Wednesday Bolts – 12.3.14
Ben Golliver of SI.com: “Even if he was unable to play instant hero, Durant did have a number of moments that reminded everyone why he has been regarded as the game’s second-best talent for a number of years. He opened his scoring by swishing a soft-touch three-pointer, curled into a pretty catch-and-shoot jumper shortly thereafter and he reverse pivoted into a pretty fall-away jumper midway through the second quarter. Years of careful skill-building didn’t desert him during his injury absence. Durant did get up for one dunk in semi-transition, but it was a mostly routine affair.”
Anthony Slater: “Despite the disappointing loss, Tuesday will go down as an extremely positive day in Thunderland. The franchise cornerstone was back. And he looked good. After missing a shot on the first possession, Durant poured in eight quick first quarter points with that rare and lethal efficiency. He finished the night with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting in 30 minutes. Durant’s conditioning wasn’t all there yet, as he admitted postgame. But the touch on his shot was. Now it’ll be about rounding out the rest of his game. Durant had only three rebounds and two assists, while turning it over five times. And his defense, like everyone else’s, wasn’t great. But the energy and stamina is expected to slowly return.”
Thing for ESPN.com from last night’s game.
Also, there’s this, about how the Thunder’s November may be a good thing for them if they can recover from it.
Steve Aschburner of NBA.com: “OKC also was eight games out of a Top 4 berth, where it would enjoy home court for at least one round. Realistic to think the Thunder could climb over that many rivals? Durant, Westbrook, coach Scott Brooks and the rest have won 72.1 percent of their games the past three seasons. If they were to win at that clip over their final 65 this season, they’d finish about 52-30. Only once in the last eight years would that record be good enough to finish fourth or higher. And that worked out for Utah in 2006-07 because its 51-31 finish was good enough to win the Northwest Division, earning it a Top 4 berth even though No. 5 Houston went 52-30. The same sort of thing occurred in 2005-06 (Denver’s 44-38 earned homecourt over Memphis’ 49-33).”
Pretty interesting unofficial player census.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com: “Another positive was the play of the Thunder bench. The absences of the two stars provided other guys the opportunity to play and get better. And on Tuesday, the reserves got OKC the lead early in the second quarter and cut down a big deficit early in the fourth. Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb combined for 32 points on 12-for-21 shooting. So everything the Thunder have gone through could ultimately make them a better team. For now, though, they’re still trying to regain their footing, even with the MVP back in uniform.”
Zach Harper of CBSSports.com: “Overall, Durant finished with 27 points 9-of-18 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line in 30 minutes of action. The scoring was still there, but Durant putting his mark all over the game wasn’t quite there. He had three rebounds and two assists to go with five turnovers. It wasn’t quite the return the Thunder were hoping for with their 114-106 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, but just getting the MVP back on the floor at the start of December is good enough for now.”
