Tuesday Bolts – 1.12.16
Erik Horne: “Check the list of the Top 16 individual scoring games against the Thunder in
franchise history, and you’ll find more than a handful of players who got loose for career highs. Eight of the 16 players scored their career high against the Thunder, among them former franchise centerpieces and lottery picks such as Kevin Love, Monta Ellis, Tyreek Evans, and Eric Gordon. There are also some genuine head-scratchers in that 16. Along with Williams, Jodie Meeks, Leandro Barbosa, and Gerald Green can each thank OKC for the game they can boast to their grandkids about. Only one of those eight players, Love, has made an All-Star game.”
Marc Stein has OKC fourth: “The home defeat to Sacramento that began the week came with an alibi: Kevin Durant sat out with a sprained big right toe. The late fade Sunday night in Portland was harder to take, with Durant and Russell Westbrook side-by-side, but OKC is a rather solid 23-8 when KD is in uniform while trailing only the Warriors and Spurs in nightly point differential (plus-7.7).”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com has them fourth: “The Thunder have been winning a lot of shootouts lately, but were missing a weapon (Kevin Durant) against the Kings on Monday and got a taste of their own medicine from Damian Lillard on Sunday. They rank first offensively, but 27th defensively since Christmas, allowing a brutal 116 points per 100 possessions with Enes Kanter on the floor over those nine games. They’re just a game ahead of the Clippers for third in the West.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com has them fourth: “Of their 12 losses, six have come vs. top-four conference teams. However, it’s the other defeats that are disturbing, with Portland the latest. On the one hand, you can say “well, these things just happen.” On the other, the Thunder have lost to Sacramento and Portland, and in their loss to Memphis gave up 122 points to an offensively terrible team. They’re 11th in the league in defense, which is good … but there’s a lingering sense that they can turn to a defensive strainer — everything gets through — in key situations.”
Zach Lowe: “On a related note: Please do not tell me how Player X was “close” to a triple-double unless he hit at least eight in all three categories. Do not label a guy who put up 19 points, 11 rebounds and six dimes as having been “just four assists away from a triple-double.” Just four? He barely made it halfway! This is like a high school kid telling his parents, “I got 60 percent on my math test. I was only 40 percentage points away from acing it!”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com on sellers: “Milwaukee won 15 games in 2013-14, landed Jabari Parker with the No. 2 overall pick and wound up with Jason Kidd roaming the sidelines after Kidd lost a bid for complete control in Brooklyn — but won a better job with better pay in a better situation. The Bucks landed Jared Dudley, Michael Carter-Williams and Miles Plumlee in trades, won 41 games and made the playoffs. Then came the big coup: signing free agent Greg Monroe. All of it bought the Bucks a ticket back to the bottom, where they’re mucking around with a 15-24 record and wondering what went wrong.”
