Wednesday Bolts – 4.15.15
Rob Mahoney of SI.com: “Within that month, Westbrook averaged 31.2 points (on 45.7% shooting), 9.1 rebounds, and 10.3 assists while guzzling rocket fuel. His usage rate went through the roof, and with it came an inevitable bump in turnovers. Westbrook was consistently assertive, though, in a way that fulfilled his team’s precise needs and sustained its playoff candidacy. He was doubled, hedged, and shoved. A bone in Westbrook’s face was broken, and yet still he drove inside and bullied any in his way. It was in February that we saw Westbrook at his most extreme, his unbridled best. It was in February that we saw him mount the most outrageous month of the NBA’s regular season.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Only five times in NBA history has an 8-seed actually upset a No. 1 seed. And the last time it happened Chicago didn’t have then-reigning MVP Derrick Rose for the final five contests when it lost to Philadelphia in six games in 2012. The math says eight seeds have advanced only 8 percent of the time in 62 tries since the NBA adopted the 16-team playoff format in 1984. Still, those are better than the odds OKC would have of winning the lottery and moving into the top three selections. With the best record among the 14 teams that would not make the playoffs, the Thunder would have only a 1.8 percent chance of moving into the top three. And that hasn’t happened since the NBA Draft Lottery expanded to 14 teams in 2005.”
Steve Ilardi of ESPN.com broke down MVP candidates: “We’ve all seen the highlights, the nightly displays of otherworldly athleticism, the reckless abandon in hurling his body from one end of the court to the other, the four consecutive triple-doubles, the box score lines that read like ridiculous typos. 49-10-16? Seriously? There has never been a player who has played the way Westbrook has this season. That doesn’t necessarily make him the most valuable player, especially given that his defense has been a net negative (according to RPM) and his team might not even make the playoffs, but it does make Westbrook arguably the most entertaining.”
Compelling piece about playoff reform.
Gary Payton is backing Westbrook as MVP: “What Westbrook has right now in that team, he doesn’t have Durant right now. So this is the way they’re winning basketball games, with him [shooting a lot]. But the good thing about it is he’s getting assists in rebounds, too. He’s getting a triple-double. It’s a total game. So with the 43 [shot attempts on Sunday], I think that was a little too much last night. I think you’ve gotta get the other players more involved. When you [take 43 shots], you get everybody to watch you, and I don’t like the watching. You’ve gotta cut it down to about 25, 26 shots per game.”
Jurgen Klopp to the Thunder?!?!
Zach Harper of CBSSports.com: “Pondexter also joked about needing the fans in the Smoothie King Center for the game on Wednesday and that if they needed him to wake them up that day and show up early for the latest playoff atmosphere for the Pelicans that he’d be available. The arena is expected to be packed and energized as the team takes on the champs with a “win and you’re in” opportunity. They may even get to see more heroics from Davis at the end of the game when the Pelicans can send themselves into the postseason and the Thunder into the lottery.”