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Monday Bolts: 11.25.19

Monday Bolts: 11.25.19

ICYMI: Brandon Rahbar recaps another close lose to a contending teamAidan Elrod reviews Darius Bazley’s performance to date.

Rajon Rondo was fined $35,000 for this cheap shot on Dennis Schroder (along with some other not nice things Rondo did in earning an ejection stemming from this play):

Rondo’s reaction to the fine?  No regrets, per Dave McMenamin (ESPN). “‘The guy I got into it with, he’s a big fan of mine,’ Rondo said of Schroder. ‘A teammate of his, my brother, Josh Smith, [told me] he used to watch a lot of my films back in the day, I was his favorite player growing up. That’s all I said to him for the most part.'”

Luguentz Dort continues to blow up the G-League:

Hamidou Diallo, who suffered an injury getting fouled by LeBron James Friday night, will be out tonight:

So, OKC is second to the San Antonio Spurs in consecutive winning seasons, but I don’t think that’s the intent of this tweet:

Practice Report leading up to tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors, the seventeenth third time the Thunder have played the Warriors this season:

Enes Kanter (a former Thunder player) is earning the support of national politicians in his campaign against Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.  “‘I’m going to have Enes’s back,’ [Senator Edward] Markey [D-Mass] said in an interview.  “I’m going to be standing with him to protect his rights.'”

Erik Horne (The Athletic) takes a trip down memory lane, reviewing the last decade of Thunder basketball.  “The Thunder were the Warriors before the Warriors. Well, except for the titles.  Hear me out: Young, homegrown talent takes the league by storm and makes itself a perennial contender for the NBA title. It’s a simple formula that rarely is as successful as Oklahoma City and Golden State made it seem in the 2010s. But the Thunder’s rise was even more overnight, from 23-59 in 2008-09 to 50-32 the next season, never dropping below 45 wins for the next decade.”

Zach Harper (The Athletic) gave his All-2010s team, and four players who have worn Thunder were named on either first or second team.  Russell Westbrook was selected for the second team.  “[Westbrook is] walking out of this decade fourth in points, 15th in rebounds, first in assists, and second in steals. He won an MVP and eight All-NBA team selections. Did he game the system? Sure. Did I game the system to include him? Absolutely.”

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