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 109, Bucks 89
Nuggets from my notebook from Monday’s win at Milwaukee.
- Didn’t see that coming.
- The Thunder won this game with its size. Milwaukee had no answer for the Thunder’s size and length. It was clear on the opening possession, when OKC got two offensive rebounds before Kendrick Perkins scored on a putback. The Thunder had four offensive rebounds in the first five minutes and just pounded the Bucks on the boards all night.
- The Thunder’s length also was a major factor on the defensive end. Serge Ibaka helped set the tone on that end by blocking shots early and often and against almost everyone. Ibaka had four blocks in the first quarter and had five at halftime. All five were against five different players. By the midway point of the second period, the Bucks had begun unnecessarily hesitating on shots, seemingly out of fear of them getting sent back.
- Buck coach Scott Skiles knew his team was outmatched in the size department before the game even began. Said Skiles in pre-game: “When we go out for the jump ball tonight, Durant is going to walk out there as their 3-man and he’s going to look our center in the eye. He’s just as tall as our center. He’s actually taller than our center.”
- The best thing about the early defense was that it led to run-out opportunities. The Thunder was turning everything, missed shots, blocked shots and turnovers into transition chances. The Bucks weren’t ready for that speed and intensity.
- Perk and Ibaka really deserve a ton of credit for the job they did of establishing themselves early on. They scored on putbacks and dump-offs, hit the glass hard and blocked shots to seal the paint. Their efforts helped the Thunder get out to a 13-point lead midway through the first period. It was no looking back from there.
- Not only did the Thunder never trail in this game, but OKC never relinquished its double-digit lead after going up 20-10 with 6:34 left in the first quarter. The first Phoenix game at home is the only other game that comes to mind this season where the Thunder was that dominant for that long.
- The Thunder’s 35 points in the first quarter tied a season high. OKC also had 35 against Boston on Feb. 22.
- There were two critical moments in the third quarter that sealed it for the Thunder. The first came when the Bucks strung together a little 10-4 run to cut a 16-point deficit to 69-59 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the period. Out of a timeout, Russell Westbrook fumbled the ball while driving to the rim and turned it over. But Thabo Sefolosha intercepted a sloppy outlet pass by Drew Gooden and the Thunder scored seven straight to go back up by 17. The second moment came when the Bucks responded with a 7-0 run of their own to get back within 10 at 76-66. Westbrook made a jumper to bump the lead to 12. And then Scott Skiles and Brandon Jennings both decided they wanted technical fouls. They just gave away two points to stunt their own rally. Dumb, dumb decision. It sparked another 7-0 run (11-0 in total) to put OKC up 21. Ballgame.
- Milwaukee essentially imploded tonight. The Bucks probably weren’t ever going to storm back and win it. But they certainly did everything they could to prevent that from even being possible. Those two technical fouls on Skiles and Jennings, coupled with another two in about a four-minute span on Larry Sanders really spelled the end for the Bucks.
- Sanders got ejected after picking up his second technical foul for throwing an elbow in the general vicinity of Nick Collison’s teeth. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets suspended, although he didn’t appear to make contact. (I didn’t have a good look at it.) Funny how the Bucks game night staff cued up the replay and then shut it off just before playing it on the jumbotron.
- The five technical fouls the Bucks got called for tonight were the most they’ve had since Dec. 31, 2001.
- Jennings on his team’s emotion: “I think when you’re playing hard in the second half and things aren’t going your way, you tend to get frustrated.”
- Jennings looked terrified of going against Westbrook tonight. I’ve never seen the guy play as timidly as he did in the first half. Westbrook began to get careless with Jennings in the second half, and it clearly fueled the Bucks guard to a better performance in the final 24 minutes. But in the opening half, looked like he was playing scared.
- Here’s all you needed to know about Jennings in that first half. His first shot didn’t come until five minutes had passed in the second quarter. We’re talking about a cat that never met a shot he didn’t like. Yet, he was ultra passive on offense tonight and just had a defeated look on defense.
