--F Kevin Durant will have his University of Texas jersey retired on Feb. 25. Eight other former Longhorns are also having their jerseys retired, joining only four previous recipients.

"I'm honored to be a part of that group," Durant said. "This is an exciting time for me and my family and I just can't wait to get it retired and I can't wait for the game."

--F Jeff Green enjoyed the Rookie Challenge at All-Star weekend, especially getting a chance to play on the Sophomore team with Kevin Durant and against rookie teammate Russell Westbrook.

"Lot of trash talking back and forth," Green said after the sophomores won. "It was fun. There are a lot of bragging rights for this game. We've been talking about it for the past two weeks. It was fun. Kevin dunked on Russell, Russell dunked on Kevin, I shot a (three-pointer) in Russell's face, I dunked it and looked at Russell and blew him a kiss. It was all fun and games."

--F Nenad Krstic wasn't satisfied with a moral victory after Oklahoma City fell by two points to a playoff contender Tuesday night. "We wanted to win," he said. "We have shown we can play with playoff teams. New Orleans is a really good team and they showed it. We didn't start the game off very well and we need to do a better job of opening the game so it won't hurt us late."

MEDICAL WATCH:

--F D.J. White (jaw surgery) had a benign tumor removed Oct. 13. The second phase of the surgery involved mending the jaw with bone graft taken from his hip. He's begun doing light workouts.

--G Desmond Mason (knee surgery) will miss the rest of the season. He is expected to make a full recovery.