Thunder-Celtics live blog, 6 p.m.
D.J White Sent Back To Tulsa
The Thunder has re-assigned rookie forward D.J. White to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA D-League, his second stint with the team in two weeks.
White was recalled on March 23 and practiced with the Thunder last Wednesday and Thursday but did not accompany the team on the current three-game road trip the continues with tonight’s game at Boston. In his previous stint with the 66ers, White averaged 17.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 assists in 37.7 minutes. He is expected to be in the lineup tonight as the 66ers take on Bakersfield.
Under NBA rules, teams can assign players from their 15-man rosters to the D-League only three times during the season. White, however, is expected to rejoin the Thunder at some point prior to the season’s end and make his NBA debut after missing the entire season after undergoing two surgeries to remove and repair a benign growth in his jaw.
White could remain with the 66ers through Wednesday and play in the team’s game at Austin and perhaps through Friday and play one final game at home against Colorado. With the 66ers’ final three games coming on the road April 5, 10 and 11, White could rejoin the Thunder prior to Oklahoma City’s April 5 home game against Indiana and be available for the final seven games.
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Raptors 112, Thunder 96
Observations, news and notes from Friday’s game……
* So I had lunch at Pizza Pizza today, which if you’ve ever been to Toronto you know those things are on ever corner. As I’m in line I notice a sign that essentially read if the Raptors score 100 points you get a free slice of Pizza. Right then and there I knew that if only I could get my hands on a ticket stub my fourth meal likely would come courtesy of the Raptors.
* I never got a stub. But Joey Graham’s 17-footer with 6:01 remaining made a lot of Raptors fans happy and basically sealed the Thunder’s fate.
* OKC is now just 5-34 under coach Scott Brooks when allowing 100 points or more. The Thunder is 14-6 when holding opponents to less than 100 points.
* The Thunder fell to 6-29 on the road this season and has two of its toughest road games of the season looming Sunday at Boston and Tuesday at San Antonio.
* A 17-2 run midway through the first quarter following the Thunder’s early 5-0 lead deflated OKC and it never could recover.
* Despite the poor showing, you wouldn’t believe how many Raptors media members and employees are gushing over the Thunder’s young core. Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook were talked about like basketball gods all day, starting at the morning shoot-around. Saying the locals are impressed with OKC’s future would be an understatement.
* You can look at Durant’s off night two ways. Either he still hasn’t completely regained his rhythm after missing those seven games with a sprained ankle. Or Raptors forward Shawn Marion did a good job of keeping a lid on him. Raptors coach Jay Triano went with the latter…..”I thought Shawn did an outstanding job guarding him,” Triano said. “He’s going to get fouled and he’s a great player, but Shawn was just kind of there all night. He has some length to challenge shots as well, and I thought the rest of the guys provided great support behind and he saw bodies all night.”
* Durant did get the call on his nifty little sweep through move twice in the first quarter alone, the first time he got it twice in a game if I’m not mistaken. He missed two of his four free throw attempts in the first quarter, however.
* Marion, Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani man-handled the Thunder all night on the boards, combining for 33 rebounds or just four fewer than the entire Thunder team could muster.
* With three minutes remaining in the first half, Bosh already had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
* Raptors guards Jose Calderon and Roko Ukic controlled the tempo, combining for 19 of Toronto’s season-high 36 assists. Ukic had a career-high 10 in 22 minutes off the bench.
* Nick Collison’s string of impressive performances continued. He said after the game it’s because he’s intentionally become more aggressive.
* Russell Westbrook had a better shooting night than the past two games, going 5-for-11 for 10 points. Although his shooting and scoring have both been down, it’s becoming clear that he is evolving into a better playmaker. He’s slowing down and you can see the game coming to him easier. He’s finding his teammates and doing a better job of spreading the ball around. He would have finished with more than five assists tonight if more shots had fallen after he dished the ball.