- Ibaka called Sefolosha the MVP of this one. Hard to argue that. I don’t think anybody would have thought Sefolosha would outscore Monta Ellis. But he did, 14-9. And Sefolosha helped hold Ellis to 3-of-12 shooting.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on Sefolosha: “Thabo was all over. He basically was like a one-man wrecking crew. He caused havoc on the entire defensive end of the floor.”
- Sefolosha recorded a career-high seven steals tonight. “I was just reading a little bit what they do,” Sefolosha explained. “Just anticipating a little bit more what they were going to do. I know I was playing against a guy that can get it going, but he wasn’t really shooting the ball well tonight so it allowed me to get off of him a little bit more and help and play the passing lanes.” (more…)
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…)
Grizzlies 94, Thunder 88
Nuggets from my notebook from Monday’s loss to Memphis.
- Three things killed the Thunder tonight: turnovers, defensive rebounding and a nonexistent transition game.
- The Thunder had 18 turnovers leading to 23 Grizzlies points.
- The Thunder gave up 14 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 Grizzlies points.
- And the Thunder scored a season-low two fast-break points. Two!
- The previous season low in fast-break points was five, set against Portland on March 18. The Thunder won that game with lights-out shooting from 3-point range, making 11 of 18 from deep.
- Here’s how bad it was for the Thunder in those three categories tonight. In the first half, the Grizzlies had 10 offensive boards and converted them into 12 points, the Thunder had 12 turnovers leading to 16 points and OKC had yet to score a single fast-break bucket. Ouch!
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks said his team was out of sync offensively tonight. “They did a good job,” Brooks said of the Grizzlies. “They got back and they made us play in the half court.”
- The lone fast-break points came with 39.2 seconds left…on a pair free throws by Russell Westbrook!
- If I was a Thunder fan I’d be very, very worried about meeting Memphis again in the playoffs. The Grizzlies don’t back down and they don’t go away. And Memphis’ contrasting style that combines paint points and physical punishment is a perfect recipe to oust the Thunder. Plus, not only are the Grizzlies great defensively but they also play with poise that young teams rarely exhibit. It would be another scintillating series. But this time, I’m not so sure the Thunder could get past them.
- The Grizzlies started Tony Allen on Westbrook and put Jeremy Pargo (filling in for an injured Mike Conley) on Thabo Sefolosha. It’s nothing new. We’ve seen it before. But I thought that one cross matchup explained a lot about the Thunder’s offense tonight. The Thunder missed some great looks early, but Allen helped disrupt OKC’s offense from the start. Westbrook was 1-for-5 from the field in the first quarter. By comparison, he was 5-for-6 from the floor in the opening period Sunday against Chicago.
- Through three quarters, Westbrook was 2-for-12. With him saddled, the Thunder’s offense was terrible.
- Now would probably be a good time to alert you to Westbrook and Kevin Durant responding to Skip Bayless. Durant in that response: “We’re worse when I take more shots.” Worth noting that Durant took 20 shots to Westbrook’s 16 tonight.
- Throw in missed free throws as one of the many culprits for tonight’s loss. The Thunder made just 17 of 24, an uncharacteristically-low 70.8 percent.
- Daequan Cook is back. He was available to play tonight but Brooks opted to go with the nine-man rotation again. Brooks said he’ll proceed with Cook the same way he did with Sefolosha and ease him back into the mix.
- For the second straight game, Brooks started the second quarter with Sefolosha in the lineup. He said he’s searching for minutes for Sefolosha. We’ll have to monitor how that is handled from here. That could be bad news for Cook. It’s possible that Brooks decides to shorten his rotation and go back to a nine-man rotation.
- Say goodbye to the six-game winning streak. The Thunder had a shot to tie its season-long seven game streak and move into first place in the league with Chicago losing tonight. So much for that. (more…)
Thunder 92, Bulls 78
Nuggets from my notebook from Sunday’s win over Chicago.
- It’s really a shame Derrick Rose couldn’t play. Instead of a potential Finals preview, we got 48 minutes of poo.
