Monday Bolts – 5.23.16
Ben Golliver of SI.com: “Adding another level of complexity to the debate: On Sunday,
shortly before Game 3 tipped off, the NBA issued a one-game suspension to Cavaliers guard Dahntay Jones for a below-the-belt shot to Raptors center Bismack Biyombo. Did that ruling set a precedent for Green? The NBA looks damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t. Suspending Green could easily have series-deciding implications and spark a backlash among Warriors fans over the issue of intent. Not suspending Green, given the Jones suspension and Green’s previous blow, would immediately raise questions about a double standard and superstar treatment. Controversy is guaranteed either way.”
Tim Bontemps of the WaPo: “When the Oklahoma City Thunder is at its best, it makes a basketball court shrink in ways no other team can match. With its combination of size, speed and athleticism, the Thunder can look like it’s playing downhill offensively and with seven or eight players — instead of the usual five — at the defensive end. To say the Thunder was at its best Sunday night, though, would be an understatement. In Game 3 of the Western Conference finals between Oklahoma City and the Golden State Warriors, the Thunder put on the kind of display — the kind of comprehensive beatdown — that had to be seen to be believed.”
Ben Alamar of ESPN Stats and Info: “Of course, the partnership goes deeper than just Westbrook setting up Durant. When Durant is the screener on pick-and-rolls, Westbrook is the ball handler on 73 percent of those chances, and the duo score 0.94 points per chance — which on a team level would make them the seventh-best pick-and-roll offense in the league. Westbrook has also been Durant’s partner on 55 percent of Durant’s transition possessions this season, and when they work together in transition, they score 1.4 points per chance, which would make them second best in the league.”
Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com: “What’s odd about a play that might swing the championship is that nobody, save for Adams, actually reacted to it in real time. Every player on the Thunder and Warriors started walking away, initially oblivious to the cause of Adams’ pain. Billy Donovan stared ahead quizzically until the giant video screen showed a replay that left the crowd aghast. Officials took to the replay booth, resulting in Green’s flagrant 1.”
Anthony Slater: “With the lanky Shaun Livingston in front and 7-foot Festus Ezeli stalking from behind, Russell Westbrook went Rucker Park, trying a risky, fastbreak between-the-legs bounce pass to a streaking Randy Foye. Not the kind of maneuver you’d expect in the Western Conference Finals. But on this night, as Westbrook’s shoes emblazon: Why not? Everything else was working. And so did this. Westbrook’s trick pass led to two Foye free throws. Which put the Thunder up 36 points. In the third quarter. Against the historic 73-win Warriors.”
Chris Mannix of The Vertical: “Suddenly, the best team in NBA history looks inferior. Curry and Thompson have been good, yet far from dominating. The quick shots that plagued Golden State in Game 1 returned in Game 3, with the Warriors firing at will, rejecting Kerr’s pleas to make the extra pass. Each miss launched Oklahoma City into transition, and the Thunder’s near flawless execution (29 fast-break points) seemed to drain Golden State’s energy while a pounding half-court attack (62 points in the paint) finished it off.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “They beat the Cavs without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. They’ve beaten Houston twice, Memphis and Portland. None of those teams had Durant or Westbrook, much less both of them. Which prompted a rival scout to ask me Sunday night to imagine the following world with a bit of revisionist history. If you could go back to opening night of the 2014-15 season and ask yourself which team you’d be willing to put money on to win an NBA title — the Thunder or the Warriors — what would you have said? This was before Durant broke his foot last season and missed 55 games. This was before the Warriors won their first title in 40 years, and before they won a league-record 73 games this season.”
Erik Horne: “With the Thunder leading by three points in the first quarter, Billy Donovan made his first substitution at 7:19, bringing in Dion Waiters. Less than two minutes later, Waiters picked up the ball on the break and saw 6-foot-11 Festus Ezeli in front of him. The Thunder guard hesitated a beat to get Ezeli thinking he was going to pull up for a jumper. Wrong. Waiters blew by Ezeli … but looked stuffed at the rim before uncoiling a wraparound pass to Serge Ibaka for an easy dunk. Jokes have been made about “Waiters Island,” a place where ball movement stops and jumpers go up. But Waiters’ infectious passing spread throughout the Thunder in its 133-105 blowout of the Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.”