Russell Westbrook spent part of the offseason watching tape of the technical fouls he accrued during the 14-15 season.

Westbrook noticed all the "dumb s***" he was doing and decided to try to reduce them.

Westbrook has four technical fouls in 31 games so far this season compared to 15 in 67 last season.

Marcin Gortat and Russell Westbrook have been named NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Dec. 21 through Sunday, Dec. 27.

Gortat led the Wizards to a 3-0 week behind averages of 21.3 points (tied-fifth in the East), 11.7 rebounds (tied-sixth in the conference) and 1.67 blocks (10th in the conference). He posted two point-rebound double-doubles, including a 27-point, 16-rebound effort during a 113-99 win over the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 21.  On Dec. 26, Gortat posted 25 points and seven rebounds during a 111-96 win over the Brooklyn Nets, which helped the Wizards improve to 14-14 on the season.

Westbrook helped the Thunder to a 3-1 week behind averages of 28.0 points (second in the West), 8.8 assists (fourth in the conference), 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 steals (tied-first in the conference).  He tallied two 30-point games, a six-steal game and a 12-assist game.  On Dec. 27, Westbrook fell one rebound shy of his fourth triple-double of the season when he posted 30 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in a 122-112 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were the first teammates to each have at least 25 points and 10 assists in a regulation game since Utah's John Stockton (31 points, 11 assists) and Karl Malone (27 points, 10 assists) on Feb. 2, 1996.

Durant had 26 points and 10 assists while Westbrook had 30 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in a 122-112 win by the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Denver Nuggets.

LeBron James believes Kevin Durant is capable of breaking the career scoring record of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"His ability to score the ball is obviously up there with the greatest to ever play," James said. "I know that's not in his memory bank right now, him trying to help the team get better and better, but long term he definitely can challenge that."

James said Durant has an unprecedented combination of skills.

"He's a 7-footer with 6-foot ballhandling skills and a jump shot," James said. "And athleticism. It's never been done in our league. Never had a guy that's 7 foot, can jump like that, can shoot like that, handle the ball like that. So it sets him apart."

The Oklahoma City Thunder have had positive and constructive dealings with Roc Nation since they took over Kevin Durant's representation two years ago.

There were initially concerns within the Thunder organization that the presence of Roc Nation would influence Durant to move a bigger market.

But Roc Nation's first major contract was for Robinson Cano to leave the New York Yankees for the Seattle Mariners.

Roc Nation also negotiated with Under Armour for Durant before finally agreeing upon a new deal with Nike.

The Oklahoma City Thunder has assigned forward Josh Huestis and guard Cameron Payne to the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA Development League.

Huestis has appeared in eight games (all starts) for the Blue this season, averaging 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.38 blocks in 34.0 minutes per game. He has not appeared in a game for the Oklahoma City this year. 

Payne has appeared in 11 games for the Thunder this season, averaging 1.4 points in 4.0 minutes per game. In his lone assignment, the rookie guard recorded 19 points, seven assists and four steals during the Blue’s 116-92 victory over the Westchester Knicks on Dec. 5.

Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan have been named the NBA's Players of the Week.

DeRozan was the leading scorer in three of Toronto’s four victories last week, posting averages of 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

Durant led Oklahoma City to a 4-0 record behind averages of 27.3 points (third in the league), 8.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists (ninth in conference), and 1.8 steals. He shot 59.7 percent from the floor (fourth in the conference) while scoring 30 or more points in two games and was 26-of-27 (96.3 percent) from the foul line. 

UCLA will name the floor of the Men's Basketball practice facility Russell Westbrook Court after his significant financial contribution.

The gift is the largest by a former basketball student-athlete in UCLA history.

"Russell isn’t merely a dominant force in the NBA, he’s a force to be reckoned with in the community as well,” said Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero. “While his Why Not? Foundation’s mission is to inspire the lives of children and teach them to never give up, the fact of the matter is, having witnessed firsthand and from afar his growth over the years, Russell himself is an inspiration. We could not be more proud of his leadership both on and off the court since he left Westwood, and I know the Bruin faithful will be excited to welcome him back home next month and thank him for this tremendous gift.”

Westbrook played two seasons at UCLA.

"I loved my time at UCLA and jumped at the opportunity to give back to the University that provided me with amazing opportunities and great memories,” said Westbrook. “I am truly honored to be part of the legacy that is Bruin basketball.”

Kevin Durant leads the NBA in points per possession on isolation plays at 1.21.

Durant was asked if he feels like his efficiency is higher than it's ever been.

"Yeah, I pride myself on being efficient. That's something I've worked on for years. It may not be a lot. It may not be the 25, 30 shots some people want to see me shoot. There may be nights where I have to shoot those shots. But more times than not, I want to be able to score as much as I can with less shots, try to be as aggressive as I can with less shots. That's a challenge for me. I think that helps my teammates as well. They're getting shots and we're scoring a high amount of points. It's something I think about every single game, but sometimes I have to scratch that and get them up. Depends on how the game is going."

Russell Westbrook had 13 points and 16 assists in 25 minutes in a 125-88 blowout win by the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Memphis Grizzlies. Kevin Durant scored 32 points.

"When we play together like that, we make the game easier," Durant said. "We were just playing smooth basketball. It was beautiful to watch. It was a fun game to play."

"I can't say enough about what Russell did," Billy Donovan said. "In my opinion, he's one of the rare guys in the league that can dominate a game without scoring. 

"What he did tonight -- setting up his teammates, the 16 assists and the unselfishness -- started with him and Kevin."

"I try to set the table for guys and try to find ways to get everybody going, especially on the road," Westbrook said. "We just kept the pace hot.

"They kind of like to rough you up a little bit. I thought we did a good job of setting the tone on both ends of the floor."