- Thunder heads aren’t complaining, I know. This is just what most of you probably wanted, a quick and easy blowout victory so everyone could rest up for what should be a physical battle against Memphis on Monday night.
- But it might have been better for the Thunder to be challenged a little more. OKC has struggled mightily with Rose in the past and there aren’t much better tests for pick-and-roll defenses than Rose and the Bulls. Given the current winning streak and how good things have been for the Thunder, it could have been useful for this one to have been more of a barometer game.
- Enough of all that. This was a great win for the Thunder. The Bulls came in 14-5 without Rose, and Chicago has some pretty solid wins without him. The Bulls are still plenty dangerous, and the Thunder took care of business. That was the first of many impressive things about this win. Said Thunder coach Scott Brooks: “At times, you can have a letdown when someone’s best player is missing. But he’s missed…10 games so we we’re prepared.”
- For anyone who has that friend who feels the need to discredit wins like this by the Thunder, here are four arguments you can fire at him or her: Feb. 4, March 3, March 13 and March 16. Those dates represent four Thunder losses. Each of them — San Antonio, Atlanta, San Antonio and Houston — was a defeat the Thunder took when the other team was without its best player (Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson) or one of its best players (Kyle Lowry). Point being, wins under these circumstances aren’t always easy.
- Brooks called the Thunder’s defense the best of the season. Hard to argue with that. OKC held Chicago under 40 percent shooting all game and ultimately hounded the Bulls into a season-low 33 percent shooting. The Thunder just swarmed to the ball defensively, using active hands to come up with deflections and disrupt every part of the Bulls offensive rhythm.
- Brooks: “I liked the way our guys got after the basketball. We challenged every pass. We challenged every shot. And we rebounded the ball better as the game went on.”
- The third quarter was arguably the most impressive period of the game for the Thunder. From very early on in the period, you could tell that OKC came out looking to build on its 10-point lead and put away the Bulls early. And that’s exactly what happened. The Thunder used a 20-5 run over the first six minutes of the period to blow open the game. Eventually, the Thunder led by as many as 30.
- No starter (from either team) needed to play a single second of the fourth quarter. That’s how well in hand this one was. And it should benefit the Thunder as the rested Grizzlies come in here next on what will be the second night of a back-to-back for OKC.
- Another sign of how completely dominant the Thunder was. Midway through the third quarter, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant had combined for 48 points. The Bulls had 44! Through three quarters, Russ and KD had 53 points. The Bulls had 51.
- I loved, loved, loved Westbrook’s aggressiveness to start the game. With Rose out, Westbrook went right at C.J. Watson. From all areas: in the post, in transition, in the pick-and-roll and with his mid-range game. Westbrook was again unstoppable all night. He started this one making five of his first six shots thanks to his jumper working. It set the tone offensively, and the Bulls simply didn’t have the firepower to keep up.
- Durant had his jumper working early, too. He started 3-for-3 and all three were gorgeous, Kevin Durant-type shots. Coupled with Westbrook’s effectiveness, and that stingy D, the Bulls never stood a chance.
- This is getting ridiculous. Westbrook took two more shots than KD. Mark my words. This is going to be a huge problem come playoff time.
- April Fool’s! The Thunder is 20-4 when Westbrook takes more shots than KD. And the average margin of victory in those wins is a whopping 12.4 points! (more…)
Thunder 103, Heat 87
Nuggets from my notebook from Sunday’s win over Miami.
- This was one of the best regular season wins in Thunder history. Taking on an elite team in a game that both sides knew had vast implications, the Thunder assembled a dominating performance that showed a nationally televised audience just how much of a threat it can and likely will be. Oklahoma City stuck to its style, matched Miami’s physicality, was dialed in defensively and played with supreme poise and patience offensively. It’s a mix the Thunder has yet to show on a consistent basis, leaving questions about where it truly ranks among the league’s best. But on Sunday night, for 48 minutes, the Thunder proved that, deep down, it does indeed have that magnificent mix to be a real problem.
