Friday Bolts – 12.12.14
Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report: “The Thunder have much more time, with 60 dates left on the schedule. But the East, while not the embarrassment it is now, wasn’t nearly as imposing as the current Western Conference. At 9-13, the Thunder are looking up at 11 other teams, including seven that are at least 10 games over .500, with seventh-seeded Dallas already a full seven games ahead. That may be too much ground to make up, especially in the short term since the Thunder’s schedule isn’t especially forgiving. The slate includes the Warriors, Trail Blazers, Spurs, Mavericks and two games with the Suns, all before 2015 starts. But that eighth spot? It appears to be theirs to take, as they’re just 2.5 games behind Phoenix and likely to hurdle all of the teams between—Sacramento, New Orleans, Denver—within a couple of weeks. They will do so even if their offensive rhythm remains somewhat ragged, as it was Thursday, simply because their top two players are just too talented.”
Kevin Zimmerman of SB Nation: “This was the Thunder’s hope when Durant and Westbrook first went down. Games without their stars would empower everyone else in the short term, making the collective even better once the two big guns returned. It’s early still, but unless one of the Western Conference’s young teams hits an uptick even close to what Durant and Westbrook can bring to the Thunder, the odds favor Oklahoma City putting itself in a playoff position sooner rather than later.”
Story from last night’s game on ESPN.com.
Anthony Slater: “More than a week into his return, Kevin Durant is yet to have that signature “I’m back” game. But on Thursday, he finally tossed up one of those quintessential closing acts — the kind that earned him the nickname Slim Reaper during a particularly terrorizing stretch last season. Durant is a documented 30-point per game scorer. He averaged more than that during his MVP campaign. But through five games of this reacclimation period, he’s yet to score 30 points or play more than 30 minutes. Coach Scott Brooks is easing him back into the lineup. And Durant’s game is slowly responding.”
Berry Tramel: “LeBron James didn’t play, but what did Anthony Morrow care? This game still was on TNT, a national broadcast, and that made it different for Morrow. The journeyman sharpshooter has toiled with the Warriors when they stunk, the Nets when they stunk, the Hawks for 24 games, the Mavericks for 17 games and the Pelicans when they stunk. So you couldn’t blame Morrow when he was all fired up for the Thunder-Cavs showdown, so much so that Kevin Durant told him to “calm his (butt) down” after practice on Wednesday. Easy for Durant to say. He’s been playing important games for going on six years now. Morrow hasn’t.”
Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com: “On Thursday night, the “OKC” abbreviation representing the road city the Cleveland Cavaliers were playing in more appropriately stood for “Our Knees, Crap,” for the suddenly beat-up Cavs. First, there was LeBron James sitting out with soreness behind his left knee. Cavs coach David Blatt called the injury “nothing major,” but the news still came off as rather jarring considering the ultra-competitive James was opting to sit out against perhaps his most worthy adversary in the Thunder’s Kevin Durant.”
Darnell Mayberry: “In the opening quarter, Russell Westbrook did what he does. Score, score and score some more. He was a one-man wrecking crew against Cleveland on Thursday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, dominating the Cavs by putting points on the scoreboard. But when Westbrook began to orchestrate the Thunder’s offense in the third quarter, playing the role of facilitator and relying more on the pass, the game became easy for OKC. And the Cavs couldn’t keep up.”
