Oklahoma City takes care of business against Philly to go to 10-8

Interesting take on Russ. Maybe I should post this in the bullets, I don't know if this will continue to be a current forum. But I (sadly) kind of discounted his lack of effort on defense because that's the way he's played all year. I would he happier if I felt he was out of character defensively because of frustration, but that has just seemed to be how he plays recently. And its especially sad because of the clear improvement that KD has made on the defensive end this year. I noticed the play that Kev referenced in his writeup, that closeout on Kapono was all effort. And KD is now the one that streaks back on fast breaks to either pick up a block of disrupt things, something that Russ actually used to do. I loved the 15 assists/2 turnovers, and I didn't feel like he was forcing things shots-wise. For the most part (other than a pull-up three here or there) I thought he was taking decent shots. So perhaps I just didn't notice the moodiness, since I have trouble picking up a decline in effort from him on the defensive end when there really hasn't been any effort there in the first place. Whatever got into KD needs to get into RW, not just for the team but because it would make him a far better player.

@andrew
That's funny, my mom used to do that for my little brother's all net team. My dad is a bit of a stat geek (he's essentially trying to do his own version of adjusted plus/minus for my little brother's high school team, which is insane), and he had my mom keep all kinds of stats. One of the things was "assists made" and "assists missed". Obviously somewhat of a judgment call, but it was pretty interesting. It would certainly be possible to do, but the variation in what people considered "missed assists" might make it hard to do league-wide.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
I think it's a product of missing shots. For some reason, made shots are never counted as much as a missed shot is in our heads. And since RW had such a low FG% and 3pt% his rookie year and continues to have the occasional 1-11 night, people just seem to think he shoots a ton because of the misses or bad shots he takes (like in transition with no one down to rebound with 20 seconds left to go on the shot clock...what? No, it doesn't bother me at all when he does that :)).

Take Durant, for example on FG's. If he takes and makes a ton of these, everyone's like, "How did he get 30 points?" Whereas if he takes 9 good shots in a row but misses all of them, everyone will say, "Why is he such a ball hog?! He nees to pass more and stop shooting so much."

Just the nature of the beast, I suppose.

RW is 9th is shots per game among PGs, but 19th by percentage, but 5th is free throw attempts per game, so he gets to the free throw line a lot, which makes up for his lower percentage somewhat, but i dont know a stat that actually takes that into account at all.

@kev

I listed those guys because of their shot attempts, not because of their shooting percentage. I just wanted to show that Russell doesn't shoot as often as people around here seem to think.

f5alcon :i wouldnt worry about it too much, he was having a bad shooting night and was probably frustrated, if it becomes a pattern when he shoots bad and sulks then that is a bigger deal but one night of being moody is ok. This is also why mo cheeks is an assistant coach, he is good with dealing with this stuff.
As for the game, teams that play poor defense we should have no problem beating we have 5 players capable of scoring 20 points any given night, another 2 that can get double figures most nights and 3 more that have this season, so we can fill it up if they let us shoot.
Looking forward to the boston game, we have done well against the eastern conference, the only tough thing is thabo cant guard both ray and paul.

Durant will be fine on Paul Pierce - I'm not worried in the slightest . . .

@J.G.

as for the announcers, they RARELY call out the Thunder players for anything. I know part of that might be how they are directed to call the game : build the fan base up by being complimentary. But I (and others here I'm sure) watch League Pass alot, and other announcers are not afraid to call out one of their players.

