SL: Thunder vs. Magic game notes
OKC beat Orlando 80-78. A few quick notes while we prepare for the LeBrocolypse tonight.
- No James Harden, no Eric Maynor meant more Mustafa Shakur and more Kyle Weaver. And both played pretty well. Shakur actually played REALLY well. Shakur netted 21 on 6-10 shooting, dished out five assists and only turned it over once. He was in control throughout the game and never wavered in confidence. I said last year he is an NBA roster player. Someone is going to grab him eventually. For shame OKC really doesn’t have room.
- Weaver on the other hand showed some good and bad. Good: scoring 21 points. Bad: taking 21 shots to do it (7-21). Good: seven assists. Bad: five turnovers. But Weaver went 3-6 from deep and the fact he actually took 21 shots is semi-encouraging. Normally he’s passive to a fault. He really tried to assert himself today.
- Robert Vaden is 1-9 from 3 this summer. That’s not so good for a 3-point specialist.
- Byron Mullens finished with 12 today, but he grabbed nine rebounds. Progress! He went 6-13 from the floor but didn’t attempt a free throw.
- Speaking of, OKC took just 18 freebies today, way down from the usual 40.
- D.J. White didn’t play today so that meant more Latavious Williams and Ryan Reid, which I’m happy about. We pretty much know what White has to offer at this point. Good for the youngsters to get some run. Williams was quiet, scoring just two points on 1-5 shooting in 24 minutes. Reid was a bulldog again, scoring 12 points and grabbing five boards. I’m liking Reid more and more. He’s a worker, and those are never bad to have around.
OKC closes summer league play tomorrow at 7 a.m. CT against Indiana.
