Kevin Durant spoke highly of Gregg Popovich hours before the start of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Durant will be a free agent in the offseason.

“No matter how many moving parts they have on the team, he always stays consistent with what he does,” Durant said.

“Having a coach, a really good coach is probably the most important thing in this league. Because you can have all the great players you want, but if you have someone to orchestrate it, that’s what they have. They’ve got great players, but they also have a great coach to put them in positions that utilizes all their strengths as individuals and make it come together as a team.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks 118-104 to win the series 4-1.

Russell Westbrook scored 36 points with 12 rebounds and 9 assists while Kevin Durant added 33 points of his own.

As the West's #3 seed, the Thunder will face the Spurs in Round Two. The series will start Saturday, April 30th.

The NBA fined Russell Westbrook $25,000 for "directing inappropriate language toward a fan" during Oklahoma City's Game 4 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Kevin Durant was ejected from Saturday's Game Four win against the Dallas Mavericks for a blow to the head of Justin Anderson.

The rule for a Flagrant 2 is "unnecessary and excessive contact" and the league office will review the foul with the latitude to suspend Durant for Game 5 of the series, which the Thunder lead 3-1.

The NBA sent out a memo to teams before the playoffs emphasizing the crackdown on blows to the head whether or not they were intentional. 

On Sunday, Durant was fined $15,000 but not suspended.

The Washington Wizards hired the ex-coach of Kevin Durant in Scott Brooks but it is not expected to make a difference in his free agency decision.

Friends say Durant isn't keen on returning to his hometown. Durant's inner circle has tightened considerably in recent years and he isn't interested in dealing with distant friends and family members.

Durant's lone visit to Washington this season was stressful, according to sources.

Durant respects Brooks and even missed him at various points in the season. Despite Brooks' limitations as a head coach, Durant knew he held everyone accountable and had a track record of player development.

For the first time since the death of his wife, Ingrid, following a Feb. 9 car crash, Monty Williams was at Chesapeake Energy Arena for Game 1 of the Oklahoma City Thunder series against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Thunder announced March 11 that Williams wouldn't return to the team this season.

In March, Billy Donovan said Williams' return will likely be decided after his children finish their academic school year.

“He’s still, in my opinion, part of this family, part of this organization,” Donovan said. “I think the one thing we’ve always tried to do here is always extend an open invitation."

Williams was also at Oklahoma City's practice before Game 1 on Friday.

Kevin Durant endorsed Scott Brooks to get another chance as an NBA head coach.

Brooks was fired last season by the Oklahoma City Thunder and he's now a candidate for the Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings.

“I can’t keep saying it enough, Scotty did a great job with us,” Durant said. “It’s nothing against him, but it’s different. Different plays, different schemes, different terms and what we want to do on both ends of the floor.”

Durant talked about how Brooks coached last season with a limited roster due to injuries.

“In Coach Brooks’ defense, he didn’t have me, Russ, Enes, Serge, Dion and A-Mo all on the court at the same time,” Durant said. “Obviously when you have more scorers out there, your numbers are gonna be up.

"That just shows we've got multiple guys out there that can put numbers on the board and we've been doing it at a high level this year.”

Russell Westbrook leads the NBA in "grab and go buckets" with 85 for the season.

A "grab and go" is defined as either a player's own unassisted make or assists to teammates in seven seconds or less following a defensive rebound.

Draymond Green ranks second with 65.

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook have been named the NBA's Players of the Month for March.

In the month of March, James appeared in 14 games (10-4) and averaged 25.6 points on .538 shooting from the field, 8.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.1 minutes per game. 

Westbrook led the Thunder to an 11-5 record behind averages of 21.7 points, 10.6 assists (third in the NBA) and 8.3 rebounds.  His seven triple-doubles in March were the most in a calendar month since Michael Jordan had seven in April 1989.

Stanley Johnson said comments from Kevin Durant were “uncalled for” and said Durant “disrespected” the franchise.

Durant criticized how Reggie Jackson enjoyed himself too much at the end of the Detroit Pistons' 88-82 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I wanted to play against Detroit, for sure, but you know, it's Detroit. Who cares about Detroit?” Durant said to explain his reasoning for skipping the game.

“If he wanted to have an impact on the game, he should have just played,” Johnson said after this morning’s shoot-around.

“No one is scared of playing against him on this side of town,” Johnson said. “Next year we have two games scheduled, and I know, for me, it's circled on my schedule from now on.”

Durant called Jackson's actions as "bush league."

“I don't think we're something to play with,” Johnson said. “I think we can be a playoff team and you gotta respect that. I think by saying that, he disrespected our whole team.”