Wednesday Bolts – 11.23.16

Royce comes home today. Yay.

Victor Oladipo trying to be positive I guess: “The ball ended up in Andre Roberson’s hands at the end of the shot clock. The 3-pointer went up and only Victor Oladipo was under the basket in between two Brooklyn players. Outsized, Oladipo snared the offensive rebound and scored on a putback. The possession before, Oladipo played rim protector, altering the shot of 6-foot-8 Bojan Bogdanovic. “Going out there and doing a little bit of everything,” Oladipo said of what’s been working for him. “When I do that I play my best, so that’s what I’ll try to do every game from now on.” Entering a three-game Thanksgiving road trip, Oladipo was playing his best basketball in Thunder colors, but can it continue before the team comes back to Oklahoma City?”

Cameron Payne is out of the boot: “On Oct. 5, the Thunder said Payne chose not have surgery to repair his foot, instead electing to go with a non-surgical healing and therapy. On that date, the Thunder said Payne would be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks. Wednesday will mark seven weeks since the announcement. Also seen at Thunder shootaround Tuesday was Semaj Christon. The second-unit guard is still in the NBA’s concussion protocol after sustaining a concussion and a non-displaced left facial fracture against Brooklyn on Friday, but Christon returned to some light contact on Tuesday, taking part in some one-on-ones after shootaround while wearing a clear, protective mask.”Well The Thunder lost last night: “If the Thunder wasn’t going to stop the Los Angeles Lakers in a breakneck fourth quarter, it was certainly going to try to outscore them. But it couldn’t as Nick Young capped off a 3-point barrage from both teams with a game-winning 3-pointer with five seconds left in a 111-109 Lakers win. Young caught a pass which looked intended for teammate Lou Williams and hoisted a 27-footer that finally broke a Thunder defense that struggled to stop the Lakers on the first night of a back-to-back for OKC. “We got behind the play and right when the play started we had an opportunity to switch, and we didn’t switch correctly,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “We had two guys go to one and try to come back and then Jerami (Grant) got shot faked, the guy drove the ball and made an extra pass, so we got behind the play.”

Jon Hamm wrote something: “When Westbrook wants to dodge a particular topic, he’ll often Eurostep the question completely. He’s known to respond with an answer to a completely different question. On this night, Westbrook had something he wanted to get off his chest immediately. “I was s—-y tonight, honestly,” Westbrook replied to a question of whether the ball just didn’t bounce the Thunder’s way late in the contest. “I could have done a lot of things better.” Apparently that’s what a stat line of 31 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds looks like: a fecal word that rhymes with “city.” He wasn’t merely being humble. Westbrook connected on only 13 of 34 shots and committed seven turnovers. One of those makes was a game-tying three-pointer to send the contest into overtime, but one of those turnovers helped seal the game for Indiana.”

Baxter Holmes on last night’s game: “Growing up in Los Angeles, Nick Young watched many Los Angeles Lakers games end with their stars burying iconic game-winners. Kobe Bryant authored plenty of them, and Robert Horry hit his share of memorable daggers, plus there was Derek Fisher’s unforgettable swoosh with 0.4 seconds left against the Spurs in the 2004 playoffs. Young saw all these highlights and always wanted one of his own. On Tuesday, he earned it in the most Nick Young way imaginable. “Mine is kind of unique because I stole it from my own teammate,” the Lakers guard said with a laugh after the Lakers’ 111-109 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center. “It wasn’t designed for me, but that should go down in history.” Indeed, the Lakers’ final play was designed for someone other than Young to take the final shot, but Young intercepted a pass meant for teammate Lou Williams, then launched a 27-footer with 5.0 seconds left.”