Monday Bolts – 2.27.17
Brett Dawson: “Doug McDermott forgot his headphones. They’re in a junk drawer back in
Chicago, casualties of a mad dash to pack pieces of a life for an unplanned move. On Thursday, in the hours after McDermott learned the Bulls were trading him – along with teammate Taj Gibson – to the Thunder, he and his brother Nick stuffed belongings into trash bags. Clothes made the cut, as did some postgame recovery equipment. Personal items mostly stayed put. Books were left behind, even in mid-read. The headphones, too, though that was an accident.”
Berry Tramel: “The Chicago imports sat on the end of the bench in amazement. It’s not like Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott have been playing in Rapid City. They’ve been playing for the Bulls, in the United Center, in rough and tumble games against the best the NBA has to offer. And still, when Russell Westbrook did what Russell Westbrook does — take over the game and take it over in style — the newest Thunder members were stunned.”
Erik Horne: “Westbrook led the charge with his 29th triple-double of the season — 41 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists — but the Thunder’s fortunes changed when it started making the game tough on the Pelicans’ interior tandem. It was Gibson, not Enes Kanter, who was the first man off the bench in the third quarter. Domantas Sabonis had three fouls. Thunder coach Billy Donovan wanted to give Davis a different look. So he went with Gibson, who said he was familiar with Davis’ style of play.”
Hey Brandon Jennings is available…
Fred Katz: “The beginning three quarters against the Pelicans were far from perfect. Westbrook turned the ball over eight times during that stretch, mostly on cross-body passes to the wrong team. He limited himself to only one turnover in the fourth. The game, in general, was ugly. Fouls, technicals, any kind of stoppage made an 87-84 score through 36 minutes far choppier than the high-scoring nature implies. The process was grueling at times: 55 combined fouls, seven combined techs, including ones for Westbrook and great New Orleans big men Cousins and Anthony Davis. Stars shined through at times. After all, someone had to score the points. Davis went for 38, 24 of those coming in a first quarter during which he dominated whether there were hands in his face or not. Cousins had 31.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com has OKC ninth: “On the one hand, OKC’s great defensively and closes games hard. On the other, their offense is still pedestrian. But if Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott give them a boost in any capacity, they might have some pyro to bring to the show come April.”