Thunder 83, Clippers 79
While you were cozily tucked in late Wednesday, perhaps uninterested in staying up past midnight to watch the Thunder take on the Blake Griffin-less Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Durant was busy delivering his breakthrough performance in Game No. 8 of what many consider the season that will be his coming out party.
Durant dominated the Clippers in every respect before the final buzzer sounded on the Thunder’s 83-79 win, undoubtedly assembling his best and most complete outing of his two-plus years.
On this night, Durant arrived, his coronation unfortunately coming courtesy of L.A.’s forgotten team, which had only a generously-announced 14,248 spectators sprinkled throughout Staples Center as witnesses.
Statistically, Durant has had more impressive showings. His line Wednesday — 30 points, 10 rebounds and four assists — won’t wow you because it’s what we’ve come to expect of Durant. On numbers alone, this wasn’t even Durant’s best night in Staples Center. He poured in career-highs of 46 points and 15 rebounds against the Clippers last January, getting to the foul line 26 times and swishing 24 freebies. Both the attempts and the makes from the stripe stand as franchise records.
But this game wasn’t about numbers. It was about winning, which the Thunder failed to do against a short-handed Clippers team last winter despite Durant’s career night. It was about the mega-talented Durant, maybe for the first time, coming to the realization that he is capable of doing whatever he needs to do on the court to lead his teammates to victory.
Durant hunkered down on defense, playing the passing lanes and pestering his man to come up with steals and deflections. Durant played point forward offensively, controlling the ball and the pace of the Thunder’s offense throughout much of his 36 minutes, 22 seconds. He created for himself and others, refusing to settle but rather weaving his way into the lane for easy baskets or showing off an improved mid-range game with pull-up jumpers. Durant’s first 3-point attempt didn’t come until the opening seconds of the second quarter.
And this time, on a play that illustrated everything he did right offensively, Durant netted the big shot.
The Thunder took a 78-71 lead with 5:43 left to play but scored just one point over the next five minutes as the Clippers crept back to tie the score at 79-all. Thunder coach Scott Brooks then ran an isolation for Durant on the left wing. With Al Thornton defending closely, Durant drove left with two dribbles before reaching the baseline. He stopped and hit a step-back jumper over Thornton with 38.9 seconds remaining.
“That’s what I do,” Durant said. “That’s what I’m here for is to make big plays, miss or make.”
It wasn’t the make that stood out. It was the decision-making.
Equally impressive, although it will be overshadowed, was the play in which Durant didn’t take the shot. It came on a sequence that saw the Thunder aiming to milk the final 27.3 seconds off the game clock with the shot clock showing a 4.3-second differential. With all eyes on Durant as he stood near halfcourt, much like he did against the Lakers before settling for a 28-footer, Durant jabbed right took one dribble left and passed to a wide open Jeff Green after Marcus Camby helped. Green swung it to Kevin Ollie in the left corner. Ollie missed a 3-point attempt but retrieved the rebound and iced the game with a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining.
“We’ve definitely made some strides,” said Nick Collison. “I think we’re just starting to learn how to play. What I like is we have a lot of guys just concerned with winning and making winning plays.”
Durant did both Wednesday and assumed his rightful place at the front of the line on a night that you might have viewed simply as Game No. 8 of his third season.
Etan Thomas Has A Lot On His Mind
On Sunday, Mike Baldwin wrote about how Thunder center Etan Thomas is, ‘More than just an athlete.”
A day later, Thomas’ first blog for HoopsHype.com was published and the entry, “My 12 questions,” touches on everything from the NBA’s age limit, to its dress code, to negativity in the media, to the H1N1 vaccine.
Thomas also tackles issues regarding Rush Limbaugh, George Bush, Donald Sterling and what he views as questionable language used throughout the NBA that has overtones of slavery.
“Why does the NBA, an almost 80 percent African-American league, constantly (use) terms that reference slavery? Why are the CEO’s of the teams called owners? why do they use the term “property” of a certain team when referring to a player’s employment? Why is the term trading block utilized? Why all the references to slavery, and why hasn’t anyone up until this point objected to this?”
