Tuesday Bolts – 5.10.16
Zach Lowe of ESPN.com on Steven Adams: “In that moment, Adams saw an
opportunity to make himself dangerous. He aborted the screen, took a left turn and rose for an uncontested alley-oop. This little read caught the Spurs by surprise. Billy Donovan and his staff deserve a lot of credit for sniffing this fissure out on film and exploiting it over and over. San Antonio’s potential help defenders on the left side of the floor aren’t even looking at the Adams/Durant action, fixated on Ibaka setting his own pin-down screen for The Once and Future King of Waiters Island. That decoy keeps the Spurs’ defenders busy because Dion Waiters is actually a threat to do something with the ball if he gets it.”
Neil Paine of 538: “The obvious small-sample-size caveats strongly apply, but Durant has played like his usual self these past few games. First and foremost, he’s shooting the ball in line with his career norms again — and while most of that is due to better “shot-making” and not improved shot quality, Durant’s been an ace shot-maker for as long as we can track the statistic. For KD, not outshooting expectations is the freak outlier. He’s also played much better D, lowering his defensive rating (that’s good!) and raising his rank in points allowed per chance to the 65th percentile since May 2 despite matching up against tougher offensive competition.”
Russ finished fourth in MVP. KD finished fifth.
Shoal for GQ on Russ: “Here’s the catch: The Thunder looked great in his virtual absence. Kevin Durant’s calm, measured style set the tone and—as they did in Westbrook’s prolonged absence back in 2013-14, Durant’s MVP season—they looked as cohesive as ever. Westbrook has the ability to make or break the Thunder on every possession, something completely foreign to Durant’s approach. If KD exists as a part of a free-flowing basketball ecosystem, Russ is a virus running wild. What happens when Westbrook removes himself from the equation isn’t necessarily better or worse. It’s just different.”
Erik Horne: “Since its 32-point loss in Game 1, the Thunder is allowing just 98.5 points per 100 possessions when Durant’s playing, third on the team behind Andre Roberson (93.2) and Adams (94.9). Waiters and Roberson have teamed up primarily on Leonard this series, but Durant’s defense late on Leonard allowed Waiters to close Game 4 guarding Green. Waiters was able to cheat off him slightly for a steal on Tony Parker. Also since that blowout loss, Adams and Durant have heavily impacted the Thunder’s late-game defensive rotations. In the last three games, seven of the Thunder’s Top 10 two-man combinations in terms of fourth-quarter defensive rating have included either Adams or Durant. Adams and Durant lead the Thunder pairings with 35 minutes in the fourth.”
Berry Tramel: “The Thunder-Spurs cotillion hits the homestretch with Game 5 Tuesday night, and the series is just what we thought it would be. The fresh legs of the young Thunder, a team that counts 27-year-old Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the old guys, against the wile and guile of the old Spurs, a team that counts the 30-year-old Aldridge as the pup. The Spurs have won the two games in which both teams have had at least three days rest. The Thunder has won the two games in which both teams had just one day of rest. Can OKC wear down the ancient Spurs?”
