Thunder 119, Warriors 116
Nuggets from my notebook from Tuesday’s win at Golden State.
- The Warriors got off to an 8-0 run after converting wide open jumpers and getting into the paint with ease. Meanwhile, the Thunder looked out of sync offensively early and couldn’t get shots to drop. In those first two minutes, it looked like this just might not be the Thunder’s night. Looked like the overtime thriller at Portland had taken its toll.
- Then Russell Westbrook decided to do something about his team’s sluggish start. Westbrook scored a layup on an ultra-aggressive and athletic attack. Then another one, both three-point plays. Then a pair of pull-ups. Before you knew it, the Thunder had tied it up at 14-all.
- Kevin Durant didn’t really have it going early. He missed his first three shots, all good looks, and just didn’t appear to be in rhythm. And just when you thought KD just didn’t have it, the guy starts throwing in off-balanced leaners for and-ones. Crazy how good he is.
- Durant finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He would have had his first career triple-double had Serge Ibaka not blown at least two of his set-ups.
- Warriors forward David Lee actually did have a triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Remember when everyone in OKC wanted the Thunder to break the bank to sign him?
- You’ve got to be happy with the win. But defensively, the Thunder left a lot to be desired. The Warriors’ point total was an opponent season high (116), Golden State shot lights out (55 percent), the Thunder had no answer for Monta Ellis (game and career-high 48 points) and OKC struggled once again in the pick-and-roll and defending the three-point line (9-of-21).
- Said Durant: “We want to strive toward perfection. We want to be one of those teams that are looked at as a really good team, and tonight we kind of had too many lapses. As a leader, I’m a little upset at myself for letting that happen. Of course we’re happy about the win. But the stuff that went on in the game, we have to correct it and try to get better. We don’t want to have games like this every game. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board.”
- The best thing you can take from this one is the Thunder showed again that it can play fast and win a shootout. The more versatile the Thunder is the better. But, really, this team is built to win shootouts. It’s the slow-paced, grind-it-out, games that require halfcourt efficiency that the Thunder still needs to prove it can consistently win. When the Thunder figures out both styles, it will be a dangerous, dangerous team come playoff time.
- There was a mysterious score change at the end of the third quarter that appeared controversial at first. What had happen’ was the refs went back and ruled a 3 by Westbrook with 4:18 remaining in the third period was actually a two. That changed the score from 93-92 going into the fourth quarter to 93-91, Warriors, at the start of the final period.
- The Thunder is now 6-1 in games decided by four points or less.
- Nazr Mohammed had brought it the past two games. He scored all eight of his points during a 13-2 run the second unit used to start the second period. Between his scoring tonight and his rebounding at Portland, I figure that will silence Thunder heads clamoring for Cole Aldrich at least until, oh, Thursday.
- What I liked best about Naz’s game tonight? His stand-still block of Ekpe Udoh. Naz just put his arms straight up and stuffed Udoh on a post move. Made him look like a little kid.
- Durant said he didn’t call glass on his go-ahead jumper. What is it about the Thunder and bank shots at Golden State?
NBA Says Kevin Durant Basket Shouldn’t Have Counted
The NBA has released a statement saying that Kevin Durant’s basket with six seconds remaining in regulation of last night’s 111-107 Thunder win at Portland should not have counted. Durant was awarded two points when an official ruled that a blocked shot by LaMarcus Aldridge was goaltending.
With six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge was called for goaltending on a shot attempted by the Thunder’s Kevin Durant. With the benefit of slow motion replay following the game, it has been determined that Aldridge made contact with the ball just before the ball hit the backboard. Therefore, this should have been ruled a good block and goaltending was the incorrect call. (As determined by the NBA’s Competition Committee, referees may not use instant replay on goaltending calls.)”
-DM-
By The Numbers: Thunder-Blazers
Numbers to note from Monday’s 111-107 overtime win at Portland.
1: Free throw attempt by Kevin Durant. It was his least amount of foul shots in a regular season game since April 13, 2011, when he played just 23 minutes in the season finale against Milwaukee.
2: 3-pointers made by Durant on eight attempts. It continues a bit of a slump from deep for Durant. In four February games, KD is now 4-for-21 (19.3 percent) from beyond the arc. In 15 January games, he was 21-for-67 from 3 (31.3 percent).
4: Overtime points scored by the Blazers. The Thunder held Portland to 1-for-9 shooting in the extra session.
7: Rebounds for KD. By finishing three shy of double digits, Durant’s streak of double-doubles ended at five games.
13: Lead changes Monday night. The two teams also exchanged the lead 13 times.
