Thursday Bolts – 1.14.16
Anthony Slater: “The Mavs’ five available reserves, promoted from third to second string on
Wednesday, will make a combined $8 million this season. That’s fewer than half of what Thunder reserve Enes Kanter will make in the first year of his recently signed contract ($16.4 million). In the first half, the point discrepancy matched the dollar difference. The Thunder starters quickly staked OKC to a 13-point lead, the backups helped stretch it above 20. By halftime, it sat at 23. But an otherwise sleepy game was livened midway through the second. Barea and Westbrook got tangled up and then Villanueva poured gasoline on the flames, putting his hands to both Westbrook’s and Serge Ibaka’s throat on separate instances. A resulting seven-minute review juiced up the crowd.”
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider picks All-Stars: “There’s a decent case that Westbrook has actually been more valuable than Curry so far this season. He leads all players in wins generated from ESPN’s real plus-minus (RPM) and is a narrow second in my wins above replacement player metric behind Curry. With Kevin Durant healthy, Westbrook’s usage rate has dropped back to its pre-2014-15 level, but his assist rate (a career-high 9.9 per 36 minutes) has improved and so has his efficiency. Westbrook’s .560 true shooting percentage is also a career best.”
The Mavs PA guy took a shot at OKC.
Darnell Mayberry on that: “With that said, Heath just added another layer to a Thunder-Mavs rivalry that has long been riveting theater. From the Thunder losing 4-1 in the 2011 West Finals, to Dirk (controversially) taking and making a single-game playoff record 24 free throws in a 48-point Game 1 of that 2011 series, to former Mavs guard Jason Terry labeling the Thunder the Mavs’ ‘little brother’ back in 2012, to Terry captaining a wild comeback victory and owning a courtside fan in OKC, to the Thunder avenging that 2011 series loss by sweeping the Mavs in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, to Kevin Durant pouring in a then-career high 52 points at Dallas in January 2013, this has been a storybook series each season.”
Story on Westbrook’s ejection, including quotes from Durant, Barea, Villanueva and… Westbrook.
James Herbert of CBSSports.com on Westbrook: “I don’t have the hottest take on this. Westbrook was ejected late in the second quarter, so he had a while to think about how he wanted to address what happened. He chose to say nothing, and he has made that choice before. It’s understandable that he was upset, and he obviously didn’t want to say how he really felt about it, but this seems a little much. Also: If Westbrook had just given boring answers rather than non-answers, then it’s not a story the next day. You’d think that would be his preferred outcome.”
If you haven’t seen this guy’s rebrand of the Thunder, look at it. It’s excellent. Especially the primary logo and court design.
Barry Petchesky of Deadspin: “It was J.J. Barea who thoroughly got under Westbrook’s skin, and you wonder if that wasn’t his intention. The Mavs weren’t going to win this game with the starting lineups as-is, so getting Westbrook out of the game, or at least, getting him in foul trouble, was as good a strategy as any. With about five minutes left in the second quarter, Barea and Westbrook got tangled up in the paint. Limbs were flailed, shoves were shoved, Enes Kanter held back two guys at once, and Charlie Villanueva got his hand around Westbrook’s throat.”
