Thursday Bolts – 1.21.16
Anthony Slater: “Westbrook had six first-quarter assists on Wednesday. The Hornets had four. He
had five first-quarter assists on Tuesday. The Nuggets had six. He had five first-quarter assists on Sunday. The Heat had four. This month, in 11 games, Westbrook has 45 first-quarter assists in 106 minutes. The Thunder’s opponents only have 47. Unsurprisingly, OKC is 9-2 in a dominant January in large part because of Westbrook’s assist blitz to start games. The Thunder has outscored teams by 71 points in the first quarter to take early control nearly every night.”
Berry Tramel on Kyle Singler: “Kyle Singler checked into the game Wednesday night, and the announcement was met with uncomfortable silence. You were just thankful no discernible boos drifted to the court. In November, Singler became perhaps the home crowd’s most reviled Thunder ever. Even in Kendrick Perkins’ darkest days, he would have carried at least one of the 77 counties, starting with mine. Not Singler, especially during Kevin Durant’s six-game absence with a pulled hamstring, when Singler’s playing time went up and his performance went down. Singler eventually found himself mired on the third-string, seldom playing meaningful minutes and often sitting out games completely.”
Erik Horne: “With 12 points against Charlotte and 25 against Denver on Tuesday, Enes Kanter recorded his first back-to-back double-digit scoring games since Dec. 29. … The Thunder has scored at least 99 points in all 12 of its games in January (9-2). … OKC has posted its highest back-to-back assists totals of the season (30 at Denver, 28 vs. Charlotte).”
My ESPN.com story from last night.
Chad Ford’s latest mock has the 76ers taking Dejounte Murray with OKC’s pick: “No offense to Ish Smith, who is lighting things up for the Sixers this season, but the team is still very much looking for a long-term solution at point guard. Murray is very interesting. Blessed with great size and athleticism for his position, he’s having a big freshman year at Washington. He needs to improve his 3-point shooting and cut down on turnovers, but there is a lot of talent there.”
The Thunder are valued at $950 million. Thirteen of the league’s franchises are valued at more than $1 billion, headed by the New York Knicks at $3 billion.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com on the Cavs: “The Cavs are getting handled by their legitimate competition and it isn’t because that competition has more talent, as all of those teams at the top are loaded with enough to win it all. The Warriors and Spurs, the two teams setting the standard, are playing better together. For that matter, so are some of the challengers currently behind Cleveland. Considering where the Cavs are in the standings and what they have on the roster, what their final record is or their seed or their opponent in the Eastern Conference playoffs may matter as much as this. Beating the Warriors and Spurs is going to take greatness, and without Love’s contributions, the Cavs are going to have a hard time getting there.”
Zach Harper of CBSSports.com has KD fourth in MVP: “He’s currently one 3-point make and three free throw makes shy of the 50/40/90 club. It would be the second time he’s done it and just the fourth time in NBA history it’s been done while averaging at least 26 points. Larry Bird did it twice and Curry is currently doing it as well. The biggest knock on Durant this season is he’s missed seven games. It gave us a bit of a scare but he’s turned out to be just fine so far. His defense has been pretty stellar and he’s still one of the most dominant forces in the NBA. Most years he’d be running away with this award with the type of production he’s tossing up there. This is not most years.”
