Oklahoma City Thunder: Loss of composure in LA
Add another team to the Thunder’s do-not-wish-to-play-early-in-the-playoffs list: the Clippers. The Clips routed OKC 92-77 Monday night, a game in which the Thunder led until the fourth quarter and which was a 74-73 score with 71/2 minutes left.
The Thunder now is 1-3 vs. the Clippers this season, with two blowout losses. But unlike Memphis, which the Thunder would like to avoid because of matchup problems, OKC should seek to avoid the Clippers because of attitude problems. The Thunder seems to lose its composure against the Clippers.
Russell Westbrook reverted to his previous-season tendency to play macho ball when Chris Paul is on the court. Alas, it gets even worse. Westbrook did the same with Eric Bledsoe, CP3′s backup. We’ve seen this on occasion from Westbrook, who seemingly feeling that his manhood has been questioned, will try for futile steals and take ill-advised drives. It makes for horrible basketball and helps the Thunder get steamrolled.
But misery had company Monday night. Kevin Durant, too, got frustrated. A lack of fundamentals — taking care of the ball, not understanding situations, trying to make a point by making a play — led to empty possession after empty possession. Westbrook and Durant had five turnovers each. Paul seemed to get under Westbrook’s skin, and the goofy Nick Young seemed to get under Durant’s. The Thunder’s two all-stars combined to make 11 of 34 shots.
Eventually, the composure loss spread to defense, where in the fourth quarter Durant, trying to help out in the lane, let Young free for open shot after shot, and the penetrating Paul found Blake Griffin open for easy dunks down the stretch, when the Clips broke away.
Just an awful performance by the Thunder, which had scratched its way to a 52-43 halftime lead even though it had played none too well. Here’s how bad this game was: Serge Ibaka was the only highlight, with his 12 points and seven rebounds in the second quarter alone. Ibaka’s relentless offensive rebounding kept the Thunder ahead. But by game’s end, Ibaka had a game-worst minus-18 plus/minus — the Thunder were outscored by 18 points when Ibaka was on the court.
For whatever reason, the Thunder doesn’t play well against these former Oklahoma stars. Westbrook often seems to be trying to prove his worth against Paul, who spent two years in OKC as a Hornet. And the whole danged Thunder franchise has had a burr up its saddle about Griffin, the former OU star, even though Thunder loyalists long ago showed that it adores the lowliest Boomer — Lazar Hayward, Robert Reid — to an all-star native son.
All of which means the Thunder would be best-served to avoid the Clippers as long as possible. And presto, that wish might come true. In the current Western Conference standings, the Thunder has slipped to the No. 2 seed, which puts OKC on a bracket with Denver, the Lakers and Dallas. Meanwhile, San Antonio, Memphis and the Clippers are on the other side.
The Thunder could live with that. It’s still possible the Clippers could pass the Lakers for the No. 3 seed. Or the Thunder could pass the Spurs for No. 1. The two Laker-Spur games — Tuesday night and Friday night — will go a long way in determining those seeds.
But the No. 1 seed the Thunder has sought all season might not be as important as avoiding Memphis and the Clippers, two teams it has difficulty beating. The Thunder is 3-1 vs. Memphis this season, but all were close games. And being on the same side of the bracket as the Lakers doesn’t seem so daunting; OKC was built to beat the Lakers and appears to have the manpower to offset the Lakers’ size.
But that other team in Los Angeles has a hex on the Thunder. OKC loses its head against the Clippers. Its head, its composure and, quite often, the game.
Thunder 115, Timberwolves 110
Observations from the Thunder’s 115-110 victory over Minnesota at the Target Center on Saturday night:
- Good news for the Thunder: Minnesota has been mathematically eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs and can’t possibly be a No. 8 seed. In other words, OKC is done playing the Timberwolves this season. “That’s not good news, that’s great news,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said after Saturday night’s 115-110 victory at the Target Center. “That is good news,” OKC forward Kevin Durant echoed.