- The Thunder’s discipline was without a doubt the most remarkable aspect of tonight’s win. Never before have we seen OKC play with such sustained discipline for 48 minutes. And it was on both ends. Thunder players stuck to their shell defensive principles, shutting off Miami’s driving lanes to the basket, and swarmed to the ball all night to get deflections and force turnovers. Offensively, the Thunder trusted each other. All. Game. Long. That poise and patience that the Thunder displayed led to unstoppable offense, characterized by ball movement and unselfishness that saw players routinely make the extra pass and get wide open shot after wide open shot.
- What you saw tonight is an example of exactly what type of team the Thunder is striving to be. That discipline is what defines great teams. At some point, the Thunder is going to get there. It’s not going to happen overnight, but this was a huge step in the process. Thunder coach Scott Brooks prefers to instruct by highlighting positives in film sessions rather than harping on negatives. After tonight, Brooks won’t find a better blueprint to show his guys in what he calls the “truth box.” Every night isn’t going to be like this. But the key is for the Thunder to start stringing together several games in succession of this type of effort.
- Nick Collison: “Instead of going into a big-time game like with our players saying, ‘OK, I need to make great one-on-one plays,’ we said we need to really run through our sets and execute so that we can get good shots. That’s something that we haven’t always done. Hopefully that means we’re learning and getting better at that stuff and hopefully it becomes the norm for us.”
- From the start, the matchups were going to be interesting to watch. Both teams played it straight up to start. Russell Westbrook was on Mario Chalmers. Thabo Sefolosha was on Dwyane Wade. Kevin Durant guarded LeBron James. Serge Ibaka defended Chris Bosh. And Kendrick Perkins was on Joel Anthony.
- The Heat bring Udonis Haslem off the bench first in place of Bosh, and then Shane Battier later comes in for Wade. When Battier checked in, he played the 2 and guarded James Harden. And Battier gave Harden fits. We’re used to seeing Harden either dominate or simply struggle with his shot. It’s rare that a player shuts him down. But that’s what Battier was doing early, forcing Harden into dribbling into a crowd and hounding him into making terrible passes. Fortunately for the Thunder, the Heat had to have Battier on Durant a good portion of the time so Harden was able to get much of his against Wade.
- In the two-man game, Harden still had his way.
- It’s interesting that Miami is regarded as the team that best punishes teams for their mistakes. Yet it was the Thunder that blew open the game at the end of the first half by capitalizing on the Heat’s turnovers. With five minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Thunder lead 43-40. In the last five minutes of the quarter, the Heat had five turnovers and the Thunder converted four of the five turnovers into points to build a 55-42 lead with two minutes remaining in the half.
- The ball movement by the Thunder in the first half was perhaps the best we’ve seen all season. It was certainly the best we’ve seen against an elite team. OKC started the game with six assists on its first seven buckets and nine assists on its first 11 made field goals. The Thunder finished with 26 assists, one shy of tying its season high.
- The Thunder had just six turnovers at halftime, another example of the discipline with which OKC played. Miami had 11.
- Both teams combined to shoot 42-of-67 from the field in the first half. Apparently, that 63 percent clip was the best first-half shooting this year. (more…)
Thunder 149, Wolves 140
Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s double overtime win over Minnesota.
- What. A. Game.
- This has to be the best game of the year…in the entire league!
- Thunder forward Kevin Durant: “That’s going to be a game that’s going to be played for a little while.”
- Thunder guard Russell Westbrook: “It’s fun, man. It’s one of those games you kind of just live for and try to have a good time.”
- Thunder guard James Harden: “It was definitely fun and exciting. It took too long, but I think all the guys are happy, especially us. We came away with the victory.”
- Wolves guard J.J. Barea: “That was an awesome game to be a part of.”
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks: “I’m sure the fans and the players enjoyed it more than me.”
- The Wolves started the game with two favorable matchups: Kendrick Perkins on Kevin Love and Serge Ibaka guarding Derrick Williams. And what does Minnesota do on its first possession? Run some action for Martell Webster, of course. And when the Thunder snuffed it out, forcing Webster to pass, he turned it over on a silly pass. Naturally, on the very next possession, the Wolves went to the other side of the court and tried to free up Wesley Johnson with an off-ball screen. Again, turnover.
