Wednesday Bolts – 12.30.15
Anthony Slater: “Payne seized the opportunity. To close the first quarter, Payne nailed a buzzer-
beating corner 3, a spot he’s looked comfortable from early in his career. Then to start the second quarter, with both Durant and Westbrook out, Payne took control of the offense for a brief stretch. That was when he hit the first of his two floaters. Mike Conley and Tony Parker have perfected those impossible to block rainbow shots, skied over lanky defenders. Payne looks to have a natural feel for them.”
Erik Horne: “The Thunder is in the middle of the pack in the NBA in assists per game, ranking 16th (21.5 per game) in the league entering Tuesday’s game. When asked if he wanted a specific number of assists from his team, however, Donovan pointed more to ball movement than reaching a benchmark. Donovan has a greater appreciation when the passing is coming from Durant, who he says has even overpassed at times this season. When that happens, Kanter is often the beneficiary.”
My ESPN.com thing from last night.
Thought this was good from Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on DeMarcus Cousins: “At the center of all this is Cousins, who is never portrayed in the full, accurate light. Ever. Those that make him out to be a cancer that you can’t win with him ignore his off-court community contributions which are downright inspiring, and they ignore his All-Star-caliber play. Those that want to act like there’s not a problem with outbursts like Monday’s incident ignore the fact that these are games the Kings need Cousins to be there for his team. They had a lead on the Warriors for crying out loud. A win of that caliber could spark something. Instead, Cousins flat-out couldn’t control his emotions.”
ESPN.com’s favorite NBA stories of the year.
Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com on Kobe almost becoming a Celtic: “There he stood, at Brandeis University, about nine miles west of Boston, due to work out for the Celtics’ braintrust, that green staring him in the face. He knew that specific shade well from his youth, when he devoured VHS tapes of Lakers-Celtics Finals from the 1980s that his grandparents sent him when he was growing up in Italy. Just as Bryant grew to love the Lakers, he came to loathe their bitter rival, an organization he considered an “Evil Empire” of sorts.”
