Wednesday Bolts – 3.23.16
Anthony Slater: “Dion Waiters made the game’s biggest defensive play on Tuesday,
breaking up a James Harden to Dwight Howard pass to foil a game-tying connection in the final seconds. But the loose ball fittingly pinballed into Russell Westbrook’s hands, as it so often does. In the Thunder’s 111-107 win over the Rockets — a fifth straight OKC victory — Westbrook’s stat-line, again, was outrageous, as his fingerprints, again, were everywhere. That included two game-clinching free throws moments after helping complete Waiters’ steal, stretching the lead from two to four with three seconds left. But that also included so much more in the moments leading up to it.”
ESPN Stats and Info: “Westbrook scored eight points on 3-of-5 field goals in clutch time on Tuesday (clutch time is defined as the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime, when the score is within five points). Prior to Tuesday, he had scored nine points since the All-Star break in clutch time on 2-of-16 field goals with the worst plus-minus in the NBA (-29).”
Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com with a fascinating read on how Nike lost Steph: “The pitch meeting, according to Steph’s father Dell, who was present, kicked off with one Nike official accidentally addressing Stephen as “Steph-on,” the moniker, of course, of Steve Urkel’s alter ego in Family Matters. “I heard some people pronounce his name wrong before,” says Dell Curry. “I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised that I didn’t get a correction.” It got worse from there. A PowerPoint slide featured Kevin Durant’s name, presumably left on by accident, presumably residue from repurposed materials.”
My ESPN.com story from last night.
Chris Broussard of ESPN.com: “Westbrook had made just 32 percent of his shots heading into Tuesday’s matchup with Houston, but he notched triple-doubles in each of those games, proving how much of an absolute force he is. In a league full of greyhounds, this dude is a flat-out cheetah. He’s still turning it over too much for my taste but his nearest adversary, CP3, has been unable to stop an utter collapse by the Clippers, enabling Westbrook to rejoin the top five.”
Bethlehem Shoals for SB Nation: “If the triple-double isn’t an absolute measure of greatness, it’s a cipher for individual style and no two are ever alike. For Westbrook, it’s a statement of all-out kinesis, of defying the very idea that he wouldn’t be everywhere at once. Green’s triple-doubles showcase a smart, resourceful player who continues to find new ways to leverage his skills. In the case of Giannis, a triple-double is potential realized; it’s exactly what we’d expect from a seven-foot freak athlete who moonlights at point guard. We are in the realm of symbols and ideas, not hard and fast facts.”