- Russell Westbrook had 16 points of his 35 points in the third quarter and Durant had 20 points of his 43 in the fourth quarter. Westbrook picked up the slack when Durant was on the bench with four fouls in the third period. When Durant re-entered at the start of the fourth quarter, Westbrook selflessly deferred to the two-time scoring champ. Further evidence these two stars work extremely well together. On rare occasions, they fail to click – like last Wednesday’s loss at home against the Clippers – but that was because their shots weren’t falling (a combined 10 for 35), not because they were selfish.
- Minnesota’s current list of shortcomings is astounding, particularly for a team that’s more good than bad. The Wolves have now lost nine straight and 10 of their last 11 games; they’ve lost 12 straight against the Thunder, when they could have easily won at least one-third of those game; they’ve also lost 25 straight games in April. Only two of Minnesota’s last dozen losses to OKC have been by double-digits, five have been by five points or less and two have come in overtime. The Wolves also have now lost 163 games due to injuries this season.
- To those still wondering why the Thunder is so high on center Kendrick Perkins: After the game, Perkins spent 10 minutes speaking one-on-one with forward Serge Ibaka. The exact conversation was unknown, other than Perkins repeatedly asked Ibaka if he understood where he was coming from, to which Ibaka repeatedly nodded. Perk appeared to be explaining to the 22-year-old Ibaka why things happened the way they happened in Saturday’s game. Perhaps Ibaka was troubled by how he was used in the rotation. He played 21½ minutes and finished with eight points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. At times, the Wolves were killing the Thunder with the pick-and-roll, which they probably ran 70-plus times. In the end, Perk again made sure Ibaka was OK and also asked Thabo Sefolosha to double-check on Ibaka. This is an example of what makes Perk valuable. Perk seems to care as much about his teammates –perhaps more — than he cares about himself.
- It’s amazing how effective Minnesota point guard J.J. Barea is at the pick-and-roll. Why Dallas let him go without a competitive contract offer still astounds me. He simply toys with OKC. Players on the Timberwolves’ bench were shaking their heads and smiling at how easily Barea scored 17 first-half points. Barea does what the great point guards do – he’s in a rush, but not in a hurry; and he constantly keeps his dribble alive – just like Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, et al. Barea is fantastic.
- Durant on Barea: “Barea is an unbelievable guy at pick-and-rolls and that’s what they did. It’s tough to stop, but I think Russell did a great job in the second half. Him a Fish (Derek Fisher) did a great job. Pick-and-roll is such a big part of his game and that’s all they ran. I think we responded well in the second half. Wish we could have played a little better, but we got the win.”
- Tough night for sixth man James Harden, who missed Friday night’s game with a sore right knee. Harden was a last-minute activation for the game. He shot 1 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 8 from 3-point range. Asked if he might have rushed Harden back too soon, Brooks said, “No, I don’t think so. A lot of those shots tonight were good looks, open looks I thought might fall.” Harden did not appear to limp in his 30½ minutes of playing time.
- It’s hard to find a nicer man than University of Minnesota coach Tubby Smith, who was on hand to watch Nazr Mohammed, who played for him at Kentucky. Smith, who previously coached at Tulsa, still speaks fondly of the experience and said he believes Danny Manning will do very well at the job.
- Brooks shakes his head at Minnesota’s 25-36 record. It’s upside-down because of a slew of injuries. “They’ve had some tough luck,” Brooks said. “They were right there in the mix (for the playoffs). They’re a good team. They’ve done a good job of laying a foundation.”
- Rumor is Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is resting his sore shin because he had a comfortable lead to win this year’s scoring title. I don’t believe that. Doesn’t sound like Bryant, an egomaniac who prefers to settle things on the court. Durant erupted for 43 points Saturday. If Bryant (28.1 ppg) sits the remainder of the regular season, Durant (27.8) would have to average 30.7 points in the final six games to win his third straight scoring title. That’s certainly doable.
- Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins, is located next to the Target Center, the longtime home of the Timberwolves. The Twins lost 6-2 at home to the Texas Rangers on Saturday afternoon and fans stayed in the neighborhood for some post-game beverages prior to a sellout crowd of almost 20,000 arriving for the Wolves. After the Thunder-Minnesota game, the area was packed with a younger crowd going to numerous night clubs. A very cool setting. Major-league facilities located side-by-side have always fascinated me.
- Next up for the Thunder: A day off Sunday, followed by a 9:30 p.m. game at the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
Thunder 115, Kings 89
Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s win over the Kings.
- Russell Westbrook’s monster dunk late in the second quarter. Was it the best in Thunder history? I say so. Kevin Durant agrees. The Thunder has had a lot of highlight-reel dunks over the (four) years, but this one has to be at the top of the list.
- It didn’t matter that Westbrook’s dunk didn’t come on someone, like Durant’s over Brendan Haywood, or Durant’s on Roy Hibbert, or James Harden’s on J.J. Hickson, or even Westbrook’s on Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers. What made Westbrook’s dunk tonight so great was three things: 1) how incredibly high he got, 2) how incredibly bad the pass from KD was and 3) the fact that Westbrook is, you know, a 6-3 point guard!
- I’m just going to copy and past what KD said of Westbrook’s flush. “I don’t want to give him too much credit. It was a great pass by myself (laughs),” Durant joked. “Nah, but that was one of the most athletic plays I’ve ever seen. I think it was probably the dunk of the year. But Blake Griffin has had a lot of those. But for a 6-3 point guard to be catching lobs like that, man, that was unreal.”
- Durant on what he thought when he let go of the pass: “I thought it was too short. I thought it was going to get tipped. But he turned a terrible pass into a great finish. That’s what he’s been doing for us all year. That was unreal.”
- KD on where the dunk ranks in Thunder history: “He had a few of them. He dunked on Battier. Battier was crucial. His first year when he dunked on Chalmers. And the one where he dunked off the backboard over (Marco) Belinelli was crazy. He’s had plenty of highlights. But this one was unreal because of how high he jumped and how much he cocked it back. At 6-3, I’ve never seen nothing like that. Nah. That was probably the best, his right there because he’s 6-3, man, and he dunked that like he was my height. It was a terrible pass and he cocked it all the way back, man. That was crazy.”
- If you don’t care about the dunk, are one of those basketball “purists” who roll your eyes and consider it just two points and you want me to move on, you’ve come to the wrong place. The NBA is in the entertainment business, and plays like the one you saw tonight are the reason folks pay what they pay to see these games. There might not be 100 people in the world who can do what Westbrook did tonight. Not only is it a big deal, but it was by far the most interesting thing to happen in this contest.
- And I’d actually disagree with anyone who says plays like Westbrook’s monster dunk is worth just two points. They’re momentum-changers. They get players hype. They get teams going. And they fuel crowds. Harden admitted as much a few days ago during an interview session prior to the Clippers game. Generally, highlight plays like those are followed by a run of some kind. It’s no coincidence, at least in my book, that the Thunder closed the half on a 9-2 run after Westbrook’s dunk. (more…)
Clippers 100, Thunder 98
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers.
- The Clippers are so lucky to have Chris Paul. The guy is just a winner. He’s fearless, he’s clutch, he’s calm under pressure and he’s virtually unstoppable. Take his game-winning layup, for example. The Thunder defended it fairly well from the start, sending its two best defenders, Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins at him at the top of the key to trap an upcoming ball screen. Paul wisely and coolly audibled out of the 1-4 ball screen with Blake Griffin and into a 1-5 ball screen with Kenyon Martin. The goal was to try to make Perk retreat and get a more favorable matchup with Serge Ibaka on the perimeter. But the Thunder didn’t bite. Perk stayed and, unfazed, Paul adjusted. Paul simply called his own number and jetted to the basket for the biggest bucket of the night. He orchestrated it all from the start and made it look simple from the start.