- Once Minnesota stopped fooling around finally went to Love, you saw why the matchup was so tough on the Thunder. The guy is an absolute monster. The best power forward in the league, I’d say. He took Perk out to the 3-point line, just as we thought he would, and knocked down three straight 3s. Then, Love followed up on that by going inside to do what he does best, getting an offensive rebound and putback. That three-minute stretch set the tone for the rest of the game. It helped Love get comfortable and find his rhythm early. Once he did, there was no stopping him.
- Love finished with a career-high 51 points on 16-of-27 shooting to go with 14 rebounds in 49 minutes. He made 7-of-11 3-pointers and 12-of-16 foul shots. Love’s 51 set a new Thunder opponent individual high this season, besting the 48 former Warriors guard Monta Ellis scored on Feb. 7.
- Love on his career night: “Doesn’t matter now with the loss.”
- Westbrook also had a career-high, finishing with 45 points on 17-of-28 shooting to go along with six assists and four rebounds in 50 minutes. Westbrook scored nine of his 45 in the second overtime and was the catalyst in the Thunder putting a nail in the Wolves’ coffin.
- Here are Westbrook’s biggest plays from the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation on.
- A 3-pointer to beat the shot clock buzzer with 1:41 left in regulation. Thunder 113, Wolves 108.
- A floater with 2:09 left in the first overtime. Thunder 122, Wolves 122.
- A huge offensive rebound and a jumper in the lane with 36 seconds left in the first overtime. Wolves 129, Thunder 126.
- A three-point play with 4:45 left in the second overtime. Thunder 132, Wolves 129.
- A coast-to-coast layup with 4:01 left in the second overtime. Thunder 136, Wolves 131.
- A backdoor layup with 2:37 left in the second overtime. Thunder 140, Wolves 136.
- A fast break dunk with 1:15 left in the second overtime. Thunder 144, Wolves 138.
- Durant in a word tonight: clutch. He finished with 40 points and made big shot after big shot first to keep the Wolves at bay, and then to keep the Thunder in it. KD added 17 rebounds (one shy of a career high) and five assists in 52 minutes.
- Here are Durant’s biggest plays from the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation on.
- A jumper off a curl with 2:21 left in regulation. Thunder 110, Wolves 106.
- A crossover and stepback 3 from the top of the key with 3.9 seconds left in regulation. Thunder 116, Wolves 113.
- A great show in help defense, sliding over and forcing Love into a traveling violation with 16.1 seconds left in the first overtime. Wolves 129, Thunder 126.
- A 3 from the right corner over Love with 10.1 seconds left in the first overtime. Thunder 129, Wolves 129.
- The Dirk with 1:34 left in double overtime. Thunder 142, Wolves 138.
- A pair of free throws with 55 seconds left in the second overtime. Thunder 146, Wolves 138.
- A steal against Love with 51.9 seconds left in the second overtime. Thunder 146, Wolves 138.
- Out of Durant’s biggest plays listed above, I’m going with No. 3 as the biggest. It might have just been the play of the game. If Durant doesn’t slide over and scare Love into shuffling his feet, the Wolves win this game.
- Once again, you witnessed history, Thunder heads. With KD and Russ both finishing with at least 40 points tonight, it marked the first time in NBA history that a pair of teammates both scored at least 40 points twice in the same game in a single season. The other game was that overtime classic against Denver last month. (more…)
Thunder 114, Clippers 91
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday’s win over the Clippers.
- The player of the game on this night goes to Russell Westbrook. His defense on Chris Paul set the tone from the start and shaped the complexion of the entire game. Westbrook was as locked in as we’ve ever seen him, giving second and third efforts on pick and rolls and refusing to get taken out of the play at any point throughout the night.
- Said Nick Collison of Westbrook’s D: “He was really focused and he was great for us. When he can control the point of the ball, we’re so much better defensively.”
- Westbrook said the Thunder’s embarrassing loss to the Clippers on Jan. 30 was his motivation for his inspired play. “We definitely (wanted) to come back after a loss last night and come back and get a little payback from what they did to us earlier in the season.”
