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CRAIGMITCHELLDYER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant, le , is fouled by Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless during the first half Tuesday in Portland, Ore. ByJanieMcCauley TheAssociatedPress OAKLAND AsmuchasKevinDurant might try to downplay the drama, when he steps on the court against his former Oklahoma City team for the first time Thursday night emo- tions will be flying high for both sides. And there's more: Durant's new Golden State team rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals just more than five months ago. "I wouldn't say weird. I'll just be locked in to follow the game plan, and just playing," Durant said. "But once you step on the court and see the different jersey I'm sure it will hit me." Durant vs. old buddy Russell West- brook, who opted to stay put and sign an extension. Oh yes, this game has been circled on many an NBA sched- ule for months. At least since Durant departed as a free agent to join the Warriors in July. New teammate and fellow Olym- pian Draymond Green knows Du- rant will be extra motivated for this matchup. "I think it will be a lot of emo- tions. They're going to want to beat him really bad, he's going to want to beat them really bad," Green said. "In turn, we're going to want to beat them really bad because we want him to beat them really bad. So I think it will be a fun game to play in. It's always a high intensity game against them and I expect nothing less." Yes, this could be a tense reunion when the tip goes up. Westbrook went into Wednesday night's game against the Clippers in Los Angeles leading the league in scoring aver- aging 38.7 points, while Durant was sixth at 28.5. NBA DurantdownplaysOKCreunion Emotions will be high for Warriors as well as Thunder on Thursday Thursday: Oklahoma City Thunder at Golden State Warriors, 7:30p.m., TV on TNT. TUNEIN By Ronald Blum The Associated Press CLEVELAND The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series championship since 1908 when Ben Zobrist hit a go-ahead dou- ble in the 10th inning, beating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in a thrilling Game 7 delayed by rain early Thursday. Lovable losers for genera- tions, the Cubs nearly let this one get away, too. All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman blew a three-run lead with two outs in the eighth when Rajai Davis hit a tying homer. But the Cubs, after tormenting their fans one more time, came right back after a 17-minute rain delay before the top of the 10th and scored twice. Davis hit an RBI single with two outs in the bottom half, but Mike Montgomery got the final out. Manager Joe Maddon's team halted the longest title drought in baseball, becoming the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series def- icit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals. Cleveland was trying to win its first crown since 1948, but lost the last two games at home. World Series favorites since spring training, Chicago led the majors with 103 wins this season. The Cubs then ended more than a century of misery for their loyal fans. WORLD SERIES CUBSWININ10TH, FINALLY END CURSE Chicago takes wild Game 7 victory in extra inning a er Indians tie it in 8th, score in bottom of 10th Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Mike Montgomery reacts a er Game 7of the World Series against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday in Cleveland. The Cubs won 8-7in 10innings to win the series 4-3. PHOTOS BY DAVID J. PHILLIP — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Chicago Cubs' Miguel Montero hits an RBI single during the 10th inning of Game 7of the World Series against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday in Cleveland. CUBS 8, I NDIANS 7 (10) Series: Chicago wins 4-3. THESCORE Staff Report SUTTER The Corning Cardi- nals took a win in the opening set Tuesday night in their re- scheduled playoff match with the Sutter Huskies, but dropped the next three to lose 3-1. The No. 5 seed Cardinals won the first set 25-23. The No. 4 seed Huskies bounced back, though, 25-11, 25-20 and 25-23. With the loss, the Cardinals finish the season 16-12 overall and 7-3 in league play. Mariah Castle led the team in kills with 303; freshman Adri Safford led in aces with 65; Cas- tle led with 38 blocks and 270 digs, followed by Nicole Berry with 211 digs and Safford had 432 assists, followed by Haley Tomas with 57 assists. Otherschools The Red Bluff Spartans won 3-1 over the visiting Las Plumas Thunderbirds, 25-17, 25-14, 22- 25, 25-17 Tuesday. The No. 4 seed Spartans (17-10 overall, 5-5 league) are scheduled to travel to Redding on Tuesday, Nov. 8, for a 7 p.m. match against the No. 1 seed Shasta Wolves (19-15 overall, 6-4 league). The No. 3 seed Los Moli- nos Bulldogs (27-8 overall, 10-0 league) are scheduled to host the No. 6 seed Mount Shasta Bears (12-9 overall, 7-3 league) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8. Mercy (9-19, 2-8 league) failed to make the playoffs. VOLLEYBALL Cardinals fall in first-round playoff to Sutter By Barry Wilner The Associated Press The NFC is so wide open that a Thursday night meeting be- tween Atlanta and Tampa Bay could wind up having some sig- nificance when the playoff races conclude. Neither team has been particu- larly consistent. Had the Falcons not held off Green Bay on Sunday, they would have been in a freefall similar to last season, when they went from 6-1 to 8-8. "When you come through in those, for sure it gives you some- thing," coach Dan Quinn says. "To get the job done (Sunday) was sig- nificant." The Buccaneers, meanwhile, can't win at home, dropping all three matchups. One of their three wins came in Atlanta to open the schedule. Tampa would be most tempted to throw on offense because At- lanta is ranked only 27th against the pass. Now that their top three running backs — Doug Martin, Charles Sims and Jacquizz Rodg- ers — are hobbled, the Bucs might not have a choice. The challenge isn't just physi- cal, either. "It's very difficult physically and it's very difficult mentally, too, because they didn't get a chance to process the last game," says Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith, the Falcons' former coach. "We haven't even talked to them about the last game, haven't talked one word about the last ballgame. We've moved on to the next one because that's the chal- lenge that we have." The Falcons (No. 6 in AP Pro32) are 2 -point favorites over the Bucs (No. 25). They will respond better to the challenge. FALCONS, 30-24 KNOCKOUT LEAGUE TIP Denver did the deed last Sun- day, though it wasn't easy. How can we not go with DALLAS this week? No. 2 Dallas (minus 7) at No. 32 Cleveland Searching really hard for Browns' first victory. This isn't it. BEST BET: COWBOYS, 27-16 No. 23 Carolina (minus 3) at No. 26 Los Angeles Despite their win over Cardi- nals, don't see Panthers as favor- ite here. UPSET SPECIAL: RAMS, 20-17 No. 11 Pittsburgh (plus 2 ) at No. 24 Baltimore This would have been upset special if we knew more about Big Ben's availability. Still ... STEELERS, 24-20 No. 3 Denver (pick-em) at No. 7 Oakland Are Raiders ready for chang- ing of the guard in AFC West? Not quite. BRONCOS, 23-20 No. 10 Philadelphia (plus 2 ) at No. 14 New York Giants Late-game collapse at Dallas could plague Eagles for a while. GIANTS, 21-20 No. 30 Jacksonville (plus 8) at No. 4 Kansas City NFL Bucs host Falcons in prime time bout NFL PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, November 3, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1