Thunder 119, Celtics 104
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday’s win over Boston.
- Welcome back, Daequan Cook. You were sorely missed. Cook made 5-of-11 shots tonight went 3-of-8 from deep to match his season high of 17 points. His first 3-ball that dropped was only his second in the past five games. And when he splashed in his second with 3:14 remaining in the opening period, the crowd erupted, partly because it pulled the Thunder within one after a sluggish start led to a 10-point deficit, and partly because seemingly everyone in the building knew Cook had been struggling and that bomb was a sign that he was back.
- Cook doesn’t like passing up shots. If he touches it, there’s a 92.4 percent chance it’s going up.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he wasn’t worried about Cook, who was just 4-for-34 from deep in his previous six games. “He really hasn’t shot the ball well, and I wasn’t concerned with it. Obviously, I would like for him to make some shots. But with Daequan, I’m happy he does this, last year I looked at him as a guy that can give us a 3-point threat. But this year I look at him as he can defend, he can rebound and he can make plays for us. He’s not just a 3-point shooter.”
- Led by Cook, the Thunder made nine of 19 3-pointers tonight and used the long ball to get back in it when the Celtics took that early 10-point lead. In the last couple of games, the Thunder took a ton of 3s but didn’t make enough to warrant that many hoists. Tonight was a great night from behind the arc.
- Celtics guard Avery Bradley started the game for the suspended Rajon Rondo. And Bradley began the game by pressing up on Russell Westbrook and trying to play aggressive defense. As soon as I saw that, and Westbrook’s initial attack on offense, I thought ‘Uh oh. Here we go.’ It looked like Westbrook was about to turn the game into a personal battle. And on a couple a possessions he did. But Russ stayed under control and turned in a solid, solid performance with 31 points, five rebounds, six assists and just two turnovers.
- This was the third straight game Westbrook has scored at least 30 points. It’s kind of hard to believe, but that’s the first time he’s done that.
- Controversy alert. Westbrook took two more shots than Kevin Durant.
- In the last two games, KD and Russ have gotten to the line at the rate we grew accustom to seeing them get there last year. Westbrook has attempted 24 foul shots in his last three games. Durant has attempted 28.
- James Harden returned from a one-game absence and scored 17 points with seven assists and four rebounds. Only two of his points came in the second half, though.
- With the win, the Thunder is now tied with Miami for the league’s best record at 26-7. Pay no attention to whatever you hear Thunder players and coaches say. The record is important and it matters to them. If OKC finishes with the best record in the league, it will get home court advantage throughout the playoffs. If you ask me, if the championship is a battle between any combination of Miami, Chicago and OKC, the determining factor in which team hoists the trophy this year will be home court advantage.
- Most encouraging thing tonight: two first-half turnovers, both coming in the second quarter.
- Second most encouraging thing tonight: three offensive rebounds for the Celtics. A lot of that had to do with Boston’s 18 turnovers preventing them from getting up shots and a 48.6 percent shooting clip from the field that didn’t lend itself to many second chance opportunities. Still, when you’re one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the league, you take it how you can get it.
- Least encouraging thing tonight: another big lead was blown. The Thunder allowed the Celtics to erase a 27-point, deficit midway through the third quarter and pull within six in the final 3 1/2 minutes. That’s now two straight games we’ve seen that. Said Royal Ivey: “We got complacent. They were in attack mode because they were down and they were needing a win. We were playing on our heels. But we closed it out and we got the win and that’s all that’s important.”
- Complacent is the operative word. The Thunder is simply taking its foot off the gas and letting teams back in it. Someday, that’s going to bite at a bad time. Gotta clean that up now.
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Thunder 101, Hornets 93
Nuggets from my notebook from Monday’s win over New Orleans.
- James Harden missed this one with an ankle sprain. He rolled it in Sunday’s game. Nick Collison also was out because of a quad contusion. Without them, and considering it was the second night of a back-to-back that just happened to follow the game of the year, not even Thunder coach Scott Brooks had any idea of what would happen tonight.
- What happened was the Thunder came out and handled business the way it should have regardless of the injuries. OKC jumped on New Orleans early and never let up. The defensive effort was strong from the start and the Thunder played nice team ball offensively to make things easier.
