Daily Thunder.com

Rob Mahoney of SI.com: “Interestingly enough, the Thunder have opened themselves up for just such a strategic turn in accepting Martin’s contributions in exchange for Harden’s — not to mention the addition of the utterly stagnant Derek Fisher to replace more useful offensive players. Westbrook and Durant make for one of the most potent shot creating duos in the league, but should an opponent manage to lock down Durant with any measure of success, it could throw Oklahoma City’s offense off-balance enough to make every game of a potential series winnable. As prolific as the Thunder are, the absence of a third playmaker — and their dependence on individual dribble-driving rather than team-wide ball movement — makes them susceptible to pressure-heavy schemes. If an opponent keys in on Durant and/or Westbrook in the same way that the Thunder once focused on Parker, OKC becomes an imminently beatable opponent.”

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on minutes: “Sitting them can cost you a lead, or a game. But evidently it also comes with the serious upside of increasing your likelihood of winning a title, which is why it’s no surprise to see top players resting this time of year. (The bigger surprise is that NBA rules force teams to gin up tales of injuries to justify good medium-term planning.) In Vegas, the top three contending teams at the moment, in order, are the Heat, Thunder and Spurs. The Heat have played their top players a lot, but not a crazy amount. The Thunder, thanks largely to Durant’s crazy minutes, might be the league’s most flagrant violators. The Spurs, meanwhile … forget three thousand minutes. They barely have any players over two thousand. That doesn’t mean they’ll make it past the Thunder or Heat, but if minutes matter, it does mean the coaches have done what they can to maximize success.” Keep Reading…

Seth Rosenthal of Posting and Toasting: “Melo hit his first two shots, but had an otherwise dreadful first quarter. Serge Ibaka funneled his drives toward help defense, then used the split second afforded by the arriving help and Melo’s pump fakes to recover and swat things. Then Melo picked up a second foul and departed, as mentioned above. The statute of limitations on that foul trouble permitted a return a few minutes into the second, at which point Melo commenced cooking soup. He hit threes off the catch, he hit twos off the bounce, and he rumbled into the paint for finishes, sometimes after a few extra attempts. All that work in the paint was most impressive. Melo didn’t draw a shooting foul in this game. Not one! All four of his free throws came on last-ditch intentional fouls in the final seconds. He spent the whole night bulling through contact to tip the ball back and back and back at the rim until it obeyed him, rarely wasting any effort to grouse about the non-calls. In darker times, I feel like Melo might’ve snapped and let the lack of calls affect his performance, but this is April Melo and April Melo is unflappable. He won’t flap.”

Jim Cavan of Knickerblogger with a song: “Cough-ups caused the foes to start the third ablaze, Another gear the Thunder found, but hey, nice try!, How I loathe Russ’s smugness, let me count the ways, Collison’s blood could likely make a Kleenex cry, Late the Bockers won by taking back the trenches, Nineteen OREBs on the day, nine by Melo’s strength, While New York held down the battle of the benches, Kidd’s head, Earl’s touch, and Copeland’s driving length, Shump slinked, Pablo panicked, and Novak hit a pair, While Reggie Jackson’s driving kept the contest close, Kevin Martin’s hoists all the day rang true and fair. And Derek Fisher’s flesh rot flopped into the nose” Keep Reading…