Tuesday Bolts – 11.13.12

Rob Mahoney of SI.com on KD: “The Thunder’s scoring efficiency in those configurations has been predictably great, but the more startling trend is OKC’s rebounding dominance with Durant as a power forward. We’re talking about shutout work on the defensive glass and a total rebound rate somewhere in the mid-60 percent range — values well above what the Thunder have done overall and what we could otherwise expect. The specific values will settle in as the season rolls on and the minutes played by those lineups tick upward, but this is a trend that could end up making a remarkable difference. Provided that Durant can continue to outrebound and defend opposing bigs, Brooks may finally be compelled into using his team’s most explosive lineup possibilities.”

Beckley Mason of HoopSpeak on Durant: “Durant’s game was likely headed for such an expansion anyways, his drive to improve would naturally lead him in that direction. But it might also be that the Harden trade will accelerate Durant’s growth as a playmaker and evolution within the Thunder petri dish. If that’s the case (and it’s impossible to say now) it would raise an interesting question: given the choice, is it better for Durant to become the absolute best player he can be, or to perhaps sacrifice some of Durant’s peak ability in order to retain the better secondary player in James Harden?”

Sam Anderson of New York Times Magazine talking about his cover story: “The Thunder is a magical team. Everyone wanted to hate them after the debacle over whether the team would stay in Seattle, and many succeeded and even kept it up for a few years. But the team became so likable on so many levels (the personalities, the playing style, the organizational class, James Harden’s beard) that a lot of that hate just melted away. That’s not to say that many people in Seattle don’t hate them still, understandably. But the players are so young, they had all of this potential and then they actually realized it — which is such a rare thing in sports. (I write this as a big fan of the Portland Trail Blazers, which five years ago were on the verge of a Thunderlike feel-good explosion, but then all of their best players’ knees exploded simultaneously.)”

A look at OKC’s Christmas uniform.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com has OKC sixth in his power rankings: “Shooting 50.7 percent on 3s in OKC, Kevin Martin can’t give much more than he’s given to his new team. We’d love to say the same about Russell Westbrook, but the birthday boy had been challenging Nick Young for the unofficial league lead in ill-advised shots until Sunday night.”

John Schuhmann of NBA.com has OKC third: “Well, the Kevin Martin thing is working out just fine. The new guy is still shooting better than 50 percent from both the field and 3-point range, the Thunder are a plus-15 in 50 minutes where Martin has been on the floor with neither Kevin Durant nor Russell Westbrook, and he can’t be blamed too much for the fact that his team still can’t take care of the ball (30th in turnover rate).”

Great stat from reader Dustin on Kevin Martin: Through eight games, Martin is averaging 17.1 ppg on 9.6 shots per game. The only player in league history to average at least 17 ppg on less than 10 FGA is Artis Gilmore in 1980-81.

From Elias: “Russell Westbrook scored 33 points against the Pistons to lead the Thunder to a 92-90 win on Monday, and to increase his career scoring average against Detroit to 15.6 points per game. The only team against which Westbrook has a lower scoring average is the Clippers (14.9 per game).”

Darnell Mayberry: “I mentioned much earlier that the Thunder closed fourth-quarter defensive possessions with rebounds, sort of. That’s because OKC allowed seven offensive boards in the final period. That’s too many. Against a good team, that will get you beat. But the Thunder weathered the storm tonight and continued to give great second and third efforts despite the late defensive rebounding issues. It made the fourth-quarter D that much more impressive while also leaving much to be desired. Get it?”

Dan Feldman of Piston Powered: “The Pistons played fine for the first three quarters – and for Detroit, fine is divine – but the Thunder were playing their second of a back-to-back and fourth game in five days. It was impressive that the Pistons could build a double-digit lead on Oklahoma City in any circumstance, but it’s not terribly surprising that they blew it. The Thunder are simply a level or two above Detroit right now.”