Jax Raging Bile Duct :As far as Russell being down, I just hope it’s something on the court, and not something bad going on in his personal life.
I have this theory that his worst games come against UCLA guys, or in front of home crowds. I really think there is something to it.
Anyway, through 18 games, Russell is shooting the exact amount that he did last year with 13.4 attempts per game. He is shooting more 3’s, but making a higher percentage.
In fact, a quick query on basketball-reference indicates that Russell isn’t shooting that much compared to other guards. Obviously, this is skewed some because basketball-reference doesn’t differentiate between point guards and shooting guards, but there is still some useful comparisons there. Just going through the list and eyeballing some interesting names for example;02. Brandon Jennings is 2nd behind Kobe with 19.5 shots per 36.07. Monte Ellis17. Rodney Stucky19. Devin Harris21. Tony Parker22. Tyreke Evans26. Chris Paul36. Derrick Rose41. Russell Westbrook42. Deron Williams
I just think that list provides a bit of perspective since it seems like the general consensus on this blog is that Russell is consumed with shooting too much. When in reality, to be called a scoring point guard, but take as few shots as he is, is probably a misnomer.
I understand pace is to be considered. I understand some teams need their point guard to score.
Russell had an off night last night. Jason Kidd has poor shooting nights as well, and when he’s caught in one of those games, he makes a difference somewhere else. Russell will get there. Ultimately, we need Russell to be a scoring threat, even at 13 attempts per game. It helps spread the defense and that helps his teammates.

the problem is that most of those guys (Ellis, Parker, Paul, Williams, Kobe, and Jennings)are better shooters . . . I cringe every time that RW pulls up for that jumper . . .

J.G. :All right, perhaps I’m the only one who saw it. Perhaps not. But even despite my happiness at his new career high of 15 assists, Westbrook really disappointed me tonight with the way he acted (for Brooks to bench him at the end of the first half and for RW to still continue the behavior into the second half was just shocking) and really tainted an otherwise great point guard performance.
Ever since the moment it was clear that his shot wasn’t falling, Westbrook played the rest of the game as if he was sulking because he wasn’t scoring, even though he was on his way to posting a career high in assists. He clearly displayed a bad attitude when he got benched at the end of the half (I’m fine with him feeling frustrated at the benching, but maybe your coach is trying to tell you something?), he left the court at the final buzzer without even looking at the rest of his teammates, let alone the opponent and then (and here’s where I KNOW Kev will agree) he absolutely gave up on defense when he was out of position or there was a fast break the other way due to one of his turnovers or a teammates poor pass, leaving his teammates hanging out to dry on the run outs. It was so bad defensively that I was honestly hoping one of the announcers would hang him out to dry for it.
I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you, Royce, on one thing from this article. This may have been a game where Westbrook’s passing maturity showed, but he absolutely pouted and showed immaturity in handling the fact that his shot wasn’t falling. I’m not sure if it was deliberate or not, but at the end of the game when RW was wide open and the Thunder we’re trying to dribble out the clock, Durant and Harden did not pass Westbrook the ball and instead both made even more difficult passes to other teammates when he was all of seven feet away from them. Again, maybe it’s just coincidence, but the sheer fact that it might not be really disappoints me.
The only positive I can take from this is that even despite his very poor behavioral performance, he still got it done on the court and he did (most of the time) what he needed to do to setup his teammates and help his team get the victory. And as everyone here knows, I’ve been one of the biggest RW supporters on here…but that might be why, on a night that he sets a new career high and showed growth in one area, that his apparent step back in maturity in another area is so disparaging.

excellent post . . .

Kudos to you J.G. for giving a contrary view to a player you usually back . . . that is great . . . some fans are blindly loyal to a player despite what he does, it's cool that you called him out on his behavior. I charted the game last night and didn't notice what happened on the bench or after the game, so I will go back and rewatch it.

I am glad that RW had a great assist total, but the attitude bothers me. He's young, but he's not that young, he's been playing team ball his whole life. Like most have said, he didn't let it affect his OFFENSIVE game, but as J.G. pointed out, his defense was a joke. I didn't elaborate on it in my writeup earlier, but watch how many times that RW coasts back after he misses on a drive. I NEVER see him race back after he misses a layup or gets stuffed. It almost never happens . . .

I know some get annoyed with me for being on RW's case - but I'm a Thunder fan first. I want the team to be successful. If RW is performing badly, I will call him out. If he does a good job, I will praise him for that. I just want us to win.

