Talk » any threat from wherever it might arise

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Russell Westbrook says he didnt watch Kevin Durants debut for the Golden State Warriors.Draymond Green assures the Warriors want to beat Durants former team really bad.The 2016 Western Conference Finals combatants havent seen each other in more than five months and already sparks are flying in anticipation of Thursdays nationally televised game in Oakland.The game not only will be the first between former teammates Westbrook and Durant, but also a rematch of Golden States rally from a 3-1 deficit in last years playoffs to deny the Thunder a spot in the NBA Finals.Theyre going to want to beat him really bad. Hes going to want to beat them really bad, Green said of the Durant and his old mates, who were formally split in July by the Warriors two-year, $54.3 million offer to the seven-time All-Star. In turn, were going to want to beat them really bad because we want him to beat them really bad.Itll be a lot of emotions, but itll be a fun game to play in. Its always a high-intensity game against them, and I expect nothing less.As expected, the matchup pits the top team in the West against one of its chief rivals.But four games into the new-look season, its the Thunder (4-0) thats sitting atop the Western standings, with the Warriors (3-1) a win away from evening that score.The Thunder will be playing its second game in two nights, having been taken to the limit in an 85-83 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.Westbrook recorded a different type of double-double in the win, countering 35 points with 10 turnovers.Shortly thereafter, he was on a plane making the 60-minute flight north.I play every game like its my last, Westbrook said of his mindset on the eve of the duel with Durant. Regardless of who we play, Im going to play the same way.Even with the World Series on a different channel, Durant assured earlier this week hed be tuned into the Thunder on television on his night off.Im definitely watching, he said of the Warriors night off. The stuff that Ive been through with that team and that organization, that stuff doesnt just go away.Ive got nothing but love for everybody there. Everybody. No matter how they feel about me, everybody on Oklahoma City, on that team, of course ... I support them. I want them to do well.Durant has helped the Warriors do well by most teams standards, opening the season with four consecutive 20-point games. He complemented the points with 10 and 17 rebounds in Golden States first two games, then with a pair of four-steal outings in the Warriors most recent efforts.The run of 20-point games is nothing new to the Most Valuable Player candidate. He finished his Thunder career with 12 straight at the end of last years regular season.Westbrook, meanwhile, had a more conventional double-double with 32 points and 12 rebounds in the Thunders opener, which he followed up with consecutive triple-doubles before Wednesdays debacle.Hes already had 2-for-10 and 0-for-7 shooting efforts from 3-point range in the early going.Both teams will take the court Thursday on a remarkably poor run of 3-point shooting. Golden State (29.3 percent) and Oklahoma City (28.1) both rank among the bottom nine in shooting percentage from beyond the arc. New York Knicks Store . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Stitched Knicks Jerseys . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. 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Reg Dickason, Englands security advisor, has played down any concerns that Englands Muslim players, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, may have about touring India after media reports that Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar would not stand in the series because of the further potential for nationalist protests.Dar was never scheduled to stand in the India vs England Test series, according to ICC, so cannot properly be said to have been withdrawn, but that might be regarded as a pragmatic decision after he was pulled out of a one-day series between India and South Africa last year because of threats.England have been full of praise for Bangladeshs high-level security operation during their recent Test series and, although Dickason indicated that protection levels will be less apparent in India, he suggested that Moeen and Rashid had not expressed misgivings that they might be singled out for protests. Moeen was subjected to abuse from England-based India fans during Indias previous tour of England in 2014.We have no real concerns but were certainly aware of the issues Aleem Dar has, Dickason said. I know it was reported that he wasnt going, that hed been pulled out, but according to the ICC hes just been rostered at another event. But Shiv Sena had some issues with Aleem there and went to the BCCI offices. So were certainly aware of that but we dont expect any real issues.Ive spoken to him and Adil and they seem ok to me. They havent expressed any doubts to me.The ICC withdrew Dar from the last two ODIs between India and Sri Lanka, stating that Mondays incident in Mumbai where a group of extremistts stormed into the BCCI office was the reason for its decision.dddddddddddd Former Pakistan cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, also missed the Mumbai ODI as a security precaution in response to anti-Pakistan protests by the Shiv Sena, a regional political party, about a scheduled meeting between BCCI and PCB officials.Dickason also expressed general satisfaction that the security plans drawn up were appropriate to withstand any threat from wherever it might arise. England abandoned their last two ODIs in India in 2008 in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, but returned to fulfil the Test series under heavy security.Itll be similar to Bangladesh but a different layout, he said. It was very overt here and it wont be as overt in India. The road clearances that we got here that are usually reserved for heads of state we probably wont get in India. But well get adequate transit protection. The BCCI get a host-city security plan which is a generic issue from a master security plan which is put across the whole event. There will be some subtle differences but it wont be too many.It appears, however, that Englands players will be expected to withstand a further period inside a security cordon and that the India tour will be a sequence of journeys from hotel to cricket ground and back again.Its certainly much better if the group stays as a group, he said. Then we can concentrate the security resources on the group rather than people star bursting. ' ' '