Monday Bolts – 12.15.14

Anthony Slater: “Because of some underwhelming wins against a batch of bad Eastern Conference opponents, OKC didn’t look to have complete rhythm in the days after Westbrook and Durant returned from injury. But the past four nights — which included three wins, two in dominant fashion — this has looked like the championship contender of old. After beating up the LeBron-less Cavaliers, the Thunder strolled into Minnesota on the second night of a back-to-back and demolished the Timberwolves. Then OKC did the same thing to Phoenix on Sunday.”

Andrew Gilman of Fox Sports Southwest: “No, it’s time to start thinking about Russell Westbrook for MVP because he now has eight games in a row where he’s scored 20 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Because he missed 14 games in a row with a hand fracture and came back moving 100 miles per hour. Because he’s averaging 25.8 points per game, shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, shooting 35.7 percent on 3-pointers and averaging career highs in points, rebounds and shooting percentage. Oh, and Sunday, Westbrook bested 7-foot-1 Alex Len on a jump ball moments after Westbrook limped off the floor with what looked like a balky knee. There’s nothing Westbrook hasn’t done this year.”

Only took the Thunder two weeks to wipe out what was supposed to be their season storyline.

Darnell Mayberry: “Russell Westbrook might be moving the Thunder toward another piece of history. If he keeps up his current play, Westbrook will force himself into the conversation as the league’s Most Valuable Player — if he hasn’t already. If he manages to win it, Westbrook will make the Thunder only the second team in NBA history to have teammates that won the league’s highest individual honor in back-to-back seasons.”

If you missed it: Perk fired back at Rudy Gay. And here’s a breakdown of it.

Steve Kerr on Hero Ball: “It’s because people are idiots, that’s why. The point of the game is to get an open shot and if a guy’s double-teamed he should pass it. That’s the game.”

Kind of weird for the Thunder to not have anyone in the top 25 under 25 list.

Russ winning a jump ball over Alex Len.

Kellan Olson of Bright Side of the Sun: “Besides the disastrous start on defense, Markieff Morris picked up two quick fouls and the same for Eric Bledsoe. This is not something you can afford with Goran Dragic out. The thing about this quarter is that the Suns were getting what they wanted on offense a lot. They just didn’t show up on defense and it cost them in a quarter they could have won. The Thunder scored 41 points in the quarter and I couldn’t tell if the Suns should be down 25 or feeling like they should be close. I counted 4 stops for the Suns and it felt like a lot less.”