Monday Bolts – 12.7.15
Kurt Helin of PBT: “But Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant showed why they can be — talent
wins out. In the 34 minutes those two were on the court together, the Thunder were +9, in the 14 minutes one was rested they were -6. Westbrook had his third triple-double of the season with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. But when it was crunch time the ball was in KD’s hands — and that made up for a lot. The best example: The game was tied in the final minute and tied, the Thunder ran some actions to get Durant the ball out top but then they didn’t bring a pick, rather let him go one-on-one, and he took a 20-foot leaning step-back three — which he drained. It wasn’t a good shot, but Durant can hit it. On the other end you saw what it was like not to have Durant: The Kings ran a pick to get Steven Adams switched onto Rudy Gay then isolated Gay, but he couldn’t quite get by Adams on the drive, plus Rajon Rondo‘s man didn’t fear his jumper and helped off Rondo in the corner on Gay, the result ultimately being a steal and turnover. The Thunder have the talent to win games like this because they have KD and Westbrook, but they are not a team threat yet.”
Anthony Slater: “The Thunder, again, blew a fourth quarter lead. OKC started the final period up 12 but found itself facing a 6-point hole with less than four minutes to go. An impending loss felt like the potential low-point of roller-coaster open to this season. But Durant awoke just in time. With 1:17 left, he hit a pull-up floater to cut the Kings lead to two. With 23 seconds, he nailed a fadeaway to reclaim a one-point lead. With four seconds left, he calmly sunk two free throws to seal the win, scoring six of the game’s final seven points.”
What I wrote for ESPN.com on last night’s win.
The not-as-handsome-as-me Kurt Helin joined Mr. Presti’s Neighborhood.
Interesting bit on rookie guards from Raptors Republic (h/t Nick S): “The term ‘NBA ready,’ as it pertains to most picks, is a misnomer. Few rookies are ready to contribute at the NBA level, and freshman by and large struggle to make the jump. There are exceptions, but teams shouldn’t have high initial expectations for the 20th pick, even if it’s a 23-year-old senior. But it was believed that thanks to his intelligent play, smart decision-making, size for the point, and general defensive aptitude, he could figure in as a back-up point guard right away. It may have confused some, then, when Wright played 10 minutes over the season’s first month and was subsequently assigned to Raptors 905 of the D-League. Joseph has been exceptional in his bench role, Kyle Lowry is capably handling a large minutes load again (for now), and head coach Dwane Casey has opted to keep his rotation tight. With Wright not playing at the NBA level, the assignment made sense, as he quickly racked up 75 minutes of playing time in two games before getting recalled on Sunday.”
Grading the Thunder a quarter of the way in.
Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post: “Oklahoma City will be happy simply to get to the playoffs with a healthy Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook-Serge Ibaka trio and take its chances.”
The Rockets are after Markieff Morris?
Hard not to think about OKC when reading this from Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com: “To reach their ceiling, Golden State needs more bench performances like the one that pushed its fourth-quarter lead. The latter bench run went better than an earlier incarnation that featured two big men against four Brooklyn 3-point shooters. Golden State is still tinkering with its recipe for when Curry rests. The Warriors are undefeated this season when the bench plays as well as it did in the fourth quarter. They’re also undefeated when the bench plays poorly. They’re unbeaten when it rains, shines, or when the weather is otherwise. For every question, they’ve had the right answer. For every action, they’ve had the right reaction. The Warriors are still rolling, and they’re making the predictable look better than ever.”
