Thunder Holds First Practice Of Season

News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- After an unusually long offseason due to the lockout, the Oklahoma City Thunder players and coaches were back together at their new practice facility for their first practice Friday. Despite the long layoff, they all fell back into rhythm quickly.

"They're all in good shape, which says a lot about the character of our players. Six months away from us and they came back and it seems like it was yesterday," head coach Scott Brooks said. "I think the guys really are committed to improving, and that's started off by how they came back."

The players were in various places over the extended offseason, but got together in order to practice. Even though the players stayed in shape over the summer, it's a different experience with everyone being back together as a staff.

"We were getting together over the summer, but it's not as good as having our coaches there and our staff," Kevin Durant said. "It felt good, we worked hard and everybody got after it; it feels like we didn't miss a beat."

The early synergy is good for the Thunder, having just nine days to go before its playoff opener in Dallas against the Mavericks Dec. 18.