Daily Thunder.com

Justin Kubatko of ESPN.com says KD’s the early MVP: “Once again acknowledging the imperfection of the available data, there is nothing to suggest that Anthony has any kind of defensive advantage over Durant. In fact, the evidence points to Durant being the better defender. Win shares is a statistic that attempts to summarize all of a player’s accomplishments in a single number. Durant currently leads the NBA in both win shares (5.5) and win shares per 48 minutes (.280), while Anthony is 11th and 12th (3.0 and .204, respectively) in these categories. None of this is meant to be an indictment of Anthony as a player — it is an indictment of the primary argument being used to support him as MVP. Durant’s clearly better season, coupled with the fact that Oklahoma City has the best record in the NBA, negates the “best player on the best team” argument. If you’re looking for the MVP of the first eight weeks of the season, look no further than Durant.”

Tom Ziller of SB Nation on assists: “In the end, on the question of the value of the assist, it turns out that the correlation between assist percentage and offensive efficiency (points per possession) is basically nonexistent. How well you shoot determines roughly half of how good your offense performs. Turnover rate is about 20 percent. So it makes sense that while assists have a smaller impact on shooting than on turnover rate, the outsized impact of shooting on an offense overall makes them even out. Again, it’s all in the execution. If there’s light to be shed here, it’s that passers who can rack up assists without committing turnovers are perhaps most valuable. Free Brevin Knight.” Keep Reading…

David Thorpe of ESPN.com: “All three accomplishments came about because of the Thunder’s improved play on both ends of the court, and of course thanks to Kevin Durant, who is quietly trying to wrestle “Best Player in the World” status away from LeBron James. The reality is the Thunder are coasting through many of these games — easing to leads often, then fighting when necessary to finish the game. When they have stayed locked in from start to finish, the Thunder have embarrassed opponents.”

Ben Golliver of SI.com: “Ibaka is a nightmare cover for a Spurs’ frontcourt that has plenty of talent overall, just not the right skills to neutralize him consistently. Ibaka’s athleticism, length and leaping ability present a tough match-up for a vast majority of the league and San Antonio is no exception. Boris Diaw, DeJuan Blair and Stephen Jackson simply can’t compete athletically; Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter stand a better chance but face other match-up issues if they play together and OKC goes small. Like teammate Russell Westbrook, Ibaka is at his most effective when he’s maxing out the relentless meter. That was the case here. He gets love for being able to hit the mid-range jumper, and he was 5-for-8 on jumpers, but he cleaned up inside too through dogged effort, with five baskets in the restricted area. Again, like Westbrook, Ibaka has the ability to wear on his mark and, as a game or series progresses, wear on the opposing team as a whole.” Keep Reading…