Of course, none of this mattered all that much to the Thunder Team right now.
After their previous game, Donovan had told the media plainly, "I'm not unhappy with where we are in the standings. I don't think it's a problem. What we really need to do is stay focused and keep our performance steady. That's all."
And when asked how he felt about Chen Xi's imminent return, Donovan didn't even bother pretending otherwise.
"I'm excited about it. And it's not just me— the whole Thunder Team is. You know, Chris is unquestionably the heart and soul of this team. There's no one who isn't looking forward to his return. Thankfully, Oklahoma is about to rejoin the league's top tier."
"There have been rumors lately that Anthony Davis's improved form is connected to Chris's absence. He's had more opportunities with the ball because Chris has been out, and that's allowed him to put up impressive numbers again. What do you make of that?"
"That's ridiculous. It's absolutely impossible. Chris's presence only makes his teammates better. Anyone who says that has no idea how basketball works! They don't understand how many problems a team avoids by having Chris, or how many easy looks he creates for the other players."
"But the numbers show—"
"If statistics could explain everything, all of us head coaches would have been out of a job long ago! We wouldn't even need to play the Playoffs. Everyone could just list their Regular season stats, and we could hand out the awards right away."
When the evening of March 12 finally arrived, things did indeed go just as Donovan had said.
The Chesapeake Energy Arena was packed once again.
Crowds of fans held up signs for Chen Xi, celebrating his return.
And Chen didn't disappoint them. In