Tuesday Bolts – 12.24.13
Zach Lowe of Grantland: “It’s clear the Thunder are better with Jackson and some combination of Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison, and Adams taking more minutes from Sefolosha and Perkins. Brooks has been a little slow to embrace the power of Kevin Durant as a small-ball power forward; he uses this alignment in almost every game, and sometimes to close games, but it remains something he doles out only in small doses. The Thunder don’t need to do anything major, and they’re not benching Sefolosha or Perkins anytime soon. Heck, they’ll need Sefolosha’s defense against teams with multiple wing threats, though Brooks’s move to use Perry Jones as a “utility defender” in crunch time against the Raptors on Sunday was interesting. They just need a slight rejiggering of what’s already here, and they are the best team in the Western Conference already. Imagine if they do make a trade to upgrade this roster? The rest of the conference has to hope they don’t.”
Zach Harper of CBSSports.com previewing tomorrow’s game: “Since Melo turned his ankle Monday night against the Orlando Magic and there’s a chance he won’t play if it doesn’t get any better by midday Wednesday. If that happens, then we have J.R. Smith and Andrea Bargnani trying to match Durant and Russell Westbrook shot for shot. While the potential for hilarity and Smith unveiling an “unwrapping the present you wanted” celebration after a made three (I made it up but please let this happen), the chance of a good game without Anthony is very low.”
In case you missed it, the draft lottery could be getting a facelift. Though the wheel is interesting, there are quite a few problems with it. A couple illustrated nicely here.
Marc Stein has OKC No. 1 in power rankings: “Of course we expected them to handle Toronto. Yet the fact remains that the Thunder have only lost twice since Nov. 14 and won the weekend game that mattered most by conquering San Antonio on the road. OKC’s opening third of the season really couldn’t have gone much better.”
No. 1 in John Schuhmann’s of NBA.com: “Sunday’s loss to the Raptors wasn’t just the Thunder’s first loss at home. It was also their first loss against the East and just their second loss in the last 38 days. They’re the only team that ranks in the top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency in December and have held nine of their last 10 opponents under a point per possession. Need any more reasons for why they’re No. 1?”
Some Rookie of the Year chatter for Steven Adams.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com says OKC is exceeding expectations: “While Russell Westbrook’s early return is a factor here — the Summer Forecast, before Westbrook’s second knee surgery, had the Thunder at 58 wins and first in the West — Oklahoma City has also shrugged off the loss of Kevin Martin more easily than expected. Collectively, the Thunder bench is on pace to post 8.7 wins above replacement this season, up from 7.4 last year — which included 5.4 from Martin alone. As Per Diem colleague Tom Haberstroh detailed last Thursday, Reggie Jackson has taken a step forward after getting experience starting in Westbrook’s place. Second-year wing Jeremy Lamb and rookie center Steven Adams, the centerpieces of the return for James Harden, have joined him to give Oklahoma City three productive bench players age 23 or younger. Thanks to their contributions, the Thunder are the only team that ranks in the league’s top five in both offensive and defensive ratings.”
