Tuesday Bolts – 12.31.13

Bethlehem Shoals writing beautifully about Russell Westbrook for GQ: “That drive is why Westbrook stands for something far more potent than eccentricity or unpredictability. He flings himself at the basketball with total abandon, sometimes verging on elastic rage. Opponents have no answer to it. He can barely control it himself at times. And if occasionally he plays out of control, he’s pretty much always ungovernable by the standard logic of basketball. Westbrook is impossible to gauge or decipher. His schedule, his way of getting from here to there, doesn’t quite line up with the usual order of things. If anyone would drop in and out of the year at odd intervals, notch several dramatic comebacks in one season, or throw the West into turmoil with a mid-season absence, it’s Russell Westbrook.”

Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider looking at injury frequency: “Through Saturday, there have been an average of 3.7 games lost to injury for each NBA game. That is, the typical game will have two players on each team sidelined. As the table at the right indicates, that’s up from last season (3.2 injuries per game), but not out of the ordinary. The ratio of games missed was slightly higher in both 2011-12, the abbreviated post-lockout season, and 2010-11.”

Jon Hamm for NewsOK.com: “Trading for a replacement is certainly a possibility, though the options aren’t particularly exciting. New York’s Beno Udrih, who apparently can’t shoot well in a sleeved jersey, has been productive in the past. The Thunder could do the Nets a favor and trade for Tyshawn Taylor, a move that would actually save Brooklyn a few million dollars in luxury tax. Minnesota’s AJ Price was solid for the Wizards last season, though he’s been buried on the Timberwolves’ bench this season. Various other options exist, but none more exciting than the mundane bunch mentioned above.”

Marc Stein has OKC No. 2 in power rankings: “We’ve always factored injuries into these rankings. Which makes it impossible, as resilient as OKC has looked in its first two games without Russ, not to drop it at least one spot after losing Westbrook at a time he was playing what many regard as the best all-around ball of his career.”

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com has OKC first: “The Westbrook surgery will take its toll. Unlike last time, the Thunder seem more prepared to weather the storm. Get it? Weather the storm? Thunder? Ending the year on a high note, folks, I’m here all week!”

John Schuhmann of NBA.com has OKC first: “You might not have noticed Westbrook’s absence with the Thunder beating Houston by 31 points on Sunday, with Reggie Jackson dishing out eight assists, with Jeremy Lamb scoring 22 points, with Kendrick Perkins keeping Dwight Howard in check, and with Kevin Durant dunking on James Harden. The thought of Westbrook having long-term knee issues is scary, but right now, OKC is still No. 1.”

Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World: “About an hour before the start of Sunday’s Houston-Oklahoma City NBA game, Thunder All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook was spotted in a hallway near the OKC locker room at Chesapeake Energy Arena. He was outfitted in a gray jacket, gray sweat pants and a pair of Nikes – and he was on crutches, having undergone a third right-knee surgery on Friday. While he did use the crutches, Westbrook was walking on two legs. The affected leg was not elevated off of the floor. His mobility was surprising. His reliance on crutches seemed far less than one might expect, considering that the surgery occurred only two days earlier.”

Berry Tramel: “I don’t know that the Thunder made the wrong call on Chandler. He’s played well when he’s played, but he’s still been hurt a lot. The Perkins trade was fine. They’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of Perk, who has been much healthier than has Chandler. And the Thunder doctors have made no calls on Westbrook. His agent has handled all that.”