As far as Russell being down, I just hope it's something on the court, and not something bad going on in his personal life.

I have this theory that his worst games come against UCLA guys, or in front of home crowds. I really think there is something to it.

Anyway, through 18 games, Russell is shooting the exact amount that he did last year with 13.4 attempts per game. He is shooting more 3's, but making a higher percentage.

In fact, a quick query on basketball-reference indicates that Russell isn't shooting that much compared to other guards. Obviously, this is skewed some because basketball-reference doesn't differentiate between point guards and shooting guards, but there is still some useful comparisons there. Just going through the list and eyeballing some interesting names for example;
02. Brandon Jennings is 2nd behind Kobe with 19.5 shots per 36.
07. Monte Ellis
17. Rodney Stucky
19. Devin Harris
21. Tony Parker
22. Tyreke Evans
26. Chris Paul
36. Derrick Rose
41. Russell Westbrook
42. Deron Williams

I just think that list provides a bit of perspective since it seems like the general consensus on this blog is that Russell is consumed with shooting too much. When in reality, to be called a scoring point guard, but take as few shots as he is, is probably a misnomer.

I understand pace is to be considered. I understand some teams need their point guard to score.

Russell had an off night last night. Jason Kidd has poor shooting nights as well, and when he's caught in one of those games, he makes a difference somewhere else. Russell will get there. Ultimately, we need Russell to be a scoring threat, even at 13 attempts per game. It helps spread the defense and that helps his teammates.

I think Russ also wants to be a scorer and a passer, and most games, I think the Thunder need him to be a passer first. He is young and still a little immature, once he grows into his full identity as a basketball player, he will be able to do both, but right now, he needs to focus on being a passer. If Russ has a hard time scoring a lot and passing well, when he does both, we are really hard to beat, but most of the time, his 20+ nights are accompanied by 5 or 6 TO's. Only his second year, next year, I expect a huge leap for Russ. I think we are doing pretty well considering how young, and I know we don't want to use it as an excuse, but even when you pick guys that seem mature, they are still 20-21 yrs old, in the spotlight, with a lot of pressure, green is the only one that stayed in college more than 2 years of the big 4, green/durant/westbrook/harden. Russ shouldn't be so emotional but just accept it with the territory.

@Anonymous

The leg wrap has been there for a while now. Its just normally black instead of white and not nearly as noticable.

hopefully he outplays rondo tomorrow

This from Elias RE: Westbrook:

Russell Westbrook had 15 assists but made only 1 of 11 shots from the floor in the Thunder's 117-106 win against the 76ers. Westbrook's .091 field goal percentage was the lowest for any NBA player (minimum: 10 attempts) in a game in which he handed out at least 15 assists since New Jersey's Jason Kidd went 1-for-17 from the floor (.059) in a 15-assist game at Dallas on Jan. 21, 2002.

@J.G.
What I meant was that obviously Russ was down, but yet he didn't let it affect his game for the most part. In the past, he would have started forcing things, taking bad shots and turning it over. Of his 11 shots, I'm not sure if any were forced and 15-2 is good any way you slice it.

@J.G.
Good point,
His defense has been suspect though even when his shot is falling and he's in a "good" mood. His hustle just hasn't seemed there, which is very surprising for a guy who was hailed for his defense coming out of college.

@Brad
I'm totally fine with Russ playing with a chip on his shoulder. I love that kind of fire.

But the giving up on a play on defense, hanging teammates out to dry on run outs and letting his frustration affect how he interacts with his teammates...that I have a big problem with, especially from the person who is supposed to be the team's floor leader.

Like justin and f5alcon have said, that fire is what makes Russ who he is and I'm definitely not going to make one isolated game into something more, but being an RW fan, his behavior after such a great passing performance was like finding a fly in your ice cream sundae.

