Tuesday Bolts – 2.3.15

Neil Paine of 538: “The Oklahoma City Thunder are in a bit of a precarious position. After losing two of their three games over the past week, they occupy the 10th slot in the Western Conference standings. And despite the talent on hand, our simulations give them just a 53.5 percent probability of making the playoffs, down 19.1 percentage points from a week ago. It’s no coincidence that over the same span, the Phoenix Suns won two of three to move four games clear of Oklahoma City. The Suns’ playoff chances rose by 10.5 points to 50.1 percent.”

John Schuhmann of NBA.com had OKC 17th yesterday: “The Thunder offense has been held under a point per possession in 10 of their last 13 games and they’re not getting any closer to a playoff spot. But they’ve still won 11 of their last 13 games at home and have the league’s most home-heavy (21 home, 14 road) remaining schedule. They haven’t played more than two straight games at the Peake since November.”

Marc Stein has OKC 16th: “The Thunder, back below .500 just like that, have to pass New Orleans before they can even think about catching stubborn Phoenix. The coming week, then, is a huge one in OKC’s season, with a trip to Bourbon Street on Wednesday and the Pelicans in town Friday.”

Really enjoyed Blake Griffin’s Players Tribune piece: “You hear all the time that a player needs to “fix” their shot or improve their defense, but what some people don’t understand is that it takes hundreds of hours to make that tiny difference at an elite level. Why? Because other guys are spending hundreds of hours working on whatever you’re trying to stop. While I’m shooting with Bob, Tyson Chandler is in a gym somewhere trying to contest shots better and make me sad. With our travel schedule, you only have so many possible hours to put in that work. So what do you choose?”

Hollinger Playoff Odds puts OKC at 29.2 percent.

Zach Lowe of Grantland on the Clippers: “The Clippers just need a small boost to maximize their title odds during the last of Paul’s prime. That’s what makes the Rivers family situation so interesting. Overpay Austin Rivers and they will have fewer resources to beef up the wing both this summer and in the vaunted summer of 2016. Don’t sleep on these guys — now, next season, or going forward. Everyone loves to hate them, but the Clippers are firmly in the championship picture. They just need a little more luck than a few of the other teams jostling for center stage.”

Dion Waiters talking to NBATV after last night’s game.

Good header by this Thunder fan.

Andrew Gilman of Fox Sports Southwest: “Sounds too simple, especially in the day and age of number crunching and analytics. Especially during a season where nothing has gone right and all things come into question for the Thunder, from coaching to desire. All of that goes away when Westbrook plays like he did Monday. Everyone has more fun, too. Nothing much matters when Durant takes over a game. There are few teams in the league with the ability the Thunder stars have, and just because they haven’t shown it this year doesn’t meant they won’t.”