Monday Bolts – 2.20.12

John Hollinger of ESPN.com on OKC’s win: “Both Durant and Westbrook were in rare form, with each getting nothing but net on virtually ever jumper. The book on Westbrook is to give him the jumper and take away the drive; if he makes 11 jump shots, as he did Sunday, I’m not sure how to defend that. Moreover, he combined his usual fury with composed decision-making — nine dimes and only two turnovers — and amazingly, did it after spraining his ankle Friday against Golden State. Durant, meanwhile, actually did most of his damage around the basket with his increasingly confident off-the-dribble game. But he also made his first five 3-point tries before a miss late in overtime, including a late-clock hoist in the first quarter that started him rolling.”

Berry Tramel: “George Karl likes the mission he’s accepted. The Nuggets coach is out to prove that you don’t need superstars to win big in the NBA. For much of Sunday night, Karl was building a case. Then the old you-need-superstars theory rose up. Rose up big. The amazing tale of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook reached its zenith Sunday night as the Thunder bounced Karl’s Nuggets 124-118 in overtime. Durant’s ascension to basketball royalty? Westbrook’s rise to superstardom? Neither could be disputed after one of the wildest games in Oklahoma City’s NBA history.”

A list of historical things OKC did in that win over Denver.

My piece for CBSSports.com.

Nick Collison on Westbrook in Marc Stein’s Weekend Dime: “I really don’t think a lot. Russ is a guy that’s extremely emotional at times and has a chip on his shoulder a lot, but I think that’s really why he’s good. He’s had to experience more of that outside stuff than anyone else on our team, but the experience is helping him. He’s getting better all the time at handling what goes on off the court.”

Darnell Mayberry on Ibaka’s blocks: “How rare is Ibaka’s double digit shot-blocking? Before Ibaka pulled the feat this season, it was done only 12 times in the past 10 years. Marcus Camby was the only player to do it twice. The others were JaVale McGee, Ben Wallace, Jermaine O’Neal, Dikembe Mutombo, Calvin Booth, Amar’e Stoudemire, Josh Smith, Andrei Kirilenko, Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard. Pretty impressive company.”

Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm: “So many options here. Russell Westbrook goes for 40, Serge Ibaka with a trip … it’s Kevin Durant, are you insane? The man scored 51 points on 28 shots! Who else would it be? Big shot after big shot, simply unstoppable. This was a league MVP performance, not just a game MVP performance.”

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “These are numbers, but they are important numbers. 51 points on 28 shots, 19-28 from the field, 5-6 from three, 9-10 from the stripe. Eight rebounds, three assists, 4 steals and a huge win over the Nuggets in overtime. Denver was without two starters but dug deep and forced the Thunder to the edge. But Durant put on a performance for the ages, the shine on his MVP candidacy and lifted OKC to a win. It was the kind of performance you tell your friends about, your kids about, the kind you start the water cooler conversation about. He was unstoppable from the elbow, unstoppable from the perimeter, unstoppable at the rim. It was a transcendent performance, and this is alongside Russell Westbrook with 40 points and nine assists and Serge Ibaka’s triple double in points, rebounds, and blocks. This Thunder team may not be good enough defensively to win a title, but they may wind up as one to remember for a long, long time.”

Serge Ibaka’s finger wag.

Westbrook’s 3-pointer holsters.

Mayberry on the game: “A lot of people already are using this game as a proof that Durant and Westbrook can co-exist, saying ‘See! I told you so.” Slow down. It’s one game. In the regular season. Against an injury-plagued Nuggets team. I’m not saying they can’t co-exist. Not even close to suggesting that. But you’d be jumping the gun if you used this one instance as the final shred of evidence that there won’t be any issues down the road. Let’s wait and see what happens come playoff time, because there are clearly on-court issues that need to be ironed out.”

Skip Bayless being Skip Bayless: “KD (50) & I-blocka (triple double) great, Westbrook very good (40). Yet he STILL took one more shot than KD (29-28), allowed Den to hang in.” And here he talks about it again.

OKC gets an A in NBA.com’s midseason report card: “Last season’s media darlings have settled into a comfortable place atop the Western Conference standings. Durant has shined and he and Westbrook have found found a way to coexist without either one of them having to sacrifice their game to play with the other. The league’s youngest elite team is clearly on the advanced championship track at this point. But they do have some work to do beyond that dynamic duo. Too often Durant, Westbrook and Harden handle the bulk of the offensive work for the Thunder. And they should know by now that it’s going to take more than that, much more than just huge contributions from those three guys, to grind through the Western Conference playoffs.”

NBA.com power rankings: “The Thunder were showing some real defensive improvement … until they gave up 118 points to the Nuggets on Sunday. Fortunately, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook went off in historical fashion. First and foremost, this is an offensive team, so much that Kendrick Perkins is dropping fancy dimes.”

Bradford Doolittle for ESPN.com on Harden: “Harden excels with and without help from screeners, making him a versatile and valuable offensive weapon. According to mySynergySports.com, Harden leads the league in points per possession coming off screens and on handoffs, plus he’s third when handling the ball on the pick-and-roll. But he doesn’t necessarily need all that traffic to operate. Harden also ranks in the league’s top 10 per possession on isolations. The newfound aggressiveness is paying off for Harden, and if he sticks with that mindset, his career year should continue unabated.”

Sekou Smith of NBA.com on OKC: “For the folks who feel like this Thunder crew still hasn’t paid it’s dues, that it is (as someone told us via Twitter) “missing something,” we don’t see anything missing. That’s not to say the Thunder will win it all this season. The Mavericks taught us all how foolish it is to assume anything this time of year (remember, it was Miami’s time last season). And February predictions are just as valid as August predictions … useless in a league that tears up the script when the playoffs begin.”