Overall, it was a great game and I was thrilled to see the team continue to develop (especially Durant's defense, Green's shot, Collison's return and Harden's attacking mindset), but like I said, I came away from the game with a bad taste in my mouth despite the nice overall sundae.

If Russ being mad about his scoring helps him put up more 7.5/1 Assist/Turnover nights, put me on the bandwagon of him being discontent all the time. As long as it doesn't lead to dysfunction in the locker room, it can actually be a GOOD thing to have a player with a little bit of a chip on his soldier. Look at the Boston Celtics! You need a couple players on your team, who may be gentelmen outside of the court, but let their emotions be part of their game on it (not take over their game, but be part of their drive. As long as russ keeps it under control, I have NO problem with him being upset with his shot not falling. People make WAY to big of a deal when it comes to these kind of inscidences, Lebron doesn't shake Howards hand... WHO CARES, HE JUST GOT BEAT IN A CHANCE TO GO TO THE FINALS!

i wouldnt worry about it too much, he was having a bad shooting night and was probably frustrated, if it becomes a pattern when he shoots bad and sulks then that is a bigger deal but one night of being moody is ok. This is also why mo cheeks is an assistant coach, he is good with dealing with this stuff.

As for the game, teams that play poor defense we should have no problem beating we have 5 players capable of scoring 20 points any given night, another 2 that can get double figures most nights and 3 more that have this season, so we can fill it up if they let us shoot.

Looking forward to the boston game, we have done well against the eastern conference, the only tough thing is thabo cant guard both ray and paul.

Russ is sort of a volatile guy, kind of doesn't fit in with Durant, Green, or Harden in that sense.

I think a big part of it is that Scottie Brooks was an NBA point guard and probably puts a big emphasis on the position and takes the most active role with Russell in terms of coaching. When Russ makes questionable decisiosn I bet Brooks is all over him.

Sometimes that kind of attitude can actually help you as a player, though. Hopefully Russ can learn to channel it into something positive, kind of like how Gilbert Arenas has done in his career.

@J.G.

I think we all found out the level of Russell Westbrook's maturity this past summer when Presti was considering, genuine or not, to take Rubio in the draft. I don't think a player 2 months removed from his rookie season, should pout over what his GM is doing. I'm a big fan of Westbrook and I love what he brings to the game and specifically the Thunder (excluding those 1-11 shooting nights) but he does have to figure out when the appropriate time to have "attitude" is. For example, Right time: Jermaine O'Neal incident. Wrong time: End of the first half continuing to the second half of a Thunder-(5-13)Sixers.

Having a 15 assist game is fantastic though.

@J.G.

Not only that, it seemed like KD, JG, and JHard all were really trying to give Russ props on twitter last night to make him feel better...

@Thor

Just saw Darnell's recap of the game and seems like he saw the same things: "Westbrook left the locker room super early, before the media was done with Scott Brooks’ post-game press conference, and wasn’t available for comment. It looked like something seemed to be troubling him all game." - http://blog.newsok.com/thunderrumblings/2009/12/03/1241/

Glad to know I'm not crazy.

@J.G.

I noticed that he left the court immediantly after the game, without even talking to his former college teammate. Something was up with him. :/

@GAP

I like your optimism!

All right, perhaps I'm the only one who saw it. Perhaps not. But even despite my happiness at his new career high of 15 assists, Westbrook really disappointed me tonight with the way he acted (for Brooks to bench him at the end of the first half and for RW to still continue the behavior into the second half was just shocking) and really tainted an otherwise great point guard performance.