- The one complaint, or maybe more of a question, I’d have on the final defensive possession by the Thunder is where was the help? When Paul scooted past Perk, the help defense was so late in sliding over that it was nonexistent. Russell Westbrook ended up with a foot in the paint, but it was much too late. The dilemma Westbrook had was leave his man and get burned for 3, or stay and give Paul a layup. I’m obviously working with the benefit of hindsight, but clearly Westbrook should have taken his chances leaving his man earlier. You’ve got to make Paul pass out to the perimeter for a lower percentage shot.
- Paul’s game-winner was the culmination of his volcanic eruption in the second half. The guy was amazing. Just when you think he’s down for the count, he rises and delivers a haymaker of his own. After a dismal seven-point first half on 3-of-9 shooting, he made 8-of-11 shot for 24 points in the second half.
- Said James Harden about the Thunder’s defense on CP in the second half: “We just got lazy in the second half. We didn’t come out with that aggression like we did in the first half to really control him and he took advantage of it.”
- Said Thunder coach Scott Brooks about OKC’s D on CP in the second half: “We didn’t do a good job of taking the ball out of his hands. And he was making some shots. That’s what Chris does. He’s always been a terrific second half player. And in the fourth quarters, you know you’re going to have to play your best basketball to stop him from scoring. He had a great game.”
- I thought Westbrook and Derek Fisher actually did an incredible job against Paul in the first half. Both pressed up and cut off Paul’s passing options to cutters out of the pick-and-roll while forcing him into tough, contested shots.
- Did Brooks out-think himself? Thabo Sefolosha switched onto Paul in the third quarter and, surprisingly, he didn’t do half as well as Westbrook did. Maybe it was Thabo who made the call. I don’t know. But perhaps the Thunder should have stuck with Westbrook. Westbrook had his chances in the second half, but by the time he switched back onto Paul it was too late. He was hot and had found his rhythm. And there was nothing Westbrook or anyone else could do.
- Kevin Durant was nearly the player of the game despite a horrendous 22-point performance on 7-of-21 shooting. He came up with a huge blocked shot on Martin with 43 seconds remaining and hit the game-tying 3 at the other with 32.2 seconds to play. He was 6-of-19 before that game-tying 3-ball dropped. So, needless to say, gutsy shot.
- Then KD settled, like he’s done in the past, and hoisted a 25-footer looking to win the game. It was as poor of a decision as we’ve seen from Durant this season. He easily could have forced the action and drove to the basket in search of a better look or a foul. But he let it fly and that was that.
- KD on what he saw on the final miss: “He was playing off me a little bit and it got clogged up. I didn’t want to risk a turnover so I shot it.”
- Hey, KD, next time risk a turnover. (more…)
Is Blake Griffin Now A Villain?
If in any way Blake Griffin has become a villain, that bit of news has been slow to reach the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Come on, man,” said a laughing Kevin Durant. “Blake Griffin, a villain? I ain’t heard that before.”
Regardless of title, Griffin has become an increasingly polarizing star because of his penchant for emotional reactions that border on taunting following highlight plays. In less than two full seasons, Griffin has become notorious for staring down his victims as he chews on his mouthpiece while backpedaling on defense.
“He really doesn’t do anything too crazy against us,” Durant said.
Durant then added that Griffin is entitled to show his emotion however he sees fit.
“He gets excited,” Durant said. “Everybody gets excited after a big-time dunk. Not everybody can dunk like he can. But if I was jumping like that I’d get excited, too, and be mugging people and screaming and doing all that nonsense.”
Durant also said he doesn’t have a problem with it.
“Nah, that’s part of the game, man,” Durant said. “Emotions.”
Griffin has come under fire of late for his post-dunk celebrations, with Sacramento Kings bruiser DeMarcus Cousins and Lakers forward Matt Barnes among a handful who have recently called out the reigning Rookie of the Year out of OU.
Before the Thunder took the court against Griffin and the Clippers on Wednesday night, Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks joined Durant in shooting down the notion that Griffin is carrying himself wrongly in any kind of way.