19: Points scored by James Harden…on the road! Harden was 6-for-12 from the field, the second time in as many road games that he’s shot exactly 50 percent. He’s just 1-for-8 from 3 in those games. But baby steps are better than no steps.
20: Turnovers by the Thunder. OKC had just 17 assists, marking the ninth time in 24 games that the Thunder has finished with more turnovers than assists.
23: Thunder points off Blazers turnovers. Portland committed just 13 turnovers, but the Thunder scored six more points off seven fewer Portland turnovers.
24: Wins the Thunder has after losses over the past two seasons. OKC is 4-1 after a loss this season and 24-7 after a loss including last season.
33: Shot attempts by Durant, a new career-high. Durant needed all 33 shots to net his 33 points. The most shots Durant had previously attempted was 31 in a home loss to San Antonio on Jan. 13, 2010. When you think about how great of a scorer KD is, it’s kind of amazing that he’s attempted at least 30 shots only twice, huh?
39: Points scored by Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge. The soon-to-be All-Star now has two of the top three individual scoring performances against the Thunder this season. Tony Parker leads the pack with 42. Aldridge also scored 30 against the Thunder on Jan. 3. L.A. was 0-for-3 in overtime, though.
45: Minutes played by Durant, a season-high. Not exactly the way you’d like to see him start a back-to-back set.
59: Rebounds by the Thunder. Oklahoma City put together its best rebounding game this season, out-rebounding the Blazers by 20, including an 18-15 advantage on the offensive end. Serge Ibaka had a season-high 13 rebounds, two shy of tying his career high. Kendrick Perkins gobbled up 10 boards, only the second time he’s pulled down at least 10 rebounds. Nazr Mohammed pulled down seven boards, tying his season high. Russell Westbrook had a season-high 11 rebounds.
-DM-
Thunder 111, Blazers 107
Nuggets from my notebook from Monday’s win at Portland.
- Kevin Durant said the Thunder remembered some trash talking by Blazers players after they won by 10 in Oklahoma City on Jan. 3. “It was a lot of trash talking after that first game with them,” Durant said.
- When asked to elaborate, Durant toned it down but did provide a few more details. “It wasn’t too offensive. Of course, they said they thought they were the better team; they’re the best team in the West. All of that stuff, which is cool for them to say. They beat us and we had to take it. But I think that ever since then we’ve gotten better, they’ve gotten better and tonight was just going to be a battle between two tough teams and I’m glad we came out on top.”
- Kendrick Perkins on the trash talk: “Oh, we don’t forget stuff like that. But we ain’t about to respond, either. I wish they would have had their whole starting five in so they wouldn’t have no excuses about the game tonight. But we don’t forget nothing.”
- I don’t know whether that block by LaMarcus Aldridge was a goaltend or not. Even the in-arena replays that I saw were inconclusive. Many have said on Twitter that it was clearly a clean block. If so, there’s obviously going to be a large segment of fans who insist the Thunder got a gift. I can’t disagree. The Blazers probably would have won. But it was a bang-bang play (when I saw it live I thought it hit the backboard first) and you can’t fault the officials if they got it wrong. That’s the breaks.
- KD on the goaltend call: “I got it up there quick enough and it hit the glass first and it was a goaltend. So it was a good play for us.”
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on the goaltend call: “I didn’t look at it. I saw it live. The referees…it’s a hard game. We won the game. I’m happy we won the game.”
- This was a great win. By far the best of the season. It wasn’t always pretty. But when you’re the best (by record), you’re going to get everyone’s best, and it’s going to sometimes be hard-nosed, physical contest. That’s what this was. And the fact that the Thunder came into the Rose Garden, where the Blazers had only lost once in 12 games, and slayed a team that was whupping opponents by an average of 18.3 points in their building, speaks volumes.
- Durant on the win: “It was one of those wins where we come back in the locker room a little bit emotional.”
- People tend to get a little carried away with the superlatives after games like this. So pardon me if what’s coming fits that bill. The defense the Thunder played on the game-clinching Blazers possession was the best I’ve ever seen from OKC. It was a big-time, dominant defensive effort. Everyone did what they needed to do. Russell Westbrook was pressuring Jamal Crawford. Perk was bodying Aldridge. Serge Ibaka provided great help. And Perk got the big block. You won’t find a more impressive 24 seconds of defense. Anywhere.
- Perk on the sequence: “It’s just talking and communication. You’ve got to give credit to the coaching staff. They called the play out. Russ kept pursuing. And you just never give up on the play. You especially can’t give a guy like Crawford a clean look at the basket. He’s known for hitting (game-tying shots) and game-winners.”