Ever since the moment it was clear that his shot wasn't falling, Westbrook played the rest of the game as if he was sulking because he wasn't scoring, even though he was on his way to posting a career high in assists. He clearly displayed a bad attitude when he got benched at the end of the half (I'm fine with him feeling frustrated at the benching, but maybe your coach is trying to tell you something?), he left the court at the final buzzer without even looking at the rest of his teammates, let alone the opponent and then (and here's where I KNOW Kev will agree) he absolutely gave up on defense when he was out of position or there was a fast break the other way due to one of his turnovers or a teammates poor pass, leaving his teammates hanging out to dry on the run outs. It was so bad defensively that I was honestly hoping one of the announcers would hang him out to dry for it.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you, Royce, on one thing from this article. This may have been a game where Westbrook's passing maturity showed, but he absolutely pouted and showed immaturity in handling the fact that his shot wasn't falling. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or not, but at the end of the game when RW was wide open and the Thunder we're trying to dribble out the clock, Durant and Harden did not pass Westbrook the ball and instead both made even more difficult passes to other teammates when he was all of seven feet away from them. Again, maybe it's just coincidence, but the sheer fact that it might not be really disappoints me.

The only positive I can take from this is that even despite his very poor behavioral performance, he still got it done on the court and he did (most of the time) what he needed to do to setup his teammates and help his team get the victory. And as everyone here knows, I've been one of the biggest RW supporters on here...but that might be why, on a night that he sets a new career high and showed growth in one area, that his apparent step back in maturity in another area is so disparaging.

Kev :

andrew :Is there a stat for potential assists? I believe that would be a great help in evaluating point guard play. For instance, if we knew how many times RW had passed to someone for an open shot and they missed it we could develop an potential assist conversion percentage or something of the like. I started thinking of this because i felt that RW has had better passing games, but tonight we seemed to knock down assist opportunity.. If we had a potential assists stat we could better measure how well RW performs on nights when he only has 4 or 5 assists, and also better understand his huge assist nights like tonight.

nice . . . that would be something you would have to chart . . . nice idea . . .

I've wished this was available as well, but it is a two-edged sword of sorts, since not all assist opportunities are created equal. While a pass out to Krispy for a 20 ft jumper works many times, a pass underneath to Collison for a dunk after his man helps on the drive is better. So the percentage of conversion would depend on two things: the quality of the opportunity and the ability of the teammate to convert. You can't blame Kripsy for not converting every 20 footer, but it isn't RW's fault if that's the best option either.

Last season to this season change on offense (right now)

Field goal shooting about a 1.5 pt per 100 possessions
improvement
Turnovers about a .5 pt improvement
Offensive rebounding about a 1.5 pt slippage
Getting to the line about a 1 pt improvement

Offense overall- about 1.5 pt improvement

Last season to this season change on defense (right now)

Field goal shooting allowed about a 7 pt improvement
Turnovers forced about a 3 pt improvement
Offensive rebounding allowed about a 1 pt slippage
Getting to the line about a 3.5 pt slippage

Defense Overall- about 7.5 pt improvement

Total- about 9 pt per 100 possession improvement

but then you will have to do the same for other pgs in the league.
you know, stat are only useful when they are used to compare...

andrew :Is there a stat for potential assists? I believe that would be a great help in evaluating point guard play. For instance, if we knew how many times RW had passed to someone for an open shot and they missed it we could develop an potential assist conversion percentage or something of the like. I started thinking of this because i felt that RW has had better passing games, but tonight we seemed to knock down assist opportunity.. If we had a potential assists stat we could better measure how well RW performs on nights when he only has 4 or 5 assists, and also better understand his huge assist nights like tonight.

nice . . . that would be something you would have to chart . . . nice idea . . .

Is there a stat for potential assists? I believe that would be a great help in evaluating point guard play. For instance, if we knew how many times RW had passed to someone for an open shot and they missed it we could develop an potential assist conversion percentage or something of the like. I started thinking of this because i felt that RW has had better passing games, but tonight we seemed to knock down assist opportunity.. If we had a potential assists stat we could better measure how well RW performs on nights when he only has 4 or 5 assists, and also better understand his huge assist nights like tonight.

Dan :Do you guys think Durant can become an ELITE defensive player in this league?

