Thursday Bolts – 2.2.12

Blake Griffin’s dunk over Perk got the Taiwanese animation treatment. I remember Bill Simmons used to call it the “Mom Theory” in that if his mom knew about it, that meant it was a huge story. I think the new thing is the “Taiwanese Animation Theory.” If it gets that, it’s a major story.

Sam Amick of SI.com with a nice piece on Durant and Westbrook: “In deciding to give Westbrook a max deal, Thunder general manager Sam Presti all but announced that the merits of having an aggressive point guard with blinding speed outweighed the fact that he’ll never be mistaken for Ricky Rubio. That’s been even more true this season than last, as Westbrook’s assist average has declined from 8.2 to 5.8. Yet while his score-first mentality means that the Thunder offense won’t always be the all-hands-on-deck variety, the potency of this pairing is too often overlooked.”

KD is second in ESPN.com’s MVP rankings.

NBA 411 talking trades. An explanation: We were told to come up with a trade idea, so even though I don’t see the Thunder doing anything, I had to come up with something that kind of made sense.

KD says his favorite thing to do in L.A. is shop. Harden likes to go to the beach. Reggie Jackson likes to hang with teammates and see movies.

The headlines are saying KD “dissed” Griffin’s dunk, but he just said he isn’t bowing down and worshiping him for it.

Jack Dickey of Deadspin thinks KD should give it up to Griffin: “This guy is supposed to be the friendly face of the NBA—it’s rich that KD would deride Blake as a “poster child” when KD is celebrated for wearing a backpack—and he can’t even congratulate an inferior opponent on a job well-done? Boo.”

You’ll never believe this but Mark Cuban ripped the officials last night: “Look, I haven’t said a whole lot about the officiating in a long, long time, but I haven’t seen it this bad in a long, long time,” Cuban told ESPNDallas.com in the Mavericks’ weight room after the loss. “Guys miss calls; that’s part of the game. You’re not always going to have a great crew. Officials have got to learn that’s part of the game. “But these were officials that have been part of the league for years, and it was just off-the-charts bad. And, if no one ever says anything, nothing ever happens.”

Contest giving away a KD replica backpack.

Scott Brooks was named Western Conference Coach of the Month.

Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game: “Serge Ibaka (four points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocks) often plays the part of an impact defender, but on this particular night he was completely dominant. Ibaka shaded slashers and drivers all night long, and his frequent, demonstrative rejections may have also played a part in Dallas’ second-half hesitancy. Every player in the Thunder’s rotation contests shots effectively, but having Ibaka in the paint to clean up mistakes and handle switches with ease makes scoring on OKC an incredibly difficult proposition. The Mavs may not have helped matters with their woeful — and I do mean woeful; it’s rare to see Dallas miss so many shots so badly — offense, but Ibaka and the Thunder D deserve plenty of credit.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Watching how Perk chills out is a joy in itself within a game. He thought he got fouled on his first made field goal and instead of griping just looked at one official and smiled all the way down on defense. Early in the third quarter, after getting called for a foul against Dirk, Perk didn’t shout at the ref or stare him down. He strutted over to his bench, bent over and barked to assistant Mark Bryant, who was sitting on the second row. In sharing his feelings, Perkins told Bryant, “That’s bull****.” Three times.”