Thomas, perhaps more than any other current NBA player, has been praised for being an athlete who is unafraid to speak his mind. I’m not sure if his HoopsHype.com blog will be a recurring column. But, love his opinions or hate them, he’ll certainly find some avenue for being heard.
-DM-
Thunder 102, Orlando 74
The stat of the night?
Three Thunder players with at least five assists.
Russell Westbrook had a game-high 10. Kevin Durant and James Harden had five apiece.
Ball movement was the name of the game Sunday against Orlando and the key to the Thunder’s 102-74 victory inside the Ford Center. Oklahoma City had 27 assists on 40 made baskets and 14 assists on their first 17 made field goals.
This, just three games after the Thunder recorded only six assists in a nine-point loss to Portland.
“We played as good as we could possibly play,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “We did a good job of playing 48 minutes of team basketball. It was probably our best ball-moving game.”
Through spacing the floor and sharing the basketball, the team’s most critical offensive principles, the Thunder got high-percentage looks and broke out of an early season scoring slump.
Sunday’s point total tied the Thunder’s season-high, set on opening night against Sacramento. The Thunder’s 57.1 percent shooting from the field and 56.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line were season-highs. So were the 27 total assists.
“We were making our shots, but we were making our shots because we were passing the basketball,” Brooks said. “We had 27 assists. That’s great basketball. We had some bad offensive basketball when we had six assists the other night and 15 a couple of games later. We have to move the ball. We have to keep everybody involved. Five guys need to feel a part of it because that’s what it’s going to take on both ends of the floor.”
At halftime, Brooks showed his team film of the exceptional ball movement. Through the first 24 minutes the Thunder had 15 assists on 21 made baskets. OKC had just four turnovers. It led to a 53-44 advantage at the break.
“It’s a lot easier,” said Harden about the offense when the ball moves. “It’s a lot of us who can score, who can put the ball in the basket and make plays for other people. Everyone did it tonight.”
Blazers 83, Thunder 74
This is what it looks like when you’re a team filled with jump shooters. When there isn’t a low-post scoring option in sight and the shots that usually go down do everything but drop through the net.
You knew the problem would rear its ugly head at some point. You just didn’t expect it to be game three. Especially not after the Thunder’s performances in games one and two.
The Thunder shot 34.3 percent in its 83-74 loss to Portland on Sunday night. Oklahoma City missed 11 of 14 3-pointers and couldn’t even hit the freebies, going 23 of 32 from the line.
The shooting woes led to just six assists.
“Offensively, it was probably as bad as we could possibly play,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks.
Kevin Durant was 3-for-21 and is now 21-for-64 through three games. That’s 32.8 percent.
Sunday’s shot selection was particularly alarming. Alarming because Durant continued to settle for jumpers. Good looks, no doubt, but not as good as layups. Alarming because this, his third season, is the one he was supposed to come back with an even more refined game. But he looked like strictly a jump shooter Sunday. There were occasions when he manufactured points and attempted to take it to the rack. His 14 free throw attempts were a good indicator that it wasn’t all long-range heaves.
But he could have done better, should have done better.
“Great players have their off shooting nights, and I guess tonight was his,” said Jeff Green. “He will bounce back next game and have a terrific game.”
Thunder 91, Pistons 83
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Last year, the Thunder took two steps back in games like this.
On the road. Bait for a team’s home opener. After a blowout home win.
It used to be the perfect storm. Friday night it was a piece of cake.
For a moment, though, it appeared as though not much had changed. The Thunder scored just 38 first-half points on 39.5 percent shooting. A talented Pistons squad that’s loaded with offensive weapons wasn’t having much trouble putting the ball in the basket in the first 24 minutes. And what we thought was a new and improved Russell Westbrook was regressing by the second, reverting to playing faster and turning over the ball at an alarming rate.