“He plays hard,” Brooks said. “I wish he would carry himself differently and not play hard.”
Brooks said he likes how Griffin plays and isn’t sure why some have labeled him a villain.
“That guy, he plays the right way. He plays hard every night,” Brooks said. “I think the thing that he does is he brings athleticism and force every time down court. Maybe people see that as a villain. But I don’t see how you can think of him as a villain. I see him as a tough player that’s hard to guard.”
Brooks also said he hasn’t noticed Griffin talking trash on the court.
“I’ve never heard him,” Brooks said. “I look at him as a quiet guy. With his play, it seems like he would be more vocal and trash talking. But I don’t see it. I mean, all the dunks that he does and the dunks on people, when you do that on the playground there’s trash talking every time down court. But he’s never done that with us.”
As for Griffin’s stare down?
“That doesn’t bother me,” Brooks said. “The stare downs in his commercials to me is funny. I love that part of his stare down, when he’s driving the car and he looks at you.
“I think if you play hard that is more important than anything. And he plays hard. Does he stare down at times? Everybody does. When you hit 3s, people look at you (like) ‘You’re going to let me keep shooting? But he does a lot of incredible things that on a playground you would see trash talking. But I don’t see that in games.”
-DM-
Thunder 91, Raptors 75
Nuggets from my notebook from Sunday’s win over the Raptors
- You knew this one was going to be a blowout. It was only a matter of how it would take shape and at what point it would get out of hand.
- The first turning point came early. The bench unit turned a 25-20 lead at the start of the second quarter into a 13-point lead midway through the period. That five-minute stretch pretty much won the game. Although they gave it a good fight, the Raptors simply didn’t have enough horses to keep up with the Thunder.
- The stretch that put it away came when the Thunder finally decided to wake up and win this thing late in the third quarter. Toronto pulled within 58-55, and the Thunder just turned it on and ran away, ending the quarter on a 12-0 run before opening the third with another 12 straight. That’s 24 unanswered for you mathematically-challenged. It put the Thunder up 82-55 with 9 1/2 minutes left to play. Ballgame.
- The Raptors went 8 minutes, 56 seconds without scoring during that run.
- The Thunder did a really good job of spreading the court and executing the drive-and-kick game to blow open the game. OKC started hitting shots and really picked up its defense, too. That mix was too much for Toronto.
- The ball movement was really working during the run. The Thunder had five assists in that spurt and did a great job of getting contributions from everyone. James Harden led the way with eight points, Daequan Cook and Kevin Durant scored five apiece, Nick Collison had four points and Russell Westbrook scored two.
- Both teams were awful offensively aside from that one Thunder flurry. For much of the game, both the Thunder and Raptors were shooting below 40 percent. The Thunder ended up at 45.5 percent. The Raptors finished at 37.5 percent.
- Because of the below average offense, the most interesting thing in this one for about 2 1/2 quarters was the triple-double watch Westbrook had us on. He came out doing a great job of facilitating early, setting up Serge Ibaka for baseline jumpers and getting Kendrick Perkins an easy layup all within the first five minutes. And when you see Westbrook passing like that early, you know a triple-double is well within his grasp. Unfortunately, after scoring 11 points with six boards and six assists by halftime, Westbrook got just four more points the rest of the way without another rebound or assist. It was an up and down game for him overall, because of turnovers, a few bad passes and a few questionable shots. But he was great managing the game early.
- Thabo Sefolosha was the only Thunder starter to play in the fourth quarter. That’s been a great way for the Thunder to get rest this season, because Scott Brooks said he doesn’t plan on sitting his guys down the stretch.
- The three-game skid is over.
- Nick Collison on how crazy the NBA can be: “Four games ago we were playing our best basketball. And then we lose three straight.”
- Oh yeah, Denver’s loss at Golden State on Saturday night wrapped up the Northwest Division title for the Thunder. It’s the second straight division title for OKC. Expect another banner to be unveiled soon. (more…)
Pacers 103, Thunder 98
Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s loss at Indiana.
