Monday Bolts – 3.15.10
Join the Daily Thunder bracket group. Hopefully there will be some big fantastic prize to the winner, like a date with Rumble.
Kyrylo Fesenko on the haunted Skirvin Hotel: “For me,” Fesenko says, “I cannot be afraid of ghosts because I was abducted by aliens.”
Last week, Hollinger was explaining why he had the Mavs so low in his rankings and listed teams he thought would beat them in a playoff series: “Oklahoma City was the last team to beat Dallas, 99-86 on Feb. 16; the Mavs won the first two meetings, but one was by a single point on Jan. 15. Since that game, the Thunder are 18-6, and youngsters Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are still improving. The Thunder also have a lot of length to throw at Nowitzki defensively and are a tough cover for Dallas’ wings with Durant. My theory will be tested on April 3, when the Mavs and Thunder meet again in Dallas.”
A comment from reader MastrMatt: “Not sure if the camera caught it, but as Kyrylo Fesenko came to the bench for the last time, the crowd got quiet and someone yelled “Sit Down 44!” Fesenko decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and flip the bird to the crowd. I was in section 114. Everyone over there saw it.”
Shaun Livingston had 18 points and eight assists for the Wizards the other night. He’s doing pretty well.
Byron Mullens had 23 and 10 last night for Tulsa.
Darnell Mayberry: “This could be the 4-5 seed matchup, and it would be a very good one. I’m starting to wonder if the Thunder’s 3-0 record against the Jazz this season, however, has some Thunder fans overconfident about OKC’s chances in a playoff series. Maybe I’m the one who’s delusional. Golden State swept Dallas in 2005-06 and then beat them in the first round. So it’s possible we could have a similar situation on our hands.”
From Elias: “Kevin Durant scored 35 points and Russell Westbrook added 30 in the Thunder’s 119-111 win over the Jazz. It was the first time that two players scored 30 or more points in a regulation, 48-minute game against Utah since the Anthony-Iverson honeymoon, when Melo and AI did it twice in a span of four weeks (Jan.-Feb. 2007).”
We’re all excited that OKC is just a half game out of fourth, but the Thunder are also just two games from being eighth. The West is so ridiculously close right now.
HoopsWorld on OKC’s building process.
Pro Basketball Talk: “The Jazz for some reason did not play Kyle Korver much in their loss to the Bucks even though they needed a perimeter scorer to spread the floor. Then tonight they let him try and guard Kevin Durant for a bit. Kyle Korver was then dragged to hell. Westbrook and Durant scored 65 points on 33 shots. Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams brought it, but the Jazz lost in the paint which is insane because that’s where they should dominate. Serge Ibaka had 0 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes, but of course there is no box score stat for “punking Carlos Boozer like a madman.”