Even when the Thunder took a 10-point lead on two occasions in the fourth quarter, the outcome seemed in doubt. You might have reached ‘Here-we-go-again’ mode when the Pistons clawed within four with 4:27 remaining after surging to an 8-0 run.
But then it happened. The Thunder showed us this year would be different. Westbrook turned the tide when he hustled back instead of hanging his head after Ben Wallace blocked his layup. The Thunder’s point guard returned the rejection on Ben Gordon and helped the Thunder salvage it’s four-point lead. He made two free throws to push the lead to six. After Gordon netted one of two free throws, Westbrook found Nenad Krstic under the rim to bump the lead to seven.
And when Gordon split two more free throws, fundamental ball movement found Thabo Sefolosha in the corner for a 3-pointer that gave the Thunder a 84-75 lead with 2:03 remaining. The crowd filed up the Palace’s steps. The Pistons never got closer than five.
“This was one of our better wins since I’ve been here in terms of holding a team off and being able to get stops when we needed to in the fourth quarter,” said Nick Collison. “We never gave up that bad spurt where a team made a run on us. That’s something we struggled with in the past…It’s good to see in a tough game on the road that guys are still trying to do the right thing. A less experienced team like we were last year, those are the times guys kind of break away from the game plan and don’t make good decisions. But tonight, everybody played well.”
And the Thunder is 2-0.
Etan Thomas In The Gym
It’s been a long and hard road back to basketball for Etan Thomas, who underwent open heart surgery two years and two weeks ago. He missed the entire 2007-08 season following the operation. His 6-foot-10 inch, 260-pound frame lost 35 pounds during the recovery process. He struggled to put one foot in front of the other more than 10 times without exhaustion setting in while rehabbing.
People thought Thomas would never play another NBA game.
But Thomas, the former Tulsa Booker T. Washington standout, was determined to get back on the court. Doubters served as one of his driving forces. The acclaimed author and poet penned a song about misleading reports surrounding his heart condition. And he hit the gym. Hard. He made it back for the 2008-09 season but played in only 26 games after tearing his MCL in a game in mid-January. He spent this summer trying to come back from the latest setback, and cameras were around to capture footage of what his workouts were like.
-DM-
Kings 104, Thunder 89
Don’t think this game didn’t matter. Not for a second.
If for some reason you’re still under the impression that Thursday night’s 104-89 loss to the starless Kings was simply a throw-away game, the last of this exhibition season, carefully chew on Kevin Durant’s words.
“It always means something when we step on this floor,” he said. “We’re a young team. We want to get better every time we step on the floor. Tonight was a tough one. We took some steps back.”
Steps.
Plural.
This was the third straight loss by at least 15 points. The third straight time a team has drained at least 10 3-pointers. The third straight game the wanna-be-defensive-minded Thunder allowed 104 points or more. The third straight game in which the opponent has shot better than 50 percent from the field.
In no way is it time to panic. It’s certainly way too early for that. But while the outcome doesn’t matter in these tune-ups, the performances and the trends certainly serve as warning signs.
After seven preseason games, the Thunder has demonstrated an inability to put together 48 minutes of quality basketball. It’s the same flaw that plagued this bunch last season. Some of this preseason’s blunders can be attributed to odd lineups and funky rotations, to subs closing out games and philosophy taking precedence over the outcome. But mostly, the Thunder showed the same imperfections during times its main unit was on the floor and times when the team tried to successfully close out a game with a win.
Have we forgotten Phoenix’s 26-9 fourth quarter on Oct. 12 that erased a 20-point lead before the Thunder prevailed by five in overtime? Lose that game and this exhibition season goes from 2-5 to 1-6, from decent to disappointing.
“It’s definitely a concern in our minds because we want to change it,” said Shaun Livingston. “That’s not how we want to come out and start the season. I know that we are going to come out better opening night. We know we are better than that.”
The Scene At Shootaround
I’ve been MIA lately, I know. Had to focus my attention on this little nifty thing we do before every season called a special section. I got a little bogged down with that on top of the regular load. But it gives me great pleasure to say that weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and our Thunder special section will hit newsstands and your front porch or driveway this Sunday. So let’s get back into the swing of things here shall we?
