The Thunder plays its only back-to-back preseason games Monday night in Houston and Tuesday night against the Spurs in Austin. "Our practice (today) will be a little shorter, but it's going to be a hard practice, not the normal practice before a regular season game," coach Scott Brooks said. "I love having back-to-back games during the preseason. "No matter what you do, no matter how many days you practice, back-to-back takes a toll on you physically. It's a good barometer to see where guys are. I'm not going to play guys in the high 30s but they're going to get quite a few minutes."
DURANT'S IMPROVED DEFENSE
Kevin Durant said he's committed to being a player who makes an impact on both ends of the court.
"In training camp, and our four exhibition games, you're seeing Kevin is a better defender," Brooks said. "Kevin is a long, active athlete who can get his hands on a lot of balls and challenge a lot of shots. It's hard to make a shot over someone who has long arms, is 6-10 and can jump."
15TH ROSTER SPOT
In a tough economy, some NBA teams are going with 13 or 14 players to trim payroll. Brooks said general manager Sam Presti makes the ultimate decision.
"It has to make sense," Brooks said. "Among the four guys, one has to earn that spot. We're not going to just give it out and say we're 15 strong. But we have an open spot."
Brooks would be surprised if the Thunder stayed with only 14 players. Ryan Bowen, Michael Ruffin, Mike Harris and Tre Kelley are competing for one roster vacancy.
STAT LEADERS
The Thunder has four players listed among preseason league leaders.
Durant is fourth in scoring (23.0) and second in the points/rebounds/assists combined category.
Russell Westbrook is second in assists (8.5) and sixth in steals (2.25). Jeff Green is fourth in minutes (31.2) and in the top 20 in scoring (15.2).
