He did not have to talk about it after a 105-91 victory over the Clippers that night. The Thunder scored the first two points, nine of the first 10, and the Clippers never caught up.
“I like the way we came out,” Durant said. “We started the game well defensively and it kind of helped us on offense. Guys just came out and played hard.”
Perhaps even more encouraging for the Thunder was they beat a fellow Western Conference contender on a night when one of their best players did not have his best game. Westbrook hit only 5-of-11 from the field, missed all six 3-pointers and ended the night with 12 points, considerably less than his 21.6 average for the season.
But Serge Ibaka had 17, the bench was good with 35 points and the Thunder did exactly what they were supposed to do – beat a Clippers team that had played the previous night in Minnesota.
“I thought that was as well as we could execute a game plan,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said.
The Thunder continue to be the NBA’s Great Young Experiment. Circumstances caused them to make the decision to trade James Harden before last season and after their only appearance in the Finals. They are undoubtedly not a better team without Harden, who became one of those decisions made for business reasons rather than immediate competitive reasons.
But even without Harden and Kevin Martin – Harden’s replacement who left as a free agent for Minnesota after last season – the Thunder still have a team that can compete for a championship.
As they age and mature, Durant and Westbrook – each of whom is 25 and locked into a long-term contract – are having the effect expected from superstars on lesser players who play necessary roles. Even though it’s early, two role players have received considerably more playing time from last season – backup point guard Reggie Jackson (23.2 minutes this season; 14.2 last season) and forward Jeremy Lamb (18.9 compared to 6.4).
It is obvious that to overcome the personnel losses of the last two years, players have to grow into more prominent 
roles, and that seems to be happening.
And if the Thunder need additional help, they can always consider bringing some of their fans off the bench. In consecutive home games last week, a fan made a shot from the half-court line to win $20,000. In fact, in the last 22 games, fans have made the shot five times.
Perhaps that is part of something special that is continuing to happen in Oklahoma City. It was significant enough to bring Beyoncè and Jay-Z to town, so even the beautiful people are attracted to one of the NBA’s smallest markets.
Whether they have enough to win a title will be determined on the floor, but it is obvious that the Thunder – with or without style points – will continue to make some serious noise.
CHECK OUT JAN HUBBARD’S ARCHIVE FROM SHERIDAN HOOPS.COM. TERRIFIC STUFF ON THE NBA, PAST AND PRESENT.
Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.