TINKERING WITH THE ROTATION
Thunder coach Scott Brooks at this morning’s shootaround sounded like he is done throwing out funky lineups and wacky rotations. I expect Brooks to play what mostly will be his main rotation in tonight’s preseason finale against Sacramento. But Brooks said he and the coaching staff are still trying to figure out who fits best with each other while giving different players an opportunity to adjust to playing with different teammates.
“It’s good for our team,” Brooks said. “It’s good to build chemistry on the floor. You’re going to be put in a position where you have to play with different guys…You try to figure out what a guy does with different guys. The game is impacted by who you’re playing with.”
DEJA VU
Rarely in the NBA will a team open the regular season against the same team it ended the preseason against. But that’s the position the Thunder and Kings are in this year. Cleveland and Boston have also managed to pull the scheduling quirk.
Brooks, however, said tonight’s game shouldn’t have any bearing on Wednesday’s season opener. Because of exhaustive scouting departments, he said, NBA teams, don’t have anything left to hide.
“We know what they’re going to run and they know what we’re going to run,” Brooks said. “We have to do a great job of executing it and using effort in our execution.”
Brooks did say Wednesday’s packages will be different than tonight’s because he plans to implement more wrinkles in the final few days of practice before the two teams meet again. He called the next five days of practice “pretty important for us.”
A FRIEND TURNED FOE
Perhaps a more significant advantage than the Kings’ ability to pick up on the Thunder’s strategy early is the presence of former Thunder forward Desmond Mason on Sacramento’s roster. Brooks expects Mason to share secrets with his new teammates. All players do once they change teams. Mike Harris informed Jeff Green of Houston players’ tendencies at the scorer’s table just before tip-off Monday.
“One of the things our coaches do when we have guys that play with other teams is (go over) their personnel’s tendencies,” Brooks admitted. “I think it’s important to listen to the players. They know, they feel it, they see it on the court. They experience it. So you always tap into their knowledge. And I’m sure Sacramento is going to be no different. Desmond knows what Kevin Durant does and how he does it. The bottom line is it takes five guys to make an offense work and it takes the same five guys to make a defense work.”
Grizzlies 99, Thunder 91
MEMPHIS — I’ve got good news and bad news from Memphis. Which one do you want first?
Let’s start with the bad.
The Thunder lost 99-91 to the Grizzlies on Wednesday night the same way it dropped a good majority of its games last season — late-game turnovers, poor decision-making, porous defense and deer-in-the-headlights looks from players on offense down the stretch.
The good news is this was Game 1 of the preseason, and this time the unit that fell prey to the same mistakes we saw so many nights last season won’t all be on the floor when the games matter three weeks from tonight.
The Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 19-9 in the final 7 1/2 minutes. OKC had as many turnovers (four) as field goals in those final minutes. Memphis rookie Sam Young took over like he was still a man among boys at Pitt, scoring 15 of his game-high 22 points in the final period. He attempted 16 free throws, 10 in the fourth quarter.
But the result is secondary since two rookies (Byron Mullens and James Harden), two sophomores (Kyle Weaver and D.J. White) and three role players (Shaun Livingston, Etan Thomas and Ryan Bowen) were the only ones that played the fourth quarter.
The main guys looked good.
Russell Westbrook orchestrated the offense almost perfectly. He finished with a game-high 10 assists and could have had more had his buddies made more shots. Westbrook didn’t force anything all game and, as a result, turned the ball over only twice. And one was an illegal screen. Because he looked for his teammates all night, he only took four shots, missing them all and scoring just five points. But his development was on display. His leadership, too. He jumped off the bench in the first half after the Grizzlies had two consecutive run outs and yelled, “Somebody’s gotta get back!” In addition to that, he helped hold Mike Conley in check and didn’t let the speedy point guard cause problems by weaving his way into the lane all night. Westbrook’s overall performance was hands down the most encouraging thing about the opener. He’s answering the question of whether he’s ready to lead this team each time he steps on the floor in a competitive environment. It’s way too early to declare that he is. But the better question might soon become is he ready to be consistent as the leader?
