Wednesday Bolts 1.13.16

Excellent from Rob Mahoney of SI.com: “Durant and Westbrook are stellar enough to give the Thunder something precious: an opportunity to fight its way through any series. Yet even a few minutes of that all-bench lineup could prove fatal against opponents like the Warriors or the Spurs, who have a way of collapsing an opponent’s lead or expanding their own in a matter of minutes. Even at its best, OKC’s margin for error could come down to the space of a few Waiters possessions, a particular Kanter matchup, or a handful of open Roberson three-pointers. This, even for a team so excellent as the Thunder, must be terrifying. Oklahoma City has the kind of joint superstar talent to make every supporting player in its cast better. Unfortunately, even that fundamental basketball augmentation can only be stretched so far.”

KD yesterday: “We’re not good (enough) yet to do that. San Antonio, Golden State, they can do that; they can coast then turn it on in the fourth quarter and win the game. We can’t do it. So, we’ve gotta be on from the beginning of the game. We’re not that good yet to do that. We all know that; we all know we have to be better.”

Westbrook and Durant both in the MVP conversation?

Anthony Slater: “There’s a human element to every profession, including the NBA. The Thunder spent the past 36 hours in frozen Minnesota on the back end of a multi-game road trip. They were heading home after the game with a matchup against Dallas awaiting Wednesday night. OKC bolted out to an quick double-digit lead against a bad Timberwolves that seemed to post no real comeback threat. So they started to coast. Seventy percent energy and execution was likely to get them a victorious flight home. And it did. But there’s a flaw to that. At Tuesday’s shootaround, Kevin Durant talked about how the Thunder wasn’t good enough to just flip the switch on and off. OKC wasn’t “yet” in the same class as the Warriors and Spurs, he said. Tuesday night was just the latest confirmation of that. They have too many lapses on both sides of the ball, but it’s particularly concerning on defense.”

KD says KAT will be a Hall of Famer.

Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider: “Fittingly, the defining trades for both the Nets and the Sixers were made on the same night, that of the 2013 NBA draft. Hinkie’s first big move in Philadelphia was trading All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday for two first-round picks, which he ultimately parlayed into Nerlens Noel, European prospect Dario Saric and additional draft picks. Meanwhile, Brooklyn doubled down on its veteran core by giving up three unprotected first-round picks plus the rights to swap an additional first-rounder to the Boston Celtics in the deal that brought future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets. Two and a half years later, that looks like one of the most lopsided trades in modern NBA history.”

The best active players for each jersey.

Erik Horne: “Two nights after the Thunder were burned by long-distance shooting in Portland, Kevin Durant decided to reenact that fourth-quarter show. Many Minnesota Timberwolves fans had already made their way to the exits of the Target Center on Tuesday night. They missed a comeback by their home team. They also missed Durant taking over in the fourth quarter.”