrook to evaporate. Westbrook, though, is guarded, skeptical and values loyalty. He doesnt mind butting heads with anyone, whether its a teammate, a coach or a reporter. It sets a strange scenario on Thursday, one where theres genuine unknown of what may happen.Theyre gonna play basketball, Anthony Morrow said. Thats it.The Thunder return to Oracle six months later in a different world. When they left on May 30, they thought theyd be coming back better and stronger than ever, the likely favorite to win it all. Instead, theyre a franchise that was pushed to the brink of unraveling, and building a new identity behind Westbrook. While most expected them to fall back, Westbrook only pushes forward. Asked on Wednesday after their 85-83 win against the Clippers if hes surprised at the way the Thunder have begun the season, Westbrook flashed his trademark disdain.Who said that? Westbrook snapped. A lot of folks, a reporter responded. Westbrook cut his eyes over and defiantly grinned. Thats where they went wrong.DeMarcus Ware Womens Jersey . 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Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN.Tony McEvoy insists the positives outweigh a negative ahead of Scherzosos tilt at the Ballarat Cup.A significant weight drop and the engagement of a jockey who has a good understanding of the five-year-old counterbalance barrier 16 in Saturdays $300,000 Listed race.Scherzoso drops from 60kg to 54kg following a last-start third behind The Chairman over 1800m at Flemington on November 3 when he was ridden by apprentice Ben Allen who retains the ride on Saturday.He travelled beautifully last time and came out to win but he had six kilos more than the winner and I reckon it just told on him, McEvoy said.He drops to the minimum in this race and goes to 2200 metres which I think is what he needs.I think hes ready to take that next step.McEvoy said he had no hesitation engaging Allen who has ridden Scherzoso in his past four starts which include a 2000m win at Caulfield in July.McEvoy said there was no-one that could have ridden Scherzoso any better at Flemington.If you have a look at his last start he wass riding against (Hugh) Bowman and (Kerrin) McEvoy, all the best, and from a middle gate he put him in the one-one spot, McEvoy said.ddddddddddddt was just a beautiful ride as he showed patience and poise and gave the horse every chance.We wouldnt gain anything by putting anyone else on him because no-one could have ridden him better than that.McEvoy said the draw was a negative and he was hoping that some time soon his luck would change on that front.Ive had some shocking barriers in the past which has cost me a lot of races over the past year, he said.Depending on how Scherzoso runs out the 2200m of Saturdays race, McEvoy says the Pakenham Cup (2500m) on December 3 could be on the agenda, or a trip to Sydney.Theres some nice stakes races as hes effective on his Sydney leg too, McEvoy said.Scherzoso is rated a $16 chance in early markets with Cool Chap the $7 favourite. 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