Monday Bolts – 11.19.12
Nuggets from Darnell Mayberry: “Kevin Durant finally did it. He finally notched that first triple double. It took him 391 NBA games, but it was well worth the wait. He scored 25 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished 10 assists in 39 minutes. He had nine assists through three quarters and recorded his final helper with 4:57 left in the fourth. It was the culmination of years of fine-tuning his craft, of countless games where he’s been oh-so close but couldn’t quite seal the deal. But this was the night, and by the end of the night KD looked as complete as we’ve ever seen him.”
NBA.com’s highlights from last night
Kevin Martin will remain sixth man for now: “Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he currently has no plans to insert Kevin Martin into the starting lineup but left the door open for that to change down the line. “At this moment, no, I don’t see it changing,” Brooks said. “You never know. It’s a long season. A lot of things can happen. But we have a pretty good track record with our starters. They understand their role and they do a good job. Kevin, we’re building him to be that guy off the bench that can give us what we need that particular game.”
The ever improving Kevin Durant: “His shooting has improved form his rookie season to this one, and so has his shot selection. After those facets of his game got better, he needed to get a little stronger because big defenders like Metta World Peace could just bully him around while chasing him around screens and make it difficult for him to catch the ball or do anything good with it after finally getting a touch. And so KD became stronger, but also better at using screens. Considering that he was already a scoring machine at this point, no one could have blamed him if he stopped trying to improve, but that’s not Durant.”
Kevin Durant says he didn’t care about his triple-double: “Durant notched his first career triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Golden State Warriors 119-109. “I really didn’t care, to be honest. If it came, then that’s cool. If it didn’t, then just keep playing,” Durant said. “It feels good to get one. Now, I guess I’ve got a little monkey off my back. I can just go out there and play.” Durant has endured some growing pains this season trying to improve his floor game, with a bump in his assist numbers coinciding with an increase in his turnovers, too. He came in averaging four turnovers per game, the fourth-worst in the league.”
