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Tuesday Bolts – 11.17.15

Tuesday Bolts – 11.17.15

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com makes a case on why Kanter should start: “So you move Kanter to

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the starting unit, you blow teams away with offensive firepower, and you close with the current unit when Durant gets back along with Adams. Save your best lineup to finish when you need it, and start by rolling teams back off the floor with an offensive onslaught. Kanter’s good things make the great Thunder players even better, and his problems don’t hurt them. Start Kanter.”

Nylon Calculus on Westbrook’s assisting: “First, his numbers are likely to come down as the season progresses. Over the past couple of years, among players with at least 3,500 completed passes, the top Passing Efficiency was at 20 percent and the top Adjusted Passing Efficiency at 51 percent (with Ty Lawson dominating in this latter category). Westbrook may still end up on the leaderboards, but perhaps not at the lofty levels where he presently resides. Second, it remains challenging to differentiate between individual skill and offensive system. Oklahoma City is currently near the bottom of the league in made passes, and it compiled the fifth lowest totals in both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. Apart from last year’s mediocre showing, it’s had some of the better efficiency numbers, too. This topic alone probably warrants its own study, but one wonders how much of Westbrook’s results are driven by team priorities and, conversely, how much of OKC’s results are a function of playing to his strengths.”

John Schuhmann of NBA.com ranked OKC fourth yesterday: “The Thunder offense survived its first 2 1/2 games without Kevin Durant (with a couple of triple-doubles from Russell Westbrook), but came up empty against Boston on Sunday. Unlike last season, Westbrook has shot much better with Durant on the floor than he has with him on the bench. Durant said Sunday that he’s feeling “a lot better,” but the Thunder obviously have to think long-term with their star.”

Moore had OKC 14th: “Kevin Durant will no doubt improve their record when he comes back, because they’ll just outscore teams. The defensive problems are real, though, and their problematic game plans seem apparent in losses like the one Sunday to Boston. Will KD cure their ills or just mask the symptoms?”

Stein had OKC eighth: “Not even two more triple-doubles from Russell Westbrook, nor some hopeful words from Kevin Durant about his hamstring, can hush the sense that this opening month of the Billy Donovan era has been bumpier than expected. Sunday’s second-half capitulation to Boston is OKC’s second eyebrow-raising loss at home.”

Steven Adams ranked as the 21st best center.

Anthony Slater: “The Thunder was without its best perimeter defender, Andre Roberson, which stung. Roberson missed the game with the flu. So rookie Cameron Payne, in his first significant playing time, got wing minutes off the bench. Both Payne and typical backup point guard D.J. Augustin shared the task of guarding Chalmers. Both were exploited — Augustin because of his lack of size and Payne because of his lack of experience.”

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