Monday Bolts – 1.19.15
Mike Wallace of ESPN.com: “The next four games on this five-game trip — at the Heat, Wizards, Hawks and Cavaliers — could either propel the Thunder firmly back into the playoff picture for the first time this season or push them into a sizable deficit that might be too steep to overcome in the ultra-competitive West. Durant and the Thunder don’t need 20-20 vision to see that though a .500 record might be sufficient to garner the sixth seed in the East, it’ll land you in the lottery in the conference in which they compete. It’s why Durant left Sunday’s game delivering fighting words, considering what his squad is facing. Now that they’ve endured the worst and have broken even, the Thunder seeks to hit the reset button.”
Scott Brooks on staggering KD and Westbrook’s minutes: “It gives Kevin an opportunity to create offense in the second unit,” Brooks said. “And then it gives him an opportunity to play with both units. He’s one of the guys that can play with both units. It helps the second unit when Kevin comes in with that unit. The scoreboard will continue to move with his ability not only to score but to help his teammates score.”
Anthony Slater: “Through five games — which is admittedly far too small a sample size to truly judge something — Sam Presti’s move to buy low on the Dion Waiters stock looks like a stroke of genius. In Cleveland, one of the biggest criticisms of Waiters was his lack of consistency. He’d be great one game and terrible the next two. But that certainly hasn’t been a problem in OKC. On Sunday, he came off the Thunder bench to score 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 21 minutes. It was his fourth consecutive game of at least 15 points. In 33 games for the Cavs this season, he never did that more than twice in a row. But more than the point totals and surprising efficiency (51 percent shooting the past four games), Waiters continues to provide defensive effort that OKC was previously lacking from its shooting guard options (Jackson, Morrow, Lamb) off the bench. He has 10 steals in five games and seems to be fitting into his new role beautifully.”
Berry Tramel says the Thunder should want Lance Stephenson, not Brook Lopez: “Maybe Presti has abandoned his well-constructed plan and gone desperate. Or maybe the Netropolitans have been talking up the trade, hoping they could draw more suitors for Lopez and get a better deal. Who knows? But if Presti wants to invigorate the Thunder roster, and limit it to the names being tossed around in the Thunder-Brooklyn-Charlotte scenario, Lopez is not the guy. Lance Stephenson is. The Hornets’ malcontent signed with Charlotte last summer for a below-market deal of $27 million season for three years, with the final year the team’s option. That’s cheap for a two-way guard, a good perimeter defender and solid scorer who was a lightning rod but also a playmaker for the Pacers’ contending teams of the previous two seasons. That’s exactly what the Thunder needs. Someone who can defend like Andre Roberson but who also can hit the broad side of a barn.”
Kurt Helin of PBT: “The Oklahoma City Thunder are .500 and coming on fast. Phoenix is not going to roll over — they still have a three game lead over the Thunder and are making moves to add talent to the roster. But the Thunder are coming on — they reached .500 on Sunday with an emphatic win over Orlando. This game was a blowout from the opening tip — OKC opened on a 13-0 run and took off from there. The Thunder led by as many as 38 before winning by 28, 127-99. Kevin Durant had 21 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists and only played 28 minutes.”
Andrew Wiggins is coming, y’all.
Darnell Mayberry: “Kevin Durant picked off an errant pass by Evan Fournier, took off the other way and spotted a streaking Russell Westbrook before tossing a sky-high alley-oop attempt that sailed high and well left of the rim. Westbrook, of course, went up and got it anyway, saving the ball from flying out of bounds with a fantastic over-the-head flip that landed directly into the hands of a trailing Kendrick Perkins, who finished the play with a two-handed dunk. After a miss by Victor Oladipo at the other end, the Thunder was off and running again, this time with Westbrook leading the way and showing Durant how it’s done, tossing a pinpoint lob pass to Durant, who flushed it home with authority. The second slam put the Thunder ahead by 35 points and there were still 41/2 minutes left to play in the second quarter. But the Thunder was having fun again.”