I think the MVP candidates are overrated dfensively because they get so much attention. No one pays attention to Thabo (at least last year because we stunk and Thabo doesn't score). Kobe is a great defender AT TIMES. Other times he gambles and forgets about his man. This never comes up because he's Kobe.

To answer your question: since everyone thinks that Durant is headed to that MVP discussion in the next two years, he will get increased attention. People will THEN look more at what he does on the defensive end. Right now, I have him rated as a very good defensive player. I need to see it for a long stretch of games and then I would move him into the great category.

Do you guys think Durant can become an ELITE defensive player in this league?

some interesting facts around this game:

"Oklahoma City is 8-0 when scoring at least 100 points."

"Durant's scoring total left him seven points short of 4,000 in his career. He would be the second-youngest player to reach that mark, behind only LeBron James." from espn

@Royce

hahha Oh Royce as far as krispy goes its a sprained anckle that he rolled on Brands(?) foot. He should be fine unless some freak thing happened.

My wife is actually the one that pointed out Long saying it. Which is funny because a year or so ago, we were talking about something and I said something she didn't believe. She said, "Tou-che" as if she were saying "Yeah right."

I laughed.

Yeah, I don't know that our defense was necessarily porous. I'm not sure what Philly's jump-shooting percentage was but I'd bet decent money it was their best of the year. We weren't hurt by dribble drive, fast break or penetration, just a team with a hot shooting hand (except for, ironically, Kapono, their best shooter).

I loved this game because this was exactly the game we were on the other end of so many times last year. We could play near our best and just not be good enough. The Thunder kept it together, played D at the start of the second when the offense sputtered, and slowly and methodically kept coming at the Sixers in the second half before finally putting it away. I think that's what good teams are supposed to do. We looked like the far better team tonight. That's been rare, even this season.

As for the playoffs, bear in mind we'll have to beat out two of the following: San Antonio, Utah, Houston, and New Orleans. Heck, Sacramento is 9-8 and the Clippers 8-11 (guess those home losses weren't so bad!). We're back to the West being just ridiculously dominant and I think the 8 seed is going to need 46-50 wins this year.

I think "touche" has grown to have more than the traditional meaning in fencing. I think it would make sense if it was Iguodala had said touche, or maybe he meant Durant was saying touche for him. Either way I thought it makes sense in the way people say touche these days

Kevin Durant has come so far on that end. Really impressive to see his work paying off.

Defensive Details

The team score was +38. That may seem high given the 76ers’ point total, but remember, my scoring system is somewhat subjective in nature, so my number does not have a direct correlation with FG% against or defensive rating or defensive efficiency. Obviously, there should be some relationship. To illustrate, let’s say that every single shot that the 76ers took was contested (good position from the defender; hand in face on release). Let’s also say that each shot went in. Of course, the chances of that are almost nil, but remember, this is a hypothetical. Under my grading scale, there would be no penalty for bad defense; the 76ers just got repeatedly lucky. I will give out more details into my grading at a later date. Let’s get to the game.

Defensive MVP – Kevin Durant (+16)

I will say it again: Durant is DOMINANT at the defensive end. Durant continues to play the passing lanes well. He uses his great length to deflect the ball and get steals. In the first quarter, Andre Iguodala was working out top, and he attempted a pass to Durant’s man, Willie Green. Durant stepped in, deflected the ball with the off hand, and romped in for the easy dunk. Fast forward to the second half. There’s about seventy five seconds left in the 3rd quarter. I like to point out subtle plays that don’t show up in the stat sheet. The 76ers have the ball in transition after a Thunder turnover. 76ers guard Jrue Holiday is dribbling upcourt, and there are transition defense issues because Holiday’s man, Westbrook, is on the ground after that initial miscue. Holiday finds Jason Kapono on the right wing. Kapono does one thing well: shooting the three ball. Durant is in the middle of the lane and is the back defender. Sam Young is nearby, so Durant was protecting the lane as he should. Durant does a great job in reading the situation after Holiday releases the ball. He advances to Kapono and does a good job of contesting the wing three. Kapono misses. Last year, he would have stood and watched Kapono. It was just a great play.

