Thursday Bolts – 3.12.15
Jenni Carlson: “The truth is, Durant could be way more likely to stay with the Thunder because of the way Westbrook is playing. Getting to play alongside prime-of-his-career, playing-out-of-his-mind Westbrook? Most guys would sign up for that. The Thunder may lose Durant in the summer of 2016, but it isn’t going to give him up willingly. Presti said it, but after Wednesday night, we were reminded that Westbrook might just do anything to keep Durant here. Westbrook won’t just hug him. He will grab onto Durant’s legs and hold on for dear life.”
Arash Markazi of ESPN LA: “Not only have the Clippers won nine of their past 13 games without Blake Griffin, they’ve also collected signature wins over Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Memphis, Chicago and Oklahoma City. During that stretch, Paul has led the NBA in creating 48.9 percent of the Clippers’ points either by scoring or assisting on a score. The Clippers also score a team-high 113.8 points per 100 possessions when Paul is on the floor, compared to a team-low 97.2 points per 100 possessions when he is on the bench. He is the most valuable player on one of the best teams in the league, but you’ll likely be hard-pressed to find him on many MVP ballots at the end of the season.”
For ESPN.com: It’s pretty obvious the Thunder aren’t going to be handed the eight-seed.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com in a 5-on-5 from yesterday on Westbrook’s MVP case: “While it’s dangerous to parse the meaning of the term “value,” that means quantity of play is a factor as well as quality. James Harden has played 40 percent more minutes than Westbrook this season. Westbrook would have to be overwhelmingly superior to make up that gap, and that hasn’t been the case.”
Anthony Slater: “The other guys contributed in minor ways. Adams had two points, three blocks and was a team-high plus-18 in his court time. McGary contributed seven points and six rebounds in 12 minutes against mainly backups. But when it came down to it, on some of the game’s more important possessions, Jordan was snaring the key rebounds, taking advantage of coverage leaks in the Thunder’s struggling defense.”
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com on the cap smoothing: “Broadly, this development likely means two things for the short term of league business: There may be some free agents this summer who only accept one-year contracts so they can retest the market in 2016, when it will be awash with available cash. The likelihood of a lockout in 2017 when both sides can opt out of the current CBA just increased significantly, if not unexpectedly.”
