• Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka did a great job early of defending Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. They contested extremely well without fouling and forced them into some difficult looks. And this time, for the most part, they finished possessions with rebounds. Thanks in large part to Perk and Ibaka, Jefferson and Millsap got off to an 0-for-7 start and never really found a rhythm. The defense by that duo set the tone, and the Thunder fed off of it the rest of the way to cruise to victory.

• Jefferson finished with 15 points, going 7-for-19 from the field. Millsap had 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting. They combined for just 13 rebounds. How impressive is that? Those two entered the night as Utah’s leading scorers, averaging a combined 35 points with 18.7 rebounds. Both were shooting at least 47.5 percent coming into tonight.

• The Thunder’s defense as a whole at the start of the game was excellent. Utah missed a few good looks, but the Thunder hounded the Jazz into missing 15 of their first 16 shots. Utah’s second field goal didn’t come until Jefferson scored on a putback with 4:50 remaining in the opening quarter.
• The first quarter was the key. The Thunder held the Jazz to 19 points on 30.8 percent shooting. It was the first time in 11 games that OKC has held an opponent to 20 points or less in the opening period. In the previous 10 games prior to Tuesday, the Thunder had allowed an average of 28.4 points and had yielded at least 30 points five times.
• Said Kevin Durant: “The last few games, we had some lapses and we didn’t play as well as we wanted to. We may have gotten some wins, but we kind of squeaked those out. But tonight was Thunder basketball; defense first, hustling, rebounding, helping each other out on the defensive end and playing together. I think we got some fast-break points as well. So we got back to our brand of basketball, and it feels good to be back.”
• The Thunder is 6-2 when it holds opponents to 20 points or less in the first quarter. In those six victories, the Thunder has won by an average margin of 10.4 points.
• This was the largest margin of victory for the Thunder this season. The previous high was 20 points, set in a 99-79 win over Detroit on Jan. 23. And guess what? The Thunder held the Pistons to 12 first-quarter points in that ballgame.

• For a while, though, the Thunder didn’t take advantage of Utah’s poor shooting like it should have. With eight minutes left in the second quarter, for example, the Thunder led 31-28 despite Utah shooting just 11-for-35. The problem? What else? The Thunder allowed the Jazz to take 11 more shots thanks to turnovers (six) and giving up offensive rebounds (six leading to eight second-chance points).

• Russell Westbrook played with great pace tonight. He pushed the tempo when needed but also scaled back and tried to get others involved, too. He scored 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting with five rebounds and two assists. With a fast break dunk at the 2:53 mark of the second quarter, Westbrook joined Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson as the only players in NBA history to record at least 5,000 points, 1,900 assists and 1,300 rebounds in their first 274 games.
• Said Durant of the milestone: “That’s a big-time feat. To be up there with the greats of the game is an honor. I’m sure he’s very excited. I’m happy for him. He’s done so much in this league and he has a lot to go. I’m glad I’m playing with him.”

• Uh, that dunk that put Westbrook in such elite company? It came off a break led by Perk. Westbrook flushed it off an alley from the big man. That’s the second time that I can remember where Perk led the break and threw a lob-pass. He also did it in game No. 2 at Minnesota. “He’s done that a few times, and we score,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “Surprisingly, at times. But Perk, he plays hard. I don’t mind him doing that occasionally. But we can’t see a daily diet of that.”
• I asked Brooks if he’d consider moving Russ to the 2 and starting Perk at point. Brooks could only laugh. “Perk was nice, huh,” Brooks said.

• What I liked even more than the lob pass by Perk was his ho-hum reaction. He just trotted back on D like, ‘That’s what I do.’ But he let his emotions show on the ensuing possession after he allowed Jefferson to catch an entry pass over the top and score a point-blank layup. Perk banged the ball against his head and, I’m assuming, cussed himself out under his breath. Not trying to make too much out of it. But not too many players show that amount of passion on the defensive end rather than the offensive side. It’s small. But it’s a small something that always should be considered when evaluating what Perk brings to this team.

• Perk was a a passing machine tonight. He had another nice dime that came on a behind-the-back dish to Ibaka with 9:55 left in the third. For the game, Perk tied his career high with six assists. For all those who get frustrated with the Thunder throwing the ball into Perk on the low block, Brooks gave a pretty sound explanation for why he continues to allow it. “I’m doing a better job of letting him touch the ball more,” Brooks said. “Earlier in the season, he was facilitating our offense at times, whether it was at the low post and passing out or at the elbow. I thought we needed to go back to that, because when you have guys that touch the ball they feel better about themselves and they just play better basketball.”

• This is hard to ignore. The Thunder’s defensive-minded center had four more assists tonight than its All-Star point guard. A lot of Westbrook detractors could and perhaps would make a big deal about that. In no way am I trying to here. But in no way do I think that’s a good thing. One more? Fine. Two more, even? OK. But four more? C’mon man! If this was one isolated game, that would be one thing. (No, Perk hasn’t tallied more assists than Westbrook before.) But we all know Westbrook’s passing game hasn’t been at the level it was last season. This was his 10th game with four assists or fewer, tonight’s tally being a season-low. I’m all for having a shoot-first point guard. But I like my point guards a whole lot more when they get everyone else involved and make others better. I’m not sure anyone can make a case that Westbrook is doing that right now.