- The Thunder outscored the Hornets 31-18 in the first period and dished out seven assists on 14 field goals. Eight players scored for the Thunder in the first 12 minutes. OKC also limited New Orleans to 5-for-20 shooting in the period and forced the Hornets into six turnovers.
- Said New Orleans coach Monty Williams: “That team just took it to us from the jump.”
- A lot of people lately have been down on Kendrick Perkins. But he was pretty darn good tonight. And I’m not even talking about his season-high tying 13 rebounds or his season-high six blocked shots. His defense on Chris Kaman is what was most outstanding. Go back and watch how well he crowded Kaman and made his looks difficult, especially early. It’s one of the things Perk is best at and something many don’t seem to appreciate. Kaman went 4-for-17 tonight. One of his field goals came against Cole Aldrich and another came on a tip-in. Kaman hit two shots on Perk, and both were pat-him -on-the-butt type contests that you just have to live with.
- Perk clearly came into tonight with an attitude. He left the locker room Sunday night appearing to be in a bit of a bad mood. It could have been anything so I don’t want to assume what the issue was. But obviously he didn’t play well against the Nuggets. So I think Perk made it a point to come out more determined tonight. I wasn’t the only one to notice. Said Kevin Durant: “You could tell he was a little upset with himself. If that was over last night, I don’t know. But he came out and played with that energy, rebounding the ball like a mad man, finishing under the basket and doing some good things for us. That’s what we need from Perk every night.”
- Because he was so fired up, Perk picked up a tech less than three minutes into the game. He got it for arguing a call with an official. And, again, you could tell his emotions were high because of how he got it. He was just trying to play tough defense and he didn’t want the ref bailing out Kaman. And even though he knows he has to slow down on the techs, Perk couldn’t hold his tongue. Unofficially, it was Perk’s 10th tech of the season. To my knowledge, there hasn’t been a ruling on whether the one he got at Houston will be rescinded. If so, he’ll have nine. If not, he’s three shy of an automatic one-game suspension.
- Quietly, Perk has been fantastic in three of his last four games. He shut down Al Jefferson (relatively). He shut down Luis Scola (relatively). And tonight, shut down Kaman. In those three games, Jefferson, Scola and Kaman combined to score 42 points on 18-for-52 shooting. For you math geniuses, that translates to a three-game average of 14 points on 34.6 percent shooting.
- Russell Westbrook was great tonight. Again. He played under control for the most part and didn’t force things. There were a few bad passes but not nearly enough to make a big deal about, because he routinely made the extra pass as well and didn’t hurt the offense by jacking shots or settling. I was probably most impressed with Westbrook’s defensive effort. He was as locked in as I’ve seen him guarding the ball, especially in the high ball screen. He was aggressive, but he also trusted the system and cut out a lot of the gambling.
- Only a combined 62 points for KD and Russ tonight? Slackers.
- Speaking of, Serge Ibaka finished one point and seven boards shy of a second triple-double in as many nights (sarcasm). On a serious note, I thought he was great again, too. He finished with 13 rebounds to match Perk for game-high honors, and he was great cleaning up around the basket and protecting the paint. If he was a split second faster on about two or three goaltending calls, he would have had five or six blocks tonight, too.
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Thunder 110, Warriors 87
Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s win over Golden State.
- Let’s start with what everyone wants to know. Russell Westbrook is fine. He had to leave the game late in the third quarter after rolling his right ankle. He did not return. But he walked briskly out of the locker room, and his foot appeared to be just fine. I have absolutely no doubt that he’ll play Sunday.
- Kendrick Perkins missed his first game of the season because of a sore knee. Apparently, he banged knees with someone late in the Houston game. I don’t remember it. But he’s day-to-day. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he’ll see how he feels tomorrow.
- Thabo Sefolosha is out a month.
- As if that wasn’t enough carnage, Lazar Hayward got poked in the eye and wasn’t doing so well after the game.
- The injury bug has finally hit. While only Eric Maynor’s is really severe, the Thunder, like other teams have done this season, will now have to maintain and find a way to get it done while banged up. That’s what this season has been about, and now it’s the Thunder’s reality.
- Another slow start. I blame this one on the makeshift starting lineup the Thunder had to trot out because of the injuries. OKC looked lethargic and played extremely carelessly for much of the first 12 minutes until the Warriors went up 24-20 at the end of the quarter.
