Wednesday Bolts – 5.4.16
Brian Windhorst on Steven Adams: “Adams has evolved. He doesn’t scrap with opponents as
much anymore — they have the book on him now. And he’s getting the book on them. Adams has learned his peers’ names and tendencies. Now he studies Tim Duncan and Marc Gasol. Adams’ minutes and his production per minute have crept up: This season, he finished the regular season with the 12th-best defensive real plus-minus in the league, and a top-50 overall rating.”
Anthony Slater: “It landed like a piece of steak into a cage of starved carnivores. LaMarcus Aldridge scooped it up first. But as he gathered for a layup attempt, Ibaka clung to his jersey — the fifth and final admitted missed call — and Aldridge fumbled it through contact. As it rattled around the feet of five different guys, Ibaka pounced on it and the buzzer sounded. As his teammates celebrated, Adams, the star of the play, stared down a fan in the front row. Moments earlier, after tumbling into the front row contesting that Mills 3, that fan had grabbed his arm as he tried to get back in the play, putting a wacky finishing touch on the sequence.”
The NBA admitted they got a lot wrong in those final 13 seconds. Here’s my feeling though: With a little on that side and a little on this side, didn’t the right outcome get reached anyway?
Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post: “Meanwhile, Adams found himself in another situation when, after barreling past Mills to contest his three-point attempt, he had his arm held by a fan as he tried to climb back onto the court and potentially get back into the action. To be fair, it looked like a woman Adams ran over as he contested the shot was simply trying to get back on her feet. But it wound up being a fitting final moment to what was an insane final 13.5 seconds of Game 2.”
Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal: “Durant’s case is particularly odd, though, since he stretched the truth to make himself shorter. Durant, whose team is tied 1-1 with the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals, said he often lies about his height depending on whom he’s speaking with. “For me, when I’m talking to women, I’m 7 feet,” he said. “In basketball circles, I’m 6-9.” There’s actually a basketball reason behind Durant’s white lie. “But really, I’ve always thought it was cool to say I’m a 6-9 small forward,” he said. “Really, that’s the prototypical size for a small forward. Anything taller than that, and they’ll start saying, ‘Ah, he’s a power forward.’”
KD is second team All-NBA on NBA.com.
Berry Tramel: “You can’t go into the final 13.5 seconds without a timeout, especially when you’ve led the entire second half and haven’t had to use timeouts to lengthen the game. But Donovan has several times this season. He practices the theory that you can’t take timeouts with you. Popovich went screaming from the court Monday night with not just a loss that changes the series but a timeout in his hip pocket. And Donovan had valid reasons for his timeout usage Monday night, including the one with 13.5 seconds left that put Waiters at midcourt, inbounding the ball.”