- The Thunder is no longer in first place. This loss, coupled with San Antonio’s win over New Orleans, dropped the Thunder to second. And unless the Spurs start resting players down the stretch, which is a likely scenario, the Thunder might not be able to regain home-court advantage through the Western Conference Had a good time. Hope you did too. Finals.
- This is the first three-game losing streak of the season. Obviously, it comes at a terrible time.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on the skid: “We knew going into these last number of games that we were going to have to play well to get some wins. Our guys are going to bounce back. That’s how they are.”
- Brooks then said what his team has to do better. Brace yourselves: “We just got to play better. We got to start the game better. We got to play every possession better. We got to end quarters better. We got to come out in the second half better.”
- The bad start is exactly what cost the Thunder tonight. OKC got down 32-20 after the first quarter and trailed by 15 at halftime. All the momentum was with the Pacers after that, and their lead eventually grew to 24 midway through the third. The chances of coming back from that were slim.
- I give the game ball to two players. Tyler Hansbrough and Lou Amundson. They completely changed the game with their defense. They defend the ball screen extremely well and completely shut off the Thunder’s ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. Surprisingly, Hansbrough and Amundson had no problem staying with Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Derek Fisher when forced to switch onto them late in the first quarter and early in the second. Those two shut down the Thunder’s first option and, really, OKC never countered with a second option. It threw the Thunder’s offense entirely out of whack and allowed the Pacers to go on a big run, which was actually 11-2 to end the first quarter.
- When the bigs were having so much success defending the pick-and-roll, it was clear that Brooks should have gone small. The downside obviously would have been exposing the team to getting bullied on the inside. But the Thunder had no choice. Instead, Brooks stayed with his traditional units for far too long and it resulted in a 24-point deficit at one point.
- As soon as Brooks went small, going with Westbrook, Fisher, Harden, Kevin Durant and Kendrick Perkins with 5:39 left in the third, the Thunder responded with a 9-0 run. The defensive intensity got kicked up a notch, with the quicker players flying to the balls and using their quick hands to get steals and deflections, and that led to transition opportunities — something the Thunder didn’t have going since early in the opening quarter. Brooks wisely stuck with that lineup the rest of the way and gave the Thunder a chance to win.
- Would have liked to see Daequan Cook get the nod over Fisher during at least a portion of that small ball stretch. At least start with D.C., and if he’s not hitting his shot then go to Fish. But to automatically resort to Fish…meh.
- Speaking of, it’s safe to say that Fish has taken Cook’s minutes. End of story. Cook’s just getting token time now, just enough to spell KD for a brief time. The reality is that, with Fish in the fold, Brooks has reverted to a nine-man rotation.
- OKC fought hard to get back in it but couldn’t get closer than 10 when it really mattered. On seven, count ‘em, seven, occasions, the Thunder got within 10 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t cut it to single digits. When the Thunder finally did, getting a fast break layup from Westbrook, it was just 1:41 remaining. (more…)
Heat Players Call Out Kendrick Perkins
Here we go again.
After a physical and, at times, hostile battle Wednesday between the Thunder and Heat, emotions spilled over into Thursday and Miami players still had not gotten over a couple of hard fouls Oklahoma City players delivered to its two biggest stars.
Heat forward Udonis Haslem upped the ante, however, when he appeared on a Miami radio show Thursday morning and called out Kendrick Perkins, whose second-quarter foul on Dwyane Wade sent the All-Star to the floor and resulted in Perk’s 12th technical foul this season.
Via the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
I think sometimes people just use the TVs and the cameras and the crowd, you know, to put on a show,” Haslem said of Perkins. “I don’t think he’s all that he shows out there on the court. I think anybody can be a tough guy with a thousand people watching on TV and referees who call fouls and stop the game and different things like that. I don’t see him being any tough guy that he puts on the show to be, at all.”
Haslem continued.