Five Pressing Questions
Training camp is underway at Thunder headquarters and, frankly, we’ll see how long the optimism lasts now that the real work has started. National expectations continue to be high for the Thunder in 2009-10. But there are several questions about this team leading into the Oct. 28 opener against Sacramento. Answers will begin to crystallize over the next month and into the early portion of the season. But here are five burning questions the Thunder faces as training camp opens.
1) How much better can OKC get defensively?
It’s seemingly a foregone conclusion that the Thunder will pose problems offensively. With Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, James Harden and Nenad Krstic, Oklahoma City has ample scoring weapons. And so defense has been the name of the game entering this season. It’s what the organization wants to establish as its identity as a means toward long-term, championship-level success. But is there enough in the cupboard? Etan Thomas’ addition upgrades the interior defense, but the Thunder still doesn’t have a true anchor in the middle. The team’s perimeter players are long and athletic enough to give opponents’ fits, but today’s hand-checking rules allow perimeter players only so much room for lock down D. And without a last line of defense in the form of protection in the paint, baskets still could come too easily for opponents this season.
2) Is Russell Westbrook ready to lead?
From a statistical stand point, last year’s fourth overall pick put together one of the best seasons in NBA history for a rookie point guard, with averages of 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals. And somehow people still question if he’s the right guy to captain this team. In some ways it’s a fair question. Mostly, it’s ridiculous. The biggest area of improvement Westbrook must show this season is decision making. He played with increased patience and showed more maturity toward the end of last season and in summer league. That level of play is expected to carry over into 2009-10. Westbrook might never be the pass-first, set-up man that many want him to be. And that is probably a good thing. His offense is too valuable and he’s too explosive and versatile to be resigned to coming down the court and taking two dribbles before passing it off. But in year two, Westbrook will definitely need to make more sound decisions to take the next step as an elite young point guard.
3) Is Scott Brooks ready to lead?
Almost everything the interim head coach did last season was an upgrade from the moment he took over — from lineup changes to his rotation and substitution patterns to the team’s nightly effort. But, no disrespect to the job Brooks did, that’s not saying much. The Thunder had no choice but to play better after the coaching change was made. Brooks’ challenge now is to get his players to give that same effort for 82 games even if they grow sick of hearing the same voice. Naturally, as the head guy, Brooks also must take on more of a bad cop role and police his players more than he ever has. The players all support Brooks, which should make things easier on him in his first full season. But expectations are rapidly growing for a young Thunder team, and the young coach must prove he’s ready to blossom with his squad.
4) What will a full season of Nenad Krstic and Thabo Sefolosha mean?
The Thunder played its best ball last season after Sefolosha and Krstic came on board. But even in the second half of the season we never really got to see what both players could offer in the context of the team. The starting lineup of Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Green and Krstic played only 17 games last season. We know Sefolosha is the team’s best man defender and Krstic is the best offensive big. But how will those skills, when blended with the Thunder’s full arsenal of talent, impact Oklahoma City over the course of the year?
5) What’s the missing piece?
Talk to anyone around the league about the Thunder and you’re usually greeted with, “That’s a good young team with great talent, but they need a big man.” It’s the pink elephant in the organization. As training camp turns to the preseason and the preseason progresses to the regular season, we’ll find out just how big of a weakness that hole still is this season. I tend to think the team’s playoff possibilities would be much more realistic with a rebounding and shot-blocking presence like Andris Biedrins on the roster. Etan Thomas should help in the middle but is only a backup and is no longer a spring chicken. The other obvious problem area last season was perimeter shooting. And most players think rookie James Harden will help solve last year’s woes. But are those two additions alone enough to at least plug the hole enough in those areas to allow the Thunder to take the next step in 2009-10. And are there other issues that could arise?
-DM-
