Friday Bolts – 11.2.12

Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell: “On one possession in the first half, Leonard was standing in the lane and defending a Thunder player in the opposite corner. When one of the other Oklahoma City players penetrated and kicked, Leonard was able to deflect the pass to his man out of bounds without having to close out on the shooter. Teams will eventually adjust to this and that’s fine. It will simply make it a little tougher for them to play effective offense without Leonard getting his hands on passes and dribbles. I asked Danny Green after the game if he felt any more prepared to defend against Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant than he did a few months ago, but he said he didn’t. Green cited a better comfort level among the team with its defensive communication and team knowledge in holding Oklahoma City to under 38% shooting on the night. An assessment with which Pop agrees.”

Dave of BlazersEdge previewing tonight: “The bigger worry for Portland is Russell Westbrook. This has a historical basis as well, as Westbrook likes to eat the Blazers, particularly on the offensive glass. But he’s also staring across the court at Damian Lillard having heard about Lillard’s well-heralded performance against the Lakers but also knowing Lillard’s defense is at best untested, at worst unreliable. Smart money says Westbrook will look at the rookie and think, “Fresh Meat”. The guy took 21 shots against the Spurs, hitting only 6. He’ll take that many again. Can Lillard and company keep his percentage as low? It doesn’t help that Westbrook blew OKC’s final possession of the then-tied game last night, leaving the door open for Tony Parker to win it. A fella’s got to take it out on someone.”

The Rockets plagiarized OKC.

Ethan Sherwood Strauss of HoopSpeak: “So when I look back at this Thunder era, this incubator, this college, this farm, I question: Was this just all about developing talent? As I watched OKC battle the San Antonio team they’re modeled after, I wondered if the two operations really had all that much in common. The Spurs are about complementary pieces unleashing a holy hell of smart basketball upon opposing teams. The Thunder about about ill-fitting pieces, growing into that which still crushes your complementary pieces by blunt force.”

KD talking abou the Harden trade.

Andrew Sharp of SB Nation: “What gets lost when you cite the “business” angle is that A) it wasn’t necessarily a GOOD business decision, or B) that OKC management should be let off the hook for giving up a once-in-a-generation foundation because they didn’t want to jeopardize profits. It’s not like the team would’ve been hemorrhaging money even if they paid Harden, and if things ever got truly desperate, they always could’ve amnestied Perk. Worst case scenario, the Thunder would’ve been less profitable, forcing OKC owners to find a creative way to break even, all while the value of their franchise appreciates by hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 10-20 years. This trade will be infuriating forever.”

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com gave Westbrook an F for last night: “So much fail. Shot terribly. Forced it. Poor defense. And got lost on the final possession to give up the gamewinner. It was a prett rough night for the new most polarizing player in the game.”

A lot of talk breaking down Kevin Martin’s game.

From Elias: The Spurs edged the Thunder on Thursday night, 86-84. No team in the previous two regular seasons or playoffs defeated Oklahoma City with such a low point total. The last to do so had been the Grizzlies, in an 86-84 triumph at Memphis on January 22, 2010.

According to ESPN Stats and Info last night’s loss was OKC’s first ever buzzer-beater loss. And before you say it, Carmelo Anthony’s buzzer-beater from the corner beat OKC with 0.1 second left.

Westbrook on what happened on that final play: “I got lost. It’s my fault. I’ll take this one.”

Marc Stein of ESPN.com on Westbrook: “Not that he had much choice. The inevitable skewering of Westbrook, after a wild performance offensively that led up to the bad gaffe on D, had long since begun on the “Inside The NBA” set and all over the Twitterverse by the time OKC’s QB had emerged from the showers. Once the Thunder get some distance from the emotion of the ending, they’ll surely focus on the fact that they shot 37.7 percent from the floor less than a week removed from the shock of the Harden blockbuster. With Westbrook playing about as raggedly as he could, they still only just lost at the finish to a team (A) playing at home, (B) suddenly sporting a real continuity edge in this rivalry and (C) riding the timeless duo of Parker (14 points, 11 assists) and Tim Duncan (20 points, eight boards) and all the precise execution that flows from them.”

Darnell Mayberry: “If Kevin Durant catches that pass from Russell Westbrook, I’m almost positive the Thunder wins this game. That play, to me, was the most pivotal of the game. And it’s one of the small attention to detail type things the Thunder has to improve. Kawhi Leonard made a great hustle play fighting over the screen and staying stuck to Durant. It’s why the Spurs have so much trust in him as a young defender. Durant said after the game that he never had the ball and that Leonard just jumped the passing lane. The turnover was charged to Westbrook, but Durant has got to catch that ball. If he does, something good seemingly was going to come. At worst, the Thunder would have milked the clock and either gone to overtime or given the Spurs little time to get something good.”