If we were playing at the park, I don’t think he’d be doing all that.”
Haslem was one of several Heat players who took exception to Perkins’ foul on Wade, as well as Russell Westbrook grabbing LeBron James by the shoulder minutes later to prevent a breakaway dunk. Westbrook was called for a Flagrant 1 on the play. Immediately after Westbrook’s foul, Haslem could be seen jawing at Kevin Durant from the bench, and Heat reserve Juwan Howard entered into the verbal fray as well.
Haslem explained part of the jawing Thursday, and again brought it back to Perkins.
I voiced my opinion a little bit. Not entitled to say what I said last night, but I got a little bit off my chest. Where I’m from, all the talking and playing like that, if some point it comes to a situation where you’ve got to back it up, he’s never had to back it up, because obviously referees always step in.”
Wade also addressed the physicality following Wednesday’s game.
“We’re not fake tough guys, we’re not TV thugs. We go out and play basketball. When it’s time to get into the fight, we have a lot of guys who can get into it.”
The Thunder had an optional practice session Thursday in Indianapolis, and players weren’t available to the media.
But this marks the fifth time in the past three seasons that tempers have flared between the Thunder and Heat.
Two years ago, Westbrook got into a small skirmish with then-Heat center Jermaine O’Neal during an early-season game at Miami. Last year, Durant called Heat forward Chris Bosh a “fake tough guy” to the media after the two exchanged words during a game in Oklahoma City. In early February, James drew the ire of Perkins for tweeting about Blake Griffin’s highlight dunk against him. Perkins ripped James for constantly seeking attention and the world’s approval rather than playing to win a championship like other great players of yesterday and today. And on March 25 in Oklahoma City, Perkins swung his leg following a dunk and kicked Wade in the face (pictured above), prompting a lengthy stare down by Wade.
Heat 98, Thunder 93
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday’s loss at Miami.
- LeBron James just got my MVP vote. Kevin Durant is second. It’s not just about tonight, although it certainly played a part. But the guy has been phenomenal. He hit a rough stretch recently but so does everybody. What he did tonight — after rolling his ankle early in the first quarter, mind you — is what MVPs do. He put his team on his back, did everything he had to do, when he had to do it, and turned his mediocre performance ten days earlier in Oklahoma City into a distant memory.
- Not to mention James’ defense on Durant. Sure, KD had a team-high 30 on a pretty efficient 11-of-21 shooting, but it was the most difficult and uncomfortable 30-point performance I’ve ever seen Durant have. There were times when Durant couldn’t get open, couldn’t post-up, couldn’t seal for an entry pass and couldn’t even put the ball on the floor and go into a move because James was so airtight. Largely because of James, Durant finished with a career-high nine turnovers and never really got into a rhythm as crazy as that sounds after a 30-point night.
- James has replaced Kobe Bryant as the star who gets the most phantom calls from the refs. Period.
- Durant had nine turnovers. The rest of the team had 11.
- Said KD of his turnovers: “A few of them, I threw a soft pass. I should have been stronger with the pass. And a few of them just didn’t go my way.”
- In fairness to Durant, a few of his turnovers should have been on Serge Ibaka and Nazr Mohammed for failing to catch passes.
- Way too many mental lapses in this game for the Thunder. It started on the opening possession, when Russell Westbrook went over a screen to chase Mario Chalmers and there was no help in sight to prevent Chalmers from knocking down a wide open jumper. Thabo Sefolosha got called for a five-second violation while trying to inbound the ball. And the Thunder let James and Dwyane Wade leak out far too easily throughout the night. Those types of errors weren’t seen 10 days ago in OKC.
- Amazingly, the Thunder held the Heat to 37 percent shooting and still couldn’t come out with a win. The reason: Miami’s 3-point shooting (10 of 24) and the Heat’s foul shooting (26 of 29). (more…)
Durant, Westbrook Respond To Bayless
Kevin Durant has fired back.
