Friday Bolts – 12.19.14
Rob Mahoney of SI.com: “All the same, this was an opportunity missed for the Thunder, even if that stemmed from Durant’s tweaked ankle. Oklahoma City is set to be a playoff team again thanks to the accelerated returns of both Durant and Westbrook. Where the Thunder fall within the eventual playoff bracket (and which opponent they’ll eventually match up against), however, is subject to their nightly performance. Every winnable game matters in the West, and for the Thunder mostly every game is winnable. With that comes pressure. It’s ridiculous that NBA teams would concern themselves with seeding some 57 games in advance of the postseason, but the matchup game has never seemed more important than in this year’s field.”
Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com: “For seven incredible minutes, Oracle was witness to the Thunder at their most terrifying. It took just that long for Oklahoma City to put up 30 points, for Kevin Durant to enter a mode where a crowd rooting against him actually sighed when he missed. Durant finished with 30 points in 18 minutes, a feat never before reached since the merger. At the end of the half he was felled by the foot of Mo Speights in what’s hopefully a minor ankle sprain. Before that injury happened, the Warriors impressed by clawing their way back from an early 17-point deficit. Steve Kerr brought in Iguodala to put out the growing conflagration and Golden State slowed a team that looked more like a force of nature than its namesake.”
Could Russell Westbrook, hold on let me lower my voice, could Russell Westbrook really be the Thunder’s best player?
Anthony Slater: “In his first eight games back, Durant hadn’t hit more than three 3s in a game. But during one 50-second stretch in the first half, Durant buried a trio of triples, taking a deeper, tougher look each time down. Nine points in less than a minute. You could tell the dude was feeling it. Overall, he finished 10-of-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from three, hitting that rare scoring zone we became so accustomed to during his amazing January run last season. The MVP finally looked the part. He was putting together that signature ‘I’m back’ game. And then the ankle sprain abruptly ended it. And that was what was so disheartening. But…glass half-full: maybe that remains the most important takeaway. Maybe Durant is back.The Thunder looked as scary as ever for some first half stretches.”
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider on how high OKC could climb: “The Thunder are already close to catching the teams that were battling for the eighth spot in the West. As of Thanksgiving, the day before Westbrook’s return from hand surgery, Oklahoma City was five games back of the Phoenix Suns for eighth. Now the gap between those teams is a half-game. The Thunder have passed the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings, and also have the New Orleans Pelicans (1½ games up) in their sights. Because all of the West’s top teams continue winning, the Thunder haven’t made up as much ground. Still, they have gained a full two games on the San Antonio Spurs to move within five of the defending champs.”
Great Rondo piece from Paul Flannery of SB Nation: “Rondo was an original, one of the most compelling athletes to play in Boston in recent memory. He began as a sidekick, developed into an All-Star and was ultimately the last one standing. He was eccentric to the extreme, but it was impossible to take your eyes off him when he had the ball in his hands. In his final game with the Celtics, he casually tossed off pinpoint passes from impossible angles and ran the team as well as he has all season. As final acts go, it lacked the dramatic flair of an inspired playoff run, but it was perfect in its own way. It was a final reminder of his abilities in all their sublime weirdness. It was a hell of a run, but it was also time.”