- The Thunder had six first-quarter turnovers, five coming in a three-minute span on five out of seven possessions. They came about every way imaginable: two bad passes, a 3-second violation, a traveling violation and an illegal screen.
- After the raggedy start, the Thunder outscored the Warriors 90-63 in the final three quarters.
- This was the first time in three tries that OKC held Golden State under 100 points. The Warriors shot just 34.8 percent for the game and scored just 39 points on 30 percent shooting in the second half.
- Most impressively, the Thunder didn’t get sucked into the run-and-gun style of play that characterized the two games in Oakland. That’s a big part of the Thunder’s desired identity, to play any style but to really set the tone and make teams succumb to how it plays.
- A lot of good things in this one. A whole lot. Assists stood out. Thunder had 24 of them tonight, one shy of tying its season high. And get this. Eleven of the 12 active players had at least one helper. Said James Harden: “That’s beautiful basketball.”
- All 12 active players scored, too.
- The bench scored 55 points tonight. That’s got to be a season-high, right?
- I thought Kevin Durant looked out of it early. He was missing shots, sort of loafing on defense and didn’t seem that aggressive on either end. I thought it might have something to do with perhaps being emotional over parting ways with his agent. But in true superstar fashion, the guy nearly nets a triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. The five turnovers were troubling, though, as some were just silly plays.
- With Perk out, Nazr Mohammed got the start and Cole Aldrich got the reserve minutes. And Cole didn’t do anything to quell everyone’s desire to see him. He wasn’t great. But he just knows how to be active and make his presence felt in ways Perk and Naz don’t seem to do. The thing that shocks me is how much more athletic Aldrich makes the center position look compared to Perk and Naz. Unfortunately, that says more about Perk and Naz than Cole.
- Loved Nick Collison’s energy and effort tonight. Then again, when do I not?
Rockets 96, Thunder 95
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday night’s loss at Houston.
- The Thunder played about as bad of a first quarter as it could possibly play. It was sloppy. It was raggedy. It was, well, ugly. OKC couldn’t make a shot, couldn’t stop the Rockets and couldn’t stop turning it over. By the end of the period, the Thunder trailed 29-13, setting a season low for points in the opening period, and made just 6-of-24 shots while allowing Houston to hit 11 of 22.
- Russell Westbrook was the only Thunder player with a pulse in the first quarter. When the Thunder trailed 26-10, Westbrook had eight of those points. Kevin Durant had the other two.
- Some will criticize the Thunder for late-game execution after this one. Count me out. The Thunder got some pretty good shots on goal if I may borrow a soccer reference. They just didn’t go in. As I wrote for Thursday’s paper, there are some who will use this game as evidence that a “jump-shooting team” always will struggle in close games. I didn’t think that was the case.
- The Thunder was 0-for-9 in the final 2 minutes, 10 seconds. The last attempt was a desperation launch by Westbrook. So excluding that, only three of the final eight misses were 3-pointers. Of the other five, one was from 16 feet, one was from 15 feet, one was a 10-foot runner, one was a blocked layup and one was a missed tip-in. That’s not what I would call settling.
- And by the way, the Thunder came into tonight’s game 5-1 in games decided by four points or less.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he was satisfied with the late execution. “Down the stretch, we missed some shots that were good looks. We normally would make a few of those. We had good rhythm in that fourth quarter, and then we just couldn’t make a basket. But they were good looks. The execution was good.”
- I found it sort of funny how Brooks altered his choice of words a minute later after more reflection of what exactly his players got down the stretch. “At the end of games, those are great looks. Not good looks. Those are great looks,” Brooks said. “Our guys are going to make those shots more times than not.”
- I could not agree more with Westbrook on this close loss. “It happens like that sometimes. It wasn’t a bad loss. We fought. It wasn’t like we gave up or anything.”
- My only gripe about the late-game execution is that it’s all Durant and Westbrook. It’s like the Thunder forgets there’s this guy named James Harden who happens to be the team’s best playmaker. Harden had one shot in the final 2 minutes, 10 seconds, a missed 3. He was 4-for-4 in the quarter’s first 9 minutes, 50 seconds.
- Harden was turnover prone tonight, as was pretty much everybody in this one. But Harden had three of his five giveaways in the final quarter.
