The Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant "divorce" by the numbers

USA Today Sports / Kyle Terada

Now that NBA fans saw act one of the Russell Westbrook versus Kevin Durant rivalry, the missing ingredient -- head-to-head play -- has been added to the pot for this dish to simmer until fully cooked.
You already know that Durant got his first victory over his former teammate last week. You know that Westbrook was playfully prepared upon arriving to Oracle Arena with his official photographer outfit (Durant is an avid photographer). But what don't you know?
There is a lot of information to sift through so let's begin with Westbrook and Durant's time together.
According to statmuse.com, as teammates Westbrook and Durant have 527 games played together, Westbrook has 66 games without Durant and Durant has 40 games without Westbrook.
Together is the far greater sample size so that will be the starting point.

Photo from fullhdpictures.com

Westbrook averaged 20.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. Durant averaged 28.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Westbrook shot 43.7 percent from the field, while Durant made 48.9 percent of his shot attempts. As far as 3-point shooting goes, Westbrook was 30.4 percent while Durant hit 38 percent from downtown.
To be fair, Westbrook is not known as a shooter but rather a scorer, and Durant's strength offensively is his ability to shoot from anywhere on the floor.
Yet, Westbrook was taking an average of 16.7 field goals -- making a low percentage -- and 6.5 free throw attempts per game and only scoring 20.7 per game? One would think that having Durant on the floor would help Westbrook be efficient, but he was not.
Despite the ball being in Westbrook's hands for a majority of the time, Durant found a way to score more points efficiently. The strongest weapon for the Thunder did the best he could when he actually got the ball. The ball-centric, shoot-first point guard did not.

Associated Press / Alonzo Adams (from forbes.com)

Both Durant and Westbrook missed a good chunk of time due to injury (Durant more than Westbrook), but the sample size is sufficient.
When Durant had to lead the Thunder without his floor general he responded by increasing his production. In those 40 games, Durant averaged 32.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He also improved his field goal percentage to 51.5 percent (38 percent on 3-pointers) and distribution with 5.5 assists per game. The Thunder went 27-13 (67.5 winning percentage) in that time.
Westbrook had 66 games to showcase his abilities, and he did not waste it. During that stretch he bumped up his scoring (28.6 ppg), rebounding (7.3 rpg) and passing (8.5 apg). And of course Westbrook was taking more shots (22.8 per game) but was only making 42.3 percent from the field. Oklahoma City went 38-28 (57.6 winning percentage) with Westbrook minus Durant.

Associated Press / Ben Margot (from forbes.com)

The final piece to evaluate in this comparison has data, but it is not yet a large enough sample to make a true conclusion. It's like trying to figure out who is getting the better deal between Frances and Robert on HBO's Divorce without letting it play out, but let's look at it anyway.
In Westbrook's six games as the sole leader in Oklahoma City, the Thunder have gone 5-1. The Golden State Warriors have played seven games with Durant, and their record is 5-2. 
The Thunder is getting the best version of Westbrook in his NBA career so far as he sports a 33.2/9.0/9.7 slash line (points/rebounds/assists), and they are all career bests. 
Westbrook is shooting more than he ever has too as he's averaging 24.8 field goals, 5.7 3-pointers and 11.3 free throw attempts per game. Both overall shooting (44.3 percent) and 3-point shooting (41.2 percent) are the highest they have ever been, but Westbrook's also turning the ball over more than he has ever done too.
Durant is also the best version of himself in his short time in the bay area. The former league MVP is scoring 28.9 points per game off of 57.6 percent (40.6 percent from 3-point range) while taking less shots per game (17.9) while playing a career-low of 35.2 minutes per game.
Again, the sample is so small, but that is what we have to look at so far.

Photo from nbalead.com

All the data in the world isn't enough to figure this out, but one more thing can help (technically two); your eyes.
My eyes have shown me a happy and frustrated Durant in Oklahoma City. I realize he was mostly happy for the majority of his time there -- with Westbrook and the city -- but the end showed me a burnt out Durant. He didn't hate the team, the city or Westbrook.
He was ready to be the player he wanted to be, and the Warriors sold him on what they could do.
Westbrook has not shown much change at all. He still plays with the same energy, physicality and chip-on-his-shoulder mentality. He didn't look like he felt guilty about hogging the ball with Durant around, and now he can keep playing that way without some of the judgment the media threw his way.
They both can focus on being who they have always wanted to be.
Durant can now be a 1A/1B option on offense, and this edge that fans and the media have wanted to see from him has come out; a killer instinct if you will.
Durant is smiling again, and he should be.

Photo from Getty Images (gq.com)

*other information was obtained from basketball-reference.com and espn.com