The best part about Durant’s play tonight is that he had only one mistake. He lost Willie Green after Green passed the ball off, and Willie got the ball back on a give and go and scored. The rest of the game was great. Durant did a great job of closing out, and he didn’t overhelp and get out of position. He also got to guard Iguodala for parts of the second half, and he did a great job on him. AI2 loves to get in the lane, but Durant wasn’t having it. Remember the jump ball after the timeout? That was a double dribble, the 76ers got away with one. It was no big deal anyway; minutes later, Kevin forced Iggy to turn it over. Anyone notice how Thabo stayed on the bench after he left the game in the 3rd quarter. We didn’t need him. Durant was on his game: his defensive game, that is.

Jeff Green (+13)

A double digit score is great. Uncle Jeff only committed two mistakes. Early in the first quarter, Sam Young took him baseline and scored. Later in the opening half, he fronted Thaddeus Young and gave up an easy two. Otherwise, it was all gold. My favorite play: In the 4th, Iggy was driving to the lane after a pump fake to get clear. Green was waiting in good position with arms extended. Iggy either lost the ball or Green deflected away. Either way, Oklahoma City got possession.

Nick Collison (+6)

Good to see Nick back. He plays excellent positional defense. In the first half, Westbrook gave up penetration to Royal Ivey. Collison was watching this and slid his feet well to get correct position. A lot of guys with more athleticism will speed over there out of control and get a blocking call. Nick is a technician. He was in perfect position and waited for Ivey to get there. With his feet set, and having proper balance, he was able to strip the ball away from Ivey. Thabo picked it up to get the Thunder break started. Nick played well all game, and did a good job on Elton Brand. And you know Collison had to draw a charge. That’s what he does.

Serge Ibaka (+4)

Serge did decently in limited minutes. His key play: He had a neat steal on a attempted pass from Elton Brand out to Royal Ivey.

Nenad Krstic (+3)

James Harden (+2)

Thabo Sefolosha (+2)

Mike Wilks (+2)

Wilks is a little guy (5-10 I think). Little guys get slammed for being easy prey for postups, and they are easy to shoot over. An advantage: Wilks is able to squeeze around and through picks a lot better than the bigger guards.

Russell Westbrook (-8)

More of the same.

Has anyone let Traber know that Westbrook looked like a point guard tonight. 15 assists 2 turns. Nice.

If the 3's weren't falling at a 2/3rd pace through halftime for the 76ers, this game wouldn't have been that close. Seriously, they were 8 for 12, and few of those shots were easy. I was just shaking my head at how 3 after 3 went in. It kept them in the game. I thought the defense was good. I was worried about Brand.

Andre was in the game for long stretches with Thabo on the bench. I thought he looked like himself when Thabo wasn't on him. Thadeous Young has some serious game.

If Russell goes 5-11, even with all those 3's, this game would have been over much sooner. Congrats to Russell on the new career high.

Oh, and Mullens had another double double tonight....i'm seriously pulling for the kid.

I feel like our guys get caught playing at the opposing team's speed too much still. They gave up a lot of points to a bad team because they fell into the trap of playing like their competition. This is fine and dandy when we can simply outscore the other team (Washington, Philly), but not so hot when we aren't creating good looks or shooting well (HoustonA, OrlandoB).

I really don't see this team going on a long losing streak, so i'm going out on a limb and say PLAYOFFS this season. Only if we can keep up the 2 or 3 game winning streaks and with one loss thrown in there.

If Nick hadn't been out so many games I can't help but think we would have won another game or two last month.

We are not there yet, but just imagine in one year when this type of game is the norm. When we win two for every one loss (i.e. 54 wins).

One other point about Boston, at least we are getting them on the second half of a back-to-back with them playing in San Antonio on Thursday.