- The Thunder had 22 turnovers as a team, and the Rockets scored 26 points off them. Durant had four turnovers, and Westbrook had six. It’s absolutely amazing how bad this team is at taking care of the ball. The Thunder already ranked last in the league in turnovers coming into tonight. OKC only stretched bumped its average to 17.1 per game after tonight.
- Brooks put it best: “I don’t know how we do it. We’re in every game and we give up the ball too many times.”
Kings 106, Thunder 101
The Thunder's game at Sacramento on Thursday essentially was "Chris Webber Night" on TNT and the Kings responded with a 106-101 victory over OKC. Reggie Miller looks on as Webber receives a commemorative Kings "black" jersey.
Some thoughts on the Thunder’s 106-101 loss at Sacramento on Thursday night at Power Balance Pavilion:
- I’m almost certain the answer to this question is “no,” but here it goes: Has any team ever won an NBA title leading the league in turnovers? My guess is no, and the answer will remain no because the OKC Thunder will not win an NBA title committing this many turnovers. The Thunder might win the Northwest Division again. It might be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Heck, it might even finish with the best record in the NBA. But OKC will NOT survive a playoff series against a quality opponent by handing out free possessions at the rate of 17.0 per game.
- The OKC locker room was interesting after the Sacramento loss. Players were quiet, but not sulking. They weren’t angry, there was no sense of panic, nor did they seem helpless. The overwhelming feeling I got was disgust. It was as if every OKC player under his breath was saying, “All right, enough of this (hooey). We have to take care of the ball.” True dat, but thinking about it is one thing. Doing something about it is another.
- Nick Collison on all the turnovers: “It’s been a common problem for us. We’re able to get by a lot of teams because we’re really talented. We’re more talented than most of the teams in terms of having guys that can bail us out, but we’ve got to play better. We learned that last year in the playoffs. We weren’t able to win a tough series because we weren’t able to execute. Defensively, we need to be better, too. They are things that can be corrected, but we have to actually do it. It’s been a problem for a long time now.”
- Russell Westbrook was having such a good day. He was named a reserve for the NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. He had 27 points through three quarters and scored 16 points in the third quarter alone. He finished with 33 points, shot 15 of 26 from the field and also had six rebounds and three assists. But all these numbers consistently lose their luster up when you include the habitual kicker — turnovers. Turnovers routinely turn Westbrook into “Pig-Pen.” It’s his own dirty cloud. He had seven turnovers against the Kings.
- A commendable day for James Harden. He missed the cut as an All-Star reserve, yet still went out and scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds. Didn’t sulk and granted interviews afterward. Commendable.
- The Thunder shot 48.1 percent from the field compared to 40.4 percent for Sacramento. The Thunder NEVER loses when the numbers are like this. The more OKC players and coaches break down this game, the angrier they’re going to get.
- OKC was 11-0 this season when Serge Ibaka had three or more blocks. Tonight, Ibaka tied a career-high with 10 blocks, and the Thunder still lost to a last-place team on the verge of leaving town because it needs a new arena. Good grief (speaking of Pig-Pen). OKC also set a Seattle franchise record with 17 blocks … and still lost to a last-place team on the verge of leaving town because it needs a new arena.
- Kevin Durant has become an outstanding page-turner. “We’ve got to move on. We’ve got a game tomorrow (in Utah). We can’t harp on this one,” said the three-time All-Star. “This was just one of those games, man. Those guys played hard, scrappy. It was a tough game.”
- The Kings aren’t horrible, but they’re not nearly as good as OKC. Not even close.
- Thunder center Kendrick Perkins scowls. Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins sulks. There’s a huge difference. Cousins is an ungodly talent. If he ever learns to shut up and play, he’ll be an All-Star. Repeatedly.
- Kings point guard Tyreke Evans is a load at 6-foot-6, 220 pounds. He’s much larger in person than on TV. He dwarfs Westbrook.
- Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson came over to press row to say hello between the third and fourth quarters and granted an interview on the spot with Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. The topic discussed? Relocation. What else?