• In fairness to Westbrook, his teammates blow some of his passes. Westbrook fed Ibaka with a beautiful bounce pass in the first quarter. It was a little low, but Ibaka was wide open under the rim and all he had to do was scoop it and dunk. But of course, it trickled out of bounds. Sometimes this season, it’s been plays like that that have kept Westbrook’s assists numbers down.
• Who would have thought Perk would have twice as many assists as Durant and Westbrook combined? KD had one.
• After Ibaka muffed that pass, Westbrook chewed him out. And rightfully so. Still, I didn’t like it. We all know Westbrook’s temper and body language need work. But when you’re on your way to leading the league in turnovers for the third time in four seasons, it seems to me you should be careful how you react to a guy who couldn’t catch a pass. Again, Westbrook was right to get on Ibaka there. It just looked a little like Westbrook went overboard.
• I don’t know what’s gotten into Ibaka lately, but he needs to keep it up. The man had 16 points, 10 boards and six blocks tonight. I’ve already noted his defense. But his energy was once again great. And when he plays like that, the Thunder’s defense is really, really tough to score on.
• Said Brooks about Ibaka: “Serge was all over the floor, rebounding the ball, blocking shots. He’s getting better every game. His development is encouraging. Every day he works, and you can see the work that he puts in on the floor paying off for him.”

• Durant’s hustle was outstanding tonight, too. He ripped Josh Howard clean on one possession late in the first quarter and dove on the floor in front of his bench to recover the ball. He ended up saving it to Nazr Mohammed, who got it to Westbrook, who fired it to James Harden, who got fouled and marched to the line. The crowd went nuts, showing appreciation for the face of the franchise hustling like that and doing the dirty work.
• Gotta love Durant’s response when asked about diving on the floor. “I’m all about the win,” Durant said. “Because these guys will do it for me. I just want to try to do as much as I can to help out on the defensive end. That’s been my role, I think, this year is to provide a lot of defensive energy and be aggressive on the offensive end. So I’m just trying to make a conscious effort of playing hard and being a better defender and trying to be more of a two-way player.”
• I didn’t cover the game at Utah last Friday. If I did, I would have noted this then. But KD got beat on four backdoors and one break in which he didn’t get back on D. Tonight, I don’t remember a single lob play or backdoor play from the Jazz. Much better effort by KD and his mates. Said KD: “They’re a tough team to guard because they screen so well and they move so much. But I think we did a great job of helping each other out.”
• About midway through the first quarter, old friend Earl Watson tried to apply full-court pressure to Westbrook. After giving a few fakes like he was going to enter into a sprint, Westbrook finally turned on the jets and just blew right past Watson for a wide open layup. Watson didn’t try that again. I wondered how many times the Thunder saw that in practice three years ago.
• Perk absolutely LAID OUT Devin Harris on a screen with 3:33 left in the second quarter. I actually worried for Harris’ well-being. The pick freed up Westbrook for a pull-up jumper, and as the ball splashed through the net Perk gave a fist pump while Harris was slowly trying to figure out where he was. Classic Perk.
• Remember when Devin Harris was good at this game?

• The last time a player scored at least 20 points with at least 20 rebounds against Utah? Nov. 13, 2010. The guy who did it? Nazr Mohammed.

• Dead crowd tonight. What was up?
• Brooks cleared his bench with 5:11 left to play, inserting Cole Aldrich, Reggie Jackson and Lazar Hayward. Ryan Reid made his NBA debut when he checked in with 3:51 remaining.

• The crowd began filing out much earlier than that. I can’t blame the fans who took off.

• As a result of the most lopsided win of the year, every active player scored for the Thunder. Reid showed some nice footwork on one of his field goals that came from underneath the basket, and Cole continues to impress.

• Jackson recorded a career high with eight assists. He added four points, three rebounds and turned it over only once in 25 minutes. Not bad for a rookie backup who allegedly is the reason the Thunder can’t win it all this year, huh?

• Not everything was great tonight. The Thunder went 22-for-34 (64.7 percent) from the foul line and gave up 19 offensive rebounds leading to 22 second chance points.

• Just 15 turnovers. Can they please keep it about there?

• Up next. At Houston on Wednesday.

-DM-

Scott Brooks will coach the Western Conference All-Stars.

Observations from the Thunder’s 101-87 victory at Utah on Friday night. Forgive the delay in posting. Massive wireless issues for me in the Great Salt Lake:

• The Thunder’s victory clinched Scott Brooks becoming the Western Conference coach at the Feb. 26 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando, but director of team operations Marc St. Yves was the only person to shake Brooks’ hand on the court afterward. Why? Russell Westbrook didn’t know the win sealed the deal. Nick Collison knew, but forgot, same goes for Kevin Durant and Nazr Mohammed. It wasn’t that no one cared. It’s just their minds didn’t refocus immediately after the game.
• Durant playfully suggested Brooks’