*Thabo Sefolosha struggled offensive, going 1-for-7. Again, he did not record a steal and this time didn’t have a blocked shot either. Kind of surprising these days when he doesn’t finish with at least one of each. As for his shooting, I don’t think he needs to develop a deadly jumper. Every one always talks about the Thunder needing a shooter at his spot. I think having a defensive stopper there is a much better option. If he could just get a respectable set shot, something in the mold of Bruce Bowen, I think he could be pretty special because of his versatility. Tonight, in the first quarter alone, he airballed a wide open shot from the left corner and then hit the side of the backboard on a wide open J from the right corner. Those are the ones he has to knock down to tap into his full potential.
* Chucky Atkins still can’t find his stroke. Since his promotion to second-string point guard, he’s shooting just 27.5 percent from the field (11 of 40) and 20 percent from 3 (3 of 15).
* Most surprising stat of the game: 11 Thunder turnovers, one more than its season-low. But on this night even a positive turned into a negative, as the Raptors converted those giveaways into 20 points.
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Thunder-Raptors live blog
Westhead Moves On To Oregon
Former Thunder assistant coach Paul Westhead has been named the head coach of the Oregon women’s basketball team.
Westhead left the team back in November when longtime friend and colleague P.J. Carlesimo was fired.
Westhead’s latest job only adds to his reputation as a coaching lifer.
The 70-year Westhead has had coaching stints in the ABA, the Japanese Pro League and in college at LaSalle University, Loyola Marymount and George Mason. He also coached the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, leading them to a league championship in 2007, and is a former head coach with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. Westhead also served as an assistant with the Orlando Magic from 2003-05.
Westhead is the only coach to win both an NBA championship (1980 with the Lakers) and a WNBA championship. This is his first NCAA women’s coaching stint.
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How Earl Watson Has Turned An Obstacle Into An Opportunity
The sight of Earl Watson lingering on the court for up to 30 minutes following team practices over the past two weeks seemed bizarre.
The Thunder’s newest third-string point guard hasn’t played since March 11. And although Watson routinely would spend time after practice shooting before his benching, he’s taken his regimen to another level lately, working with an assistant coach on 3-pointers almost daily.
On Wednesday, I found out why.
“I feel like through every obstacle you have opportunity,” Watson said of his recent demotion. ”And I feel like for me it’s an opportunity for me to get better as a shooter. It’s the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to shoot the ball and get up a lot of shots.”
Watson broke his right thumb last June while working out in L.A. He needed surgery on the finger and was expected to be out the rest of the summer and possibly the start of training camp. Watson hid his pain and played through the discomfort. But the numbers didn’t lie.
After shooting a career-high 45.4 percent from the field last season and 37.1 percent from behind the 3-point line, Watson is hitting just 37.5 percent of his shots from the field and converting on a career-low 23.8 percent from 3.
The solution? Get up 300 shots a day on non-game days and 600 on game days.
“My hand is starting to feel better and I’m getting more comfortable,” Watson said. “The doctor said it takes a full year to heal completely with any break and it’s actually getting closer. I can tell the difference in my shot. I can tell the difference with the way the ball fits in my hand. It was getting better the last couple of games before the DNPs. So it’s just a growth and for me that’s exciting.”
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Lakers 107, Thunder 89
Observations, news and notes from Tuesday night’s game……
* Nick Collison said it best after this one…….”It’s disappointing when a team can just kind of go through the motions and beat you like that.”
* As excited as I and I’m sure everyone else was to see this game, it turned out to be a real snoozer.
* It was never closer than 17 in the second half.
* Kevin Durant injured his left forearm tonight when Kobe Bryant accidentally elbowed him on a drive to the rim. He finished the game with a protective pad on it and had the pad wrapped with tape and an arm ban on top of it all. Team officials said it was a bruise and he should be fine.
* That’s about as much damage as Bryant did on this night. His team-high 19 points were far from effortless. He went 6-for-18 from the field and couldn’t get into a rhythm against Thabo Sefolosha.
* Sefolosha blocked Bryant’s shot twice and forced him into an airball on another possession. But he failed to record a steal for only the second time since joining the Thunder.
* Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Josh Powell really hurt the Thunder tonight, combining for 56 points and 23 rebounds.
* Thunder turnovers helped the Lakers get off to a 37-20 lead in the first quarter. OKC had five in the first 12 minutes, leading to 10 points.
* Russell Westbrook struggled yet again, going 2 of 11 from the field for 10 points. Think that rookie wall thing has finally caught up to him? Make that 23-for-72 over his past five games. That’s 31.9 percent shooting and a 12.4-point average over that span.
* Nick Collison (10 points, eight rebounds) had a solid game again, the only bright spot for the Thunder from my point of view.
* Suddenly, after the past two games, there are some serious questions Thunder coach Scott Brooks needs to answer about why Earl Watson can’t even get on the court at this point. The Thunder led by as many as 32 against Minnesota on Sunday and Watson still ended up with the DNP. The Lakers were up by as many as 24 in this one and the same DNP sits adjacent his name tonight.
* At one point late in the first half, when Westbrook picked up his third foul with 3:28 left in the second quarter, Brooks inserted Collison rather than Watson. It gave the Thunder a lineup of Sefolosha, Green, Durant, Collison and Krstic. Not one point guard. Chucky Atkins has started the second quarter and got a breather with 6:07 left. He checked back in for Collison with 1:21 remaining in the half. But the Lakers went on a 5-2 run while the Thunder was without a point guard on the floor and ended the quarter on a 11-2 run to take the 62-38 halftime lead.
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Thunder-Lakers live blog
D.J. White Will Sit Tonight
Thunder coach Scott Brooks said rookie forward D.J. White will not make his debut tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers but could see his first action of the season on the team’s upcoming three-game road trip.
“Tonight he will be inactive,” Brooks said. “He won’t play tonight unless somebody twists an ankle going to the game and we need another body. But he will be inactive. He’ll have a couple of days of practice and then we’ll make a decision.”
Brooks said he was impressed with White’s three-game stint with the Tulsa 66ers after the 6-foot-9 forward missed the first five months of the season and all of training camp because of a benign growth in his jaw. White averaged 17.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 assists in 37.7 minutes.
“It’s hard to do what he did after not playing basketball for six straight months,” Brooks said. “And to fight back and stay positive, stay mentally sharp, stay physically ready, I thought he did a very good job.”
Brooks said White will be evaluated in practice Wednesday and again Thursday before the team travels to Toronto for Friday’s game against the Raptors. If White doesn’t make his debut Friday he could take the court Sunday at Boston or next Tuesday at San Antonio.
White called it a “relief” just to be this close to returning.
“I don’t know when it’ll be,” White said of his debut. “That’s up to the coaches. But I know it’ll feel good. It’ll be a relief after going through so much this year, sitting out so long. It’ll just be a relief to run out there on the court with my Thunder uniform on.”
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Thunder Recall D.J. White
Rookie forward D.J. White has rejoined the Thunder after spending the past week with the Tulsa 66ers.
As I wrote in today’s editions of The Oklahoman, White is a player for those that don’t know yet, one who should really be able to help OKC with rebounding and scoring from the low post and high post.
White, the 29th overall pick who has yet to play this season because of a jaw injury, played three games with the 66ers. He averaged 17.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 assists in 37.7 minutes per game.
After undergoing two surgeries this season to remove and repair a benign growth in his jaw, White was cleared to resume all full-contact activity last Monday. The Thunder did not practice today, and it’s unclear if Thunder coach Scott Brooks will throw White in the rotation Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
White has yet to participate in a full practice with the Thunder this season. His initial surgery was Oct. 13 to remove a benign growth from his jaw. He underwent a second procedure on Jan. 4 to take a bone graft from his hip and mend the bone in his jaw.
But White’s minutes increased in each of his three games with Tulsa, going from 32 to 40 to 41.
“The biggest adjustment is just conditioning,” White said. “I’m just trying to get my wind back and trying to get a better feel for the game…It’s just a matter of getting back into it. I took six months off so I just want to keep working hard and see what happens.”
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