- I asked Condotta if everyone in Seattle still hated Oklahoma City. Condotta didn’t think so, but thought Thunder ownership chairman Clay Bennett likely remained one of the three most hated men in the history of the city. Didn’t ask who the other two were, but figured previous owner Howard Schultz was one of them. I told Condotta that Seattle only had itself to blame because if the city truly wanted to get back at Bennett, it should have built a new arena and made him keep the franchise in Seattle.
- Look for the NHL Phoenix Coyotes to move to Seattle before an NBA franchise does.
- Gotta admit, as the last three Thunder games were unfolding, I incorrectly predicted the outcome each time. I predicted losses at Portland and at Golden State — figuring LaMarcus Aldridge (39 points) and Monta Ellis (48) would simply be too much for OKC to overcome in the end, but the Thunder gallantly won both games. Tonight, I figured OKC would hang on to win despite its relentless generosity toward Sacramento. The Thunder ended up being far too kind with 23 turnovers, which resulted in 28 points for the Kings.
- At Utah on Friday night at 9:30, then it’s back home to OKC. Finally.
- John Rohde
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?
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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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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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.
Thunder 95, Mavs 86
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday’s win at Dallas.
- The first three nuggets in my actual notebook were as follows:
- Serge Ibaka blows nice Russell Westbrook pass, nearly air-balls layup.
- Ibaka blows putback layup after Kevin Durant miss.
- Ibaka dropped feed from Russ on a cut (not a great pass)
- As you can see, I was all ready to warm up these Rumblings and rip Ibaka a new one. He was that awful in the opening quarter. I was shocked, shocked I say, that Thunder coach Scott Brooks stuck with him for as long as he did. I just knew Brooks was going to yank him for Nick Collison 3 1/2 minutes in. Boy, are you glad Brooks didn’t?
- Ibaka was incredible in the last three quarters. Save a few defensive lapses (my fifth nugget was Ibaka’s slow recovery on a pick-and-roll that allowed Jason Terry to thread the needle to Brandan Wright for a layup) and some blown opportunities offensively, he saved the Thunder in this one. He set a career-high with 10 blocks and grabbed 11 rebounds. He ignited the Thunder’s defensive intensity in the second quarter after it was nowhere to be found in the first. He cut off the Mavs’ seemingly endless supply of easy layups that came effortlessly in the first quarter and struck fear into Dallas’ scorers each time they entered the paint. This was as good as we’ve ever seen Ibaka, matching his Game 2 performance against the Lakers in the 2010 playoffs and his Game 5 showing against Denver last year. As has been the case with Ibaka, the question now is will it carry over?
- Ibaka explained that his big night stemmed from realizing that it wasn’t his night offensively and seeing that he had it going defensively. “I like to get offense,” Ibaka said. “But I feel like tonight, on offense, it wasn’t my day. And I feel like on defense it was working, so I just said, ‘OK. Let’s be focused.’ And the blocked shots were working tonight so I just kept going.”
- Without a doubt the best thing I’ve ever seen or heard from Ibaka is the explanation he provided that he asked off of Dirk Nowitzki so he could protect the paint. Honestly, I wasn’t sure Ibaka had that type of basketball IQ. Not trying to be mean in saying that. I just had never seen anything from him that demonstrates that. This definitely does.
- Ibaka’s 10 rejections tied the franchise record for blocks in a single game. Shawn Kemp, in 1991, and Calvin Booth, in 2004, both registered 10 as well.
- I can’t wait until Seattle gets a new team — ahem, BUILD A FREAKIN’ ARENA, WASHINGTON! — just so we no longer have to include Sonics records in the Thunder’s history. Seattle trolls, save it. We know you don’t want the Thunder to have that history, either. The feeling’s mutual.
- Led by Ibaka, the Thunder got back to defensive dominance. The Mavs scored just 34 points in the final two quarters, an opponent low for the second half, was limited to 8-for-38 shooting in the second half and had just three players in double digits.
- Dirk had just eight points on 2-for-15 shooting. Any Thunder fan who hasn’t been living under a rock knows how impressive that is for OKC. Doesn’t matter that Dirk is having a bad year, or that he’s just three games back from a knee injury. Dirk is a habitual Thunder killer and OKC has rarely, if ever, found an answer for him.
- Durant said Dirk missed a lot of good looks, which I can’t argue with. Brooks agreed, but I liked the coach’s quote: “We finally found out that he was human.”
