Tuesday Bolts – 3.15.11

Daily Thunder bracket group! Join if you’re so inclined to do such things. There’s a new Perk shirt in it for the winner (or a shirt of your choice if you don’t want that one).

Jakob Eich of Piston Powered on guarding Russell Westbrook: “Westbrook is a very effective guard. He has an all-around skill set. He’s incredibly fast, he has a good jumper, he can finish at the rim, and he shoots free throws fairly well. His quickness is a problem for all NBA teams, not even the quickest of the quickest can stay in front of him, so I won’t blame any Detroit guard for not doing so.”

Dissecting the science of bank shots.

Darnell Mayberry: “The tandem of Perkins and Ibaka is every bit as good as we thought it could be. And there is a lot of room for growth there. Granted, it’s only one game against the Wizards. But the makings of a fantastic frontcourt was on display tonight. Perkins’ low-post defense coupled with Ibaka’s shot-blocking is going to give a lot of teams trouble. That duo will have a lot to learn together, but the resistance at the rim just got 120 times better.”

From Elias: “Kevin Durant scored 32 points against the Wizards on Monday and that was his lowest total in any of his last four games against Washington in the three others he scored 40, 35 and 35. Durant’s streak against the Wizards is tied for the second-longest current streak of 30-point games by any player against any team. Kevin Martin has scored 30-plus in his last five games against Cleveland; Durant also has a four-game streak against Miami; Danny Granger has a four-game streak against Sacramento and LeBron James had a four-game spree versus Portland.”

Big Z will likely miss Wednesday’s game versus the Thunder.

Via ESPN Stats and Info, Kevin Durant notched his 100th career 30-point game last night against the Wizards, just one of only two players with at least 100 30-point games before turning 23 over the last 25 seasons.

KD, doing things the right way.

One more time because I find it so interesting: What are the Wizards doing here?

Via NewsOK, with seven blocks against the Cavs and another eight against the Wizards, Ibaka also became the franchise’s first player to block 15 shots in two games since Alton Lister, who registered a combined 16 blocks on March 13, 1989 and March 14, 1989.

Absolutely fantastic photos of KD’s oop from last night.

NBA.com MVP watch: “As Durant gets more help from guard Russell Westbrook — who picked up his fifth Western Conference Player of the Week award — it takes a little shine off the smooth forward’s MVP case. Here’s some good news though: If Durant maintains his current 28.2 scoring pace, No. 2 LeBron James would have to average 35.6 ppg over the Heat’s final 17 to pass him for the scoring title.”