Daily Thunder.com

Carl Bialik of the Wall Street Journal on the scoring title: “But to Durant, a 70% true-shooting percentage over five games is nothing extraordinary. He did it over five different five-game periods this season, including three non-overlapping ones. His TS% in April has been even better than Anthony’s: 68% to Anthony’s 62%, as Melo went a bit cold after his five-game run. Meanwhile, before that run began Anthony had no five-game period this season with a TS% above 65.1%. Throughout the season, Durant has been almost as good as that, wit a true-shooting percentage of 64.7%, second-best in the NBA. James’s 64% is third-best. Just four players in NBA history have averaged at least 25 points per game while playing in at least 60 games and shooting with a higher true-shooting percentage than Durant has this season — and only one more has done so while topping James’s mark.”

Tom Habertstroh of ESPN.com: “Want to know why OKC’s offense improved this season even without James Harden? That Kevin Martin guy can score the rock. According to SportVU, Martin scored 0.494 points per touch in the 55 games tracked by their cameras, which is the highest efficiency in their database. He may not get the ball all that often playing next to Durant and Russell Westbrook, but Martin is making the most of it, scoring 802 points on 1,623 touches. Contrast that efficiency with teammate Kendrick Perkins who has received 273 more touches this season than Martin, but scored 554 fewer points. Perhaps Martin should get the ball more.” Keep Reading…

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “The Thunder just did what they’ve done this year, took care of a team at home. Beat the stuffing out of the Kings and clinched the No.1 seed in the West. Russell Westbrook was athletic, Kevin Durant was quietly tremendous, and the defense did its work. Pretty great season after the Harden trade supposedly buried them.”

Sekou Smith of NBA.com: “A dangerous Lakers team battled a hobbled San Antonio Spurs team, the same Spurs we’ll see this weekend, and won an emotionally charged game to move one step closer to locking up that No. 8 seed. If the Lakers can keep up the same sort of intensity for another week and a half, that first-round matchup in the playoffs will be considerably more difficult than it might have with Bryant in the mix and the rest of his teammates taking their usual backseat. The Thunder have every reason to be confident, if they do indeed match up with the Lakers in this weekend. They still have decided advantage on the perimeter with Durant and Russell Westbrook leading the charge. And Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins are more than capable of dealing with Howard and Gasol inside.” Keep Reading…

Ben Golliver of SI.com gives OKC an A+ for the season: “The Thunder do it on both ends despite their reputation as an offense-first machine, ranking No. 2 in offensive efficiency and No. 4 in defensive efficiency. They do it at home (fourth-best record) and on the road (second-best record). They’ve been doing it so well for so long that seemingly every two-game losing streak sets off alarm bells because, frankly, we’ve all been spoiled. The chief spoiler is Kevin Durant, who has maintained his 50/40/90 shooting into the season’s final week. In a world without LeBron James, he would be the clear king. If you had to bet your life on one team’s being capable of dethroning Miami, it would be the Thunder — despite the one-sided 2012 Finals and the Harden trade. They’re that talented, aggressive, fine-tuned, deep, big, long and just that good.”

David Thorpe of ESPN Insider says Jeremy Lamb should study Tony Allen: “Lamb is uniquely talented with super-long arms and a beautifully smooth jump shot. Allen is a whirling dervish of a player who injects energy into his team and makes countless plays that don’t show up in the box score but help his team win. Lamb has the chops to hang in the league for a long time as a pure shooter, but if he wants to be a significant player he’ll have to learn how to contribute in ways beyond being a catch-and-shoot guy. He’s unlikely to ever be the kind of leader Allen has become by playing hard, but moving in that direction would be a good place to start.” Keep Reading…