- Perk’s defense on Aldridge in the overtime period was as good as it gets. Perk held L.A. to two points on 0-for-3 shooting. Said Perkins: “He wore out himself. He hit some tough shots early…But I think he wore out through the fourth and overtime. The first three quarters, he had his legs.”
- Brooks on Perk’s D: “I thought Perk was the difference-maker. It’s kind of weird to say that when the guy he was guarding had 39, but he made him work for every shot. His activity, his rebounding, his defense, his toughness I thought won this game.”
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Kendrick Perkins: “I just got to play better”
Kendrick Perkins is not pleased with his production so far this season.
PORTLAND — Everyone these days seems to have a problem with Kendrick Perkins.
Including the man himself.
Perkins thus far has kept quiet about his individual performance. But on Monday morning, seconds after walking off the Rose Garden court following the Oklahoma City Thunder’s shoot-around, the center confessed that he hasn’t played particularly well.
When told he was requested to be interviewed because of his subpar rebounding of late, Perkins cut off the attempt at providing background. He didn’t need to hear any more.
“Man, what else?” Perkins said, suggesting rebounding wasn’t his only issue. “I’m struggling.”
Perkins ranks third on the Thunder in rebounding. But at 5.4 per game, he’s puling down his fewest rebounds since he averaged 5.2 during the 2006-07 season. Perk’s 11.6 percent rebound rate (the percentage of total missed shots a player rebounds) is the worst of his career. Only four centers who have logged enough games and minutes to qualify have a lower rate. In 23 games, Perkins has pulled down less than five rebounds eight times. Perk’s past two performances were grounds to sound the alarm. He grabbed one rebound in 30 minutes against Memphis. He corralled three in 21 minutes against San Antonio. His matchups in those games, Marc Gasol and Tim Duncan, combined to out-rebound him 23-4.
Against Portland center Marcus Camby, Perkins will be matched up tonight against the league’s leader in rebound rate.
“I just got to play better,” Perkins said. “It’s not just the rebounding. My points are down. I’m usually one of the league leaders in field-goal percentage. I just got to play better. It’s nothing else to it. I just got to play better.”
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Power Lunch Chat with Darnell Mayberry
By The Numbers: Thunder-Spurs
Numbers to note from Saturday’s 107-96 loss at San Antonio.
11: Rebounds by Kevin Durant. Coupled with his team-high 22 points, Durant registered his fifth straight double-double and his 10th of the season. Durant’s 11 rebounds raised his team-leading rebounding rate to 8.3 per game, currently 0.7 more than his career high for an entire season.
12: Made 3-pointers by San Antonio. It was one shy of tying the most a team has made against the Thunder this season. The Los Angeles Clippers made 13 on Jan. 30. Five Spurs players made at least one 3. Three Spurs players made three 3s.
15: Rebounds by Tim Duncan, tying Dwight Howard for the second most rebounds an opposing player has pulled down against the Thunder. New Jersey forward Kris Humphries holds the record with 16.
17: Second-chance points scored by the Spurs. The Thunder scored just seven second-chance points.
19: Points scored by James Harden. The Bearded One made 5-of-10 shots in 30 minutes. In his previous two road games, Harden scored a combined 17 points on 5-for-21 shooting.
24: Largest lead by the Spurs. It’s the most the Thunder has trailed by in any game this season. The previous widest margin was a 22-point lead held by the Clippers on Jan. 30. San Antonio blew open the game in a nine-minute stretch of the third quarter, using a 26-10 run to turn a 59-51 advantage into an 85-61 game.
42: Points scored by Spurs guard Tony Parker. It was the most any player has scored on the Thunder this season. The previous high was 30 by Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge on Jan. 3. Parker’s scoring by quarter: six, 10, 16, 10.
60.7: Free throw percentage by the Thunder. OKC made just 17 of 28 foul shots to finish with the franchise’s lowest free throw percentage in a game since Dec. 31, 2008, when the Thunder converted just 14-of-28 foul shots (50 percent).
107: Points scored by San Antonio. It was the third time in five games that the Thunder allowed at least 100 points. Oklahoma City is now 3-5 when it allows 100 points or more.
4,477: Career assists by Parker, who now is the Spurs’ all-time leader in helpers.
-DM-
Spurs 107, Thunder 96
Nuggets from my notebook from Saturdays loss at San Antonio.
- In answering one of my post-game questions, Kendrick Perkins told the story of this game. It was a simple response, but it easily was the most disturbing thing about tonight’s performance. “They just out-smarted us in every way,” Perkins told me. I thought the Thunder was past that point in its development. I thought OKC could now handle a Spurs team that is missing its best player and, really, is now reliant on one aging future Hall of Famer, a speedy point guard and a bunch of role players. I was wrong. This looked liked the Spurs-Thunder matchup of three years ago, when San Antonio used to take OKC to the woodshed and teach it a lesson in Basketball 101. We’re supposed to be beyond those days. You can make one excuse after another for this type of performance. You could say it happens. You could say the Spurs are great at home. You could say the Thunder was on the second night of a back-to-back. But that’s not what happened here. The Thunder looked over-matched and out of its league for the last 43 minutes. The Spurs, as Perk said, simply out-smarted the Thunder. And by the time the trip to the woodshed had ended, San Antonio had taught OKC yet another lesson.
- Russell Westbrook got the biggest schooling tonight. At least you can only hope he learns from this one. It’s not so much that Tony Parker went completely off on him. It’s much more about how Russ couldn’t control his emotions and figure out a way to contribute nearly anything positive once the snowball started its descent. We saw classic bad Westbrook tonight. Poor defense. Forced shots. Frequent complaining. Inadequate focus. Costly turnovers. The usual. Tough night. Tough, tough night.
- Westbrook’s mano-a-mano mindset clearly started with four minutes left in the second quarter. That’s when Westbrook and Parker hit the floor while fighting for a loose ball. It’s worth noting that replays clearly show that Parker pushed Westbrook just before the scrum. But Westbrook got up fuming, and it was downhill from there. Over those final four minutes of the first half, Parker scored five points on 1-for-2 shooting with an assist. Westbrook scored two points on 1-for-2 shooting with an assist and a block. The battle boiled over in the third quarter and got ugly for the Thunder.
- I hesitate to include this because I have no idea what the conversation was about. But referee Dick Bavetta appeared to try to calm down Westbrook as the Spurs shot free throws with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter. Bavetta put his arm around Westbrook as he bent over and whispered for a while in his ear. It didn’t look like Westbrook had any reaction at all to whatever was said. He just walked away when Bavetta was done.
- Parker finished with 42 points, the most any player has scored on the Thunder this season. He did absolutely whatever he wanted to do against the Thunder tonight. He got into the paint. He created open shots for himself and his teammates. He knocked down jumpers. He dished dimes. And he took amazing care of the ball, playing 40 minutes without turning it over a single time.
- It’s debatable how much blame Westbrook deserves when it comes to the Thunder’s pick-and-roll defense. That’s where Parker really had his way. Defending the pick-and-roll is really a team game. The guard’s got to start with pressure. The big has to show hard. And everyone else has to be on a string, with help to help the helper on the weak side. That’s at least three things that need to happen on every single pick-and-roll, maybe even four. It’s not going to be perfect every time. But I do know that a team has no shot at success if the guy leading the defense — the point guard — doesn’t bring the right amount of intensity. Unfortunately, that’s what I saw out of Westbrook tonight.
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By The Numbers: Thunder-Grizzlies
Numbers to note from Friday’s 101-94 win over Memphis.
1: Assist for the Thunder in the first quarter. It came 61 seconds into the game. Assist No. 2 didn’t come until 6:47 was left in the second quarter. Making matters worse, OKC had six first-quarter turnovers. By comparison, the Grizzlies had eight first-quarter assists against only one turnover.
5: Turnovers by Russell Westbrook. It was the fifth straight game that Westbrook has had at least five turnovers. He now has 89 on the season, a 4.04 average.
9: Technical fouls that have been called on Kendrick Perkins this season. Perk leads the league in techs and is now four shy of an automatic one-game suspension.
10: Rebounds by Kevin Durant. All of them came in the second half.
12: More bench points for the Thunder, which saw its bench score 27 points. Grizzlies reserves combined to shoot 6-for-22.
15: Offensive rebounds for Memphis. The Grizzlies had 10 of those in the first half alone and just one in the fourth quarter. Although the Thunder did a much better job rebounding the ball defensively in the second half, Memphis still racked up 24 second chance points.
17: Fourth quarter points scored by Memphis. The Grizzlies shot just 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) in the final frame
24: Points scored by James Harden. It’s a season-high and two shy of his career-high. It’s the third time this season that Harden has finished with 24.
29: Thunder points off Grizzlies turnovers. Memphis had 19 turnovers. The Thunder, however, turned it over 17 times for 26 Grizzlies points.
30: First quarter points for the Grizzlies. Memphis joined the L.A. Clippers as the only teams to score at least 30 points in the opening period against the Thunder this season.
33: Free throw attempts by the Thunder, 13 more than the Grizzlies.
36: Points scored by Durant. He had 16 of those in the fourth quarter, and 14 of those 16 in the final five minutes. KD finished one point shy of tying his season high.
50: Paint points by the Grizzlies.
-DM-
Thunder 101, Grizzlies 94
Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s win over Memphis.
- Kevin Durant is indeed The Real McCoy.
- The way KD took over the game tonight just leaves you shaking your head and admiring his greatness.
- Durant scored 16 of his game-high 36 points in the final quarter. It was one less than the Grizzlies had as a team!!
- More impressively, 14 of KD’s 16 fourth-quarter points came in the final five minutes with neither team ahead by more than five points. Those are all clutch-time points, folks.
- Memphis coach Lionel Hollins on KD: “He’s a great player. I mean, that’s all you can say. He’s a great player. He made great plays and great shots down the stretch. He took over the game. He’s going to be one of the all-time greats if he stays healthy.”
- I said this tonight on one of our award-winning video recaps (you don’t really believe that do you?). I was more impressed with Durant’s rebounding in the second half than his scoring down the stretch. The points will be what’s remembered, and rightfully so. But KD’s rebounding is more of a testament to his development into an all-around player. Better yet, a cold-blooded killer. He had zero at the half. He finished with 10, including four in the fourth quarter. It helped the Thunder take control of the boards in the decisive fourth quarter after Memphis manhandled OKC for the first three.
- OK, back to KD’s scoring. Dude had missed all five of his 3-pointers before burying perhaps the biggest shot of the night with 53.8 seconds remaining. Said KD: “That 3, as I was shooting, it looked good. But I was missing. So it was just a matter of time before one of those were going to go down for me.”
- Durant said he liked the 3 more than the beautiful, off-balance J he hit over Rudy Gay with 22 seconds left. “Because I had missed five of them that looked good,” Durant said. “But that one finally went in for me and it was a critical part of the game. So it was a big shot.”
- Consider this the second time Durant has stolen shine from a teammate. James Harden was about to be the player of this game before Durant decided to turn deadly. Harden ignited a 22-10 run that turned an eight-point deficit at the start of the fourth period into a four-point lead with 3:14 left to play. Over that run, Harden scored or assisted on 14 of the Thunder’s points.
- When it’s a close game in the fourth quarter, I don’t like to see much of anything out of the Thunder’s offense except the ball in Harden’s hands. That’s the only time I can relax. And it’s the only time I know something good will happen.
- One thing I didn’t like about Harden tonight. He got the Durant treatment by the Grizzlies after getting hot and didn’t respond that well. Tony Allen switched onto him, and Memphis even sent a few doubles his way. But when Allen began playing more physically in denying the ball, Harden couldn’t get open. Keep an eye on that. If teams start doing that, the Thunder’s saving grace is gone.
- Daequan Cook got the start again for the injured Thabo Sefolosha and played his tail off…defensively! Cook started the game 0-for-4 from the field but was a pest at the other end. He blocked a putback attempt by Allen, broke up an alley-oop intended for Gay, boxed out Marc Gasol so well he pushed him all the way under the net and blocked another shot by Allen. And that was all in the first five minutes. Cook’s final line was five points on 2-for-7 shooting with seven rebounds and three blocked shots in 32 minutes. Be honest. You’d love it if Kendrick Perkins provided that production.
- Perk’s actual line: five points, one rebound and one blocked shot in 30 minutes. Insert Scott Brooks‘ favorite line here.
- Is Cook making a case to remain in the starting lineup even when Sefolosha returns? Some already think he deserves it. And as I wrote after the Mavs game, at least one player thinks he’s a good fit in the first string. I doubt it will ever happen. But Cook has quietly become a much better defender than he was when he first got here. And, although I don’t know where he ranks among other shooting guards, his rebounding appears to be above average. And we all know his shooting gives the first five a different dynamic. Could it at least be worth Brooks considering?
- Brooks on Cook: “D.C. was all over the ball. He was all over the floor. It’s a nice luxury to have one of the best 3-point shooters play the defense that he plays. He plays hard. He’s always in the right spot. He’s a great help side defender.”
- It seems Cook will get some more time to present his case to crack the first five. As our man John Rohde reports, Sefolosha will be sidelined a tad longer.
- So much for Perk chilling out on the techs. One game after he told me he would, he was whistled for a double technical foul after getting tangled up with Gasol. It was Perk’s ninth of the season. He’s now four shy of an automatic one-game suspension. With 44 games left, I’m not sure Perk has enough chill in him.