- Not trying to be a Darnell downer by any means here. This was as good of a game as the Thunder has played in weeks. But this team needs to get to the point where it can come out with this type of effort without payback on the brain. We know the Thunder can get up for big-time players and big-time games. But what we have yet to see is OKC come out with that same focus consistently when game No. 48 of the season is just game No. 48. That’s an ultra important step in this team’s maturation.
- One last thing from me on Westbrook’s defense. Where is that effort every game? He showed tonight that he could, without a doubt, be the league’s best defensive point guard. But he’s been disappointing on that end pretty much all season, allowing opposing guards to have their way with him and, as a result, make things extremely tough on the entire team’s defense. I asked Westbrook how he can duplicate tonight’s effort on a nightly basis. “Easy,” he said. “Just come back and do it again.” Of course, I couldn’t let Westbrook get off that easy, because we all know that if it were that easy he would be doing it. And that certainly hasn’t been the case. (This is the part some of you might have caught on the post game broadcast. I didn’t know they were live.) “Oh, wait a minute, Darnell,” Westbrook said. “I’ve done it. (Tonight) was a good defensive game, but I wouldn’t say I haven’t done it all season. But I’m going to consistently try to do that.”
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on Westbrook’s D: “From a statistic point of view, Russell looks like he had just a very average game. But I thought this was one of his best all-around games. He was guarding one of the premier point guards in the league, a guy that can manipulate the pick-and-roll game as well as anybody. And he did a very good job with that. He controlled the team and he controlled the game on both ends of the floor.”
- Westbrook was so good tonight that he caused Paul to temporarily lose his mind. Normally, it’s other guards getting under Westbrook’s skin and forcing the Thunder’s point guard into bad shots, bad turnovers and bad decisions. But, surprisingly, it was Westbrook who got the better of Paul. The final minute and a half of the second quarter said it all. In that span, Paul had two turnovers and took two terrible shots, missing both. He was a wreck, even flying around on defense in desperation mode. The best part was that Westbrook maintained his composure throughout the entire stretch and continued to make solid plays, winning plays even. Big time performance by Westbrook.
- The Clippers had just two dunks tonight. Only one was off a lob pass. That was a direct result of the Thunder’s defense, which started with Westbrook’s ball pressure. By comparison, the Clippers had eight dunks in that Jan. 30 debacle.
- Now, about Derek Fisher.
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Derek Fisher Interview
For your reading pleasure, here is a transcribed version of Derek Fisher’s introductory press conference. Stay with NewsOK.com for continuing coverage of Fisher’s signing and tonight’s Thunder-Clippers game.
ON THE LAST 48 HOURS
I’ll refrain from boring you with the circumstances and the details. But this situation here in Oklahoma City and with the Thunder team is just one that is special already. And the circumstances that kind of surround me being available to come here are rare, but also what’s rare is what’s going on here with this team and these players and these coaches and the front office. Considering I had the opportunity to basically choose the best situation and the right fit, there was no doubt, after speaking with several teams, that this was the best place and the best fit.
ON WHAT HE LIKES ABOUT THE THUNDER
The team itself, which I’ve always had a lot of respect for, plays hard and plays with energy every night. And even with a relatively young basketball team, they’re only focused on one thing and that’s winning and being successful. Having gotten the opportunity to speak with Sam Presti and some of the other members of the staff, it’s very clear that there’s one common goal here and that’s to maximize the abilities of every player on the team to try to bring, at some point, a championship to Oklahoma City. And so it was very difficult to not see myself as a person that could come in and help add to a situation that’s already special.
ON HOW HE FEELS HE CAN MAKE AN IMPACT
In a number of ways. As a leader, which can happen from the bench, can happen from the locker room; but I’m a basketball player so it can also happen on the court. So I’m just looking to be as helpful as I possibly can to every player on this team. I’m not here to take anything away from anyone. I’m here to only add and support and assist in what I feel like is a great process that’s already been established here with this team. (more…)
