Monday Bolts – 11.17.14
Berry Tramel: “Hope is dwindling until Durant and Westbrook return. Three weeks, Durant told fans in pregame, and by then, who knows what kind of hole OKC will be in? The Thunder is 3-8, and if the record is in the 5-15 neighborhood upon their return, that’s a mighty task to ask of Durant and Westbrook, to get the squad back into the 47-win range that’s likely to be needed for the post-season.”
Marc Stein of ESPN.com has OKC 23rd: “It is factually correct, I suppose, to point out that the Thunder didn’t taste their eighth L last season until Jan. 7, when they were sitting at a tidy 27-8 as opposed to the current 3-8. Yet you’d also have to say, given all the injuries so far, that they’re matching gritty Indy’s effort on the scrappiness scale.”
James Harden on Reggie Jackson’s situation: “That’s (tougher). Credit to him. He’s handling it great. He’s been a great leader. Since he’s been on the court he’s been playing very good basketball, and he’s handling it the right way. I’m sure good things are going to happen for Reggie.”
Anthony Slater comparing the Harden and Jackson scenarios: “The first time around, Harden went the pure PR route. During the days leading up to the trade that shocked the NBA world, Harden spoke of a desire to stay in OKC, of his dreams of a dynasty. Behind the scenes, though, his preference was to find a leading role. Jackson’s seems to be, too. But he’s been extremely open about that in his public comments.”
I wrote about last night’s game here too.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider asks if the Rockets and Grizzlies can stay on top of the West: “The fortune-telling ability of point differential is reasonably good news for the Rockets, who have just missed the plus-10 PPG cutoff, outscoring their opponents by 9.4 points per game. However, the Grizzlies have a relatively paltry plus-5.1 differential, good for sixth-best in the West. They’ve gotten to 9-1 by winning five games by five points or fewer, including Thursday’s miraculous Courtney Lee buzzer-beater to knock off the Sacramento Kings. While Memphis’ lone loss also came by a single point to the Milwaukee Bucks, on average a team with the Grizzlies’ point differential would have a 7-3 record thus far. Memphis doesn’t have to apologize for those wins, which count just the same in the standings, but they also shouldn’t be taken as evidence that the Grizzlies have been the West’s best team in the early going.”