LaMarcus Aldridge (12) of San Antonio Spurs is defended by Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City Thunder during the first quarter of their NBA game on Wednesday. (AFP)

DPA
Los Angeles

The Oklahoma City Thunder had their potent one-two punch together again, and the era of new coach Billy Donovan began on a positive note.
Russell Westbrook had 33 points and 10 assists, Kevin Durant netted 22, including two free-throws with 11.5 seconds remaining, rallying the Thunder to a thrilling 112-106 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs in the season-opener for both clubs.
Durant shot just 6-of-19 in his first game since February following three rounds of surgery on his broken right foot. “It was just fun being out there again,” said Durant, the former scoring champ and league MVP.
Turkish-native Enes Kanter had 15 points and 16 rebounds off the bench for the Thunder, who made celebrated college coach Donovan a winner in his NBA debut. “Those guys out there got it done, I was just happy to be a part of it and enjoy it,” Donovan said. “What an electric environment and a special place to be a part of tonight.”
Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with a career-high 32 points and eight rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge added 11 points in his San Antonio debut after signing as a free agent in the off-season from Portland Trail Blazers.
The Thunder trailed 103-101 with 3:13 remaining but closed on an 11-3 run, sparked by back-to-back jumpers from Dion Waiters. Westbrook nailed a triple to open a five-point cushion with 54 ticks to go but Leonard countered with a three-point play to pull San Antonio within 108-106.
The Spurs had a shot to regain the lead but Danny Green’s off-balance, 3-point try was deflected by Steven Adams and off Aldridge under the basket. Durant made the free throws and Westbrook added two more to complete the rousing win.
“That was fun, KD is the best player in the world,” Westbrook said.  “He missed some shots but once we get it clicking it’ll be hard to stop us.”

Butler carries Bulls past Nets
Chicago guard Jimmy Butler helped the Bulls withstand some shaky moments by scoring 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter during a wire-to-wire 115-100 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. After getting 17 in the season opener against Cleveland, Butler led six players in double figures, shooting 9-of-11 and making his final five shots.
“A lot,” Butler said when asked how much more energy he had after shadowing LeBron James for 36 minutes in Tuesday’s opener. “But we were making shots tonight so it made it a lot easier to drive to the rim and everybody’s taking and making threes, we’re hard to guard.”
Besides Butler, forward Nikola Mirotic knocked down four of Chicago’s 14 three-pointers and added 18 points.
Center Pau Gasol nearly had a double-double with 16 and nine while point guard Derrick Rose consistently attacked the rim and contributed 15 as the Bulls shot 53.8 percent (42-of-78) and made 14-of-28 shots from behind the arc.
While Chicago’s offense was flowing, the Nets struggled offensively and dropped their first home opener since moving to Brooklyn in 2012.
Center Brook Lopez led Brooklyn with 26 points but was 1-for-6 in the third quarter when the Nets shot 19 percent. “I’m very disappointed in myself in the first and third quarter,” Lopez said. “I don’t feel like I played well and it hurt us.”
Reserve forward Andrea Bargnani added 17 but forward Joe Johnson was held to 10 on 4-of-15 shooting and the Nets shot 41.9 percent, missed all nine of their three-point attempts and 28 shots in the paint.
The Bulls were difficult to guard for most of the night as they scored the first seven points and led by double digits for significant stretches. They could never get the lead above 19 and saw it whittled to nine when Butler began controlling things.
“He was phenomenal tonight,” Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said of Butler.
“I love the way Jimmy’s playing,” Rose said. “I want him to shoot more but I guess he knows what he’s doing. He has a good pace with how he’s playing. He’s coming down with the ball in his hands. He’s making decisions and making plays. He looks great doing it. He just needs to get more comfortable with it.”
The Nets hung around and were within 100-94 with 3:41 left following two free throws by Lopez before the Bulls closed it out with a 15-6 run.
Rose hit a floater with 3:16 left when he barely beat the shot clock and Mirotic hit an open three-pointer off a feed by Butler about a minute later.
“We kept pushing, we made a few runs to get back into the game,” Brooklyn forward Thaddeus Young said. “It wasn’t enough.”
Wolves edges past Lakers
The Minnesota Timberwolves recorded an emotional season-opening victory on Wednesday by toppling Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers 112-111, just 72 hours after losing head coach Flip Saunders to cancer.
The two NBA league doormats from last year put on an exciting display as the Timberwolves rallied from a nine-point half-time deficit then forced Lakers guard Louis Williams to miss a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio dedicated the thrilling win to Saunders, who died at aged 60 from Hodgkin’s lymphoma on Sunday after a 17-year career that also saw him coach the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons.
“It has been tough. He was everything for us and I think he really helped us today. Wherever he is, we are going to miss him,” said Rubio. “We came here to fight because that is the way he taught us.”
Playing with heavy hearts, they honored Saunders by unveiling new pre-game warmup shirts with “We” on them, followed by a moment of silence. The ‘Wolves will also wear a “Flip” patch on their jerseys this season. It ended up being a disappointing return to the court for Bryant, who played just 35 games last season after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in January.
The five-time NBA champion scored 24 points, but more importantly he set a record for most seasons played with the same franchise the moment he stepped onto the court at Staples Center arena to begin his 20th campaign with the Lakers.
Bryant, who surpassed former Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton’s mark of 19 consecutive seasons with the same club, managed just eight-of-24 shooting and missed 10-of-13 three-point attempts.
It was Bryant’s first game in a reduced role as the Lakers continue their roster overhaul by bringing in a young nucleus of players, including 19-year-old D’Angelo Russell, who was the second overall pick in the June draft.  
Russell finished with four points in 26 minutes of playing time.
Rubio scored 28 points and delivered 14 assists, and Kevin Martin came off the bench to score 23 for the Timberwolves, who like the Lakers missed the playoffs last season.
Elsewhere on the second day of the 2015-16 season, Chris Bosh, who was hospitalized last season due to blood clots in his lungs, made a triumphant return with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Miami Heat to a 104-94 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Russell Westbrook scored 33 points to lead Oklahoma City to a 112-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Kevin Durant, who missed most of last season with a broken right foot, scored 22 points in his first regular-season game in eight months.
Results (home team in CAPS)
Washington 88    ORLANDO 87
BOSTON 112    Philadelphia 95
Chicago 115    BROOKLYN 100
DETROIT 92    Utah 87
MIAMI 104    Charlotte 94
TORONTO 106    Indiana 99
Denver 105    HOUSTON 85
Cleveland 106    MEMPHIS 76
NY Knicks 122    MILWAUKEE 97
OKLAHOMA 112    San Antonio 106