Happy Homecoming! Billy D rides Westbrook, Durant for comeback thriller in Orlando
Saturday, October 31, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Football, Chris Harry
ORLANDO -- Billy Donovan had just wrapped eight minutes worth of Q&A with the local media Friday night. Most were locked in on the Oklahoma City Thunder coach's return to the state he once ruled, albeit on a completely different level.
After he thanked the group, Donovan made his way toward the opponent's locker room when he was stopped by a game operations official.
“Coach, we need your starters, please.”
“All right,” Donovan said, pointing to the lineup chart. “Let's go with Durant ... Westbrook ... .”
Right then, he looked up at a friendly media face and smiled.
“How's that, so far?”
Um, good. And Billy D is good so far, also. Very good.
So is his team.
The Thunder, down by 18 in the second half, got 48 points from point guard Russell Westbrook and 43 from forward Kevin Durant in a furious and pulsating 139-136 double-overtime defeat of the Orlando Magic before a raucous sellout of 18,846 at Amway Center.
Westbrook's 40-footer with .07 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 117. Magic guard Victor Olidipo's 3-pointer at the buzzer tied it in the first overtime at 126. Westbrook and Durant had nine of OKC's 13 points in the double-overtime to help put the game away and give their coach a 2-0 start to his NBA career.
“Our guys kept battling back,” Donovan said afterward. “We found a way to pull it out in the end.”
It's only two games into his rookie NBA season, but Donovan seems to be loving his new life. Of course, having two of the best players on the planet doesn't hurt.
The NBA schedule-makers obviously knew what they were doing when they matched the Thunder against the loaded San Antonio Spurs in the season-opener for both teams Wednesday night, then dispatched the Thunder to Florida for Donovan's first road game, which happened to be against the team for which he was named head coach in 2007 and kept the job for about 72 hours.
In Donovan's debut two nights earlier, the Thunder came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the Spurs in a 112-106 thriller between two of the league's best teams. His second game showcased his two best players, as Durant and Westbrook scored 40 or more for the third time in their careers (the first time since 2012). No other duo in NBA history has done it more than once.
"It was one of the best games I've ever played in," Olidipo said. "I just wish we won."
More than three dozen of Donovan's family members and friends were in the house to see it, scattered throughout the lower bowl, some of them -- including wife Christine -- decked out in their blue and orange (light blue, by the way) team colors.
“The wisest choice I made was turning that responsibility over to my wife. She was in charge of that,” Donovan said earlier the of ticket-securing duties. “I'm sure I'll get a chance to see some people from Florida who will come down.”
The Gators team, now under direction of Mike White, practiced Friday night in advance of a Saturday scrimmage, so Donovan's former players and support staff members weren't there, but the wife locked up 40 tickets for others. There was a noticeable Thunder following in the arena.
Texts from Donovan's UF family had been blowing up his phone all week, what with well-wishes heading into the season, congratulations for his opening victory and anticipation of Friday's homecoming.
For the local media, Donovan's spot on the Orlando sidelines was another opportunity to revisit his return to the city where he coached and then didn't. Truth be told, though, the story is fairly tired by now, given that Donovan has played at Amway five times since he was introduced as the Magic coach, only to change his mind two days later. He lost to UCF in 2010, beat Stetson in 2011 for his 400th career victory, and won second- and third-round NCAA Tournament games (against Albany and Pittsburgh) en route to the 2014 Final Four.
He also was here in July for the NBA's summer league.
“If anything, it feels a little different just being back in the state of Florida,” Donovan said.
As for the difference in the basketball, the wider free-throw lane and deep 3-point line make the NBA game a radically more spaced one than the packed-in college game, Donovan explained. And on the increased number of games -- more than double a college season -- Donovan said the players being veterans and having a familiarity with personnel and systems across the league is a built-in advantage when it comes to the quick turnaround between contests.
Yes, he's adjusting. And his players appear to be adjusting to him.
It's fun.
Bill Donovan attended the Spurs game and said it was an altogether different thrill compared to Donovan's first college games.
“I love those too, but this thing ... I tell you, it was beyond belief,” he said. “With the players he's got, the atmosphere they have there in Oklahoma City, just the whole thing. It's all taken up a notch, that's all I can say. You can see why a lot of these guys talk about wanting to be the NBA.”
Including his only son.
Billy D gave 19 magnificent years to the Gators. He earned the right to give try his coaching acumen at the game's highest level.
“If he didn't do it,” his father said, “he would have had ants in his pants and been whining about it for the rest of his life.”