And rather than taking sides with the television talking head who has had his back, Durant chose to ride with his teammate, defending Russell Westbrook from what has become daily criticism by ESPN First Take’s Skip Bayless.
“That guy doesn’t know a thing about basketball,” Durant said of Bayless before the Thunder faced Memphis on Monday night.
Bayless, a longtime sports journalist who hails from Oklahoma City, refers to himself as a Thunder fan but habitually blasts Westbrook for being a shoot-first point guard and taking more shots than Durant, the reigning two-time scoring champ.
Going into Monday’s game, Westbrook was within three shots of Durant’s number of attempts this season.
But the Thunder is 20-4 when Westbrook takes more shots than Durant, and Oklahoma City has won by an average margin of 12.4 points in those victories.
“We’re worse when I take more shots,” Durant said. “Like I said, that guy doesn’t know a thing. I don’t think he watches us. I think he just looks at the stats. And traditionally, a point guard is not supposed to take more shots than everybody else on the team. But we’re better when he does do that and he’s aggressive. And I’m better when I’m out there facilitating, rebounding, defending and being more efficient on my shots with less shots.”
Both Durant and Westbrook are in the middle of the most efficient seasons of their careers. Durant is shooting a career-high 50.4 percent, while Westbrook has connected on a career-high 47.7 percent of his shots. Durant’s 27.7-point average ranks second behind Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, while Westbrook’s 24.5-point average is fifth behind Bryant, Durant, Minnesota forward Kevin Love and Miami forward LeBron James.
“Skip Bayless, he’s just a funny character, man,” Durant said.
In early December, Durant also took exception to criticism from one of the debate-style show’s panelist, former NFL player Hugh Douglas. Douglas ripped James for an end zone celebration James performed during a flag football game with Durant. Durant posted a series of messages calling out Douglas and questioning his expertise. It prompted another of the show’s prominent panelist, Stephen A. Smith, to invite Durant to the “debate desk” to face any of his desired panelists any time he wanted.
Durant told Smith on Twitter then, and reiterated on Monday, that he wouldn’t be opposed to accepting the show’s invitation.
“No doubt,” Durant said. “I’ll stick up for all my guys, especially against a guy that I have never seen at an NBA game before. It just starts to get sickening when you hear somebody talk about your teammate like that almost every day. So I’ll stick up for him every single day.”
With Bayless blasting Westbrook with heavy criticism dating to last year’s playoffs, Durant admitted that he was waiting for someone to ask his opinion about the sports commentator.
“Russell’s having a phenomenal season,” Durant said. “I get upset when people kind of overlook that because of me needing more shots or stuff like that. He’s having the best point guard in the league type of year. We’re winning games and the other stuff doesn’t matter.”
Durant added that the non-stop criticism actually has pulled the entire team closer together.
“Because people from the outside don’t really have a (feel) on what goes on in the locker room or how we go about every single day,” Durant said. “Guys focus on the guys here in the locker room and the coaches and trainers and everybody here in this organization. All we focus on is each other and we can’t worry about what outside people say because what I’ve learned is people are going to like you and people are going to hate you.”
Westbrook, meanwhile, took the criticism in stride. He said he doesn’t watch ESPN First Take but said he has definitely heard the backlash.
“I don’t really have no thoughts,” Westbrook said when asked about Bayless. “That’s his job. He’s supposed to do that. He finds somebody that he wants to talk about and that’s what he does. He (doesn’t) play so he don’t know. That’s how I look at it. I really don’t care. Nobody says that honestly. But when it comes to him, he doesn’t play. He hasn’t played in the NBA. So he wouldn’t know what’s going on at all.
“I just let my play speak for itself, honestly. As a team we’re doing great. We’re (nearly) tied for the best record in the league. So I’ll just take the good with the bad and I guess just go with it. I don’t really mind it.”
Westbrook went on to say that he has never talked with Durant about shot attempts.
“That’s not an issue on our team,” Westbrook said. “That’s an issue in the media, but it’s not an issue on our team. So if it’s not an issue on our team I can care less.”
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