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

David Blatt was doomed from the beginning

Photo by Mark Lawrie / Getty Images 
David Blatt is the first head coach who was fired while his team was No.1 in their conference since the league implemented conferences in 1970-71.

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    The Cleveland Cavaliers parted ways with head coach David Blatt today, and immediately addressed their coaching situation as Cleveland and assistant Tyronn Lue agreed to a three-year contract. In doing this, the Cavaliers have essentially spear-headed any potential lame-duck questions every interim coach would face in nearly every other situation when a head coach is fired. The question remains, why didn't Cleveland offer the job to Lue in the first place?

    Blatt was hired before the 2014-15 season, and before the Cavaliers agreed to a contract to bring LeBron James back to the organization that drafted him in 2003. Speculation at the time was that Blatt was on a short leash because James and Lue have had a good relationship for several years. With that, was Blatt just a scapegoat so that Lue could usurp him when the organization felt comfortable making Lue the head coach?

    When the announcement to hire Blatt was made, some questions were raised about the former Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach's ability to succeed in transition from Euroleague to the NBA. His success could not be questioned overseas, but it was in the United States. Others thought Blatt was just a figurehead as James was considered to be not just the leader of the locker room, but on the court as well. The same things were being said about current head coach Eric Spoelstra when James was in Miami.

Cavaliers Superstar LeBron James may or may not have influenced Blatt's firing, but he certainly got the front office's attention with visible displeasure on the bench and in the locker room.

    Regardless of all the speculation then and now, Cleveland appears to have the coach they really wanted to give the job to, but were unsure about the timing over a year ago when the Cavaliers dismissed Mike Brown from head coaching duties. It has been well-documented that James possesses leverage when it comes to the decisions that the front office makes. James was vocal about the contract situation with Tristan Thompson, and it ended up with Thompson getting a five-year $82 million contract. By the way, Thompson and James share the same agent (Rich Paul).

    Blatt did all the right things by saying how grateful he was about getting the opportunity to coach Cleveland and thanked Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert as well as general manager David Griffin. After compiling an 83-40 record in his first NBA coaching gig, he has the appearance of a professional who can win, but his next job will likely not feature a superstar on the roster. It did not look like a good fit from the beginning, and it is possible that the Cavaliers won in spite of Blatt but maybe in a different situation success is attainable. 

    Step No. 1: get out of Cleveland as soon as possible.

        

*According to Elias Sports Bureau, Blatt is the third head coach to be fired one year after his team made an NBA Finals appearance (Byron Scott 2004 and Gene Shue 1977).

Some information and statistics came from espn.com, The Associated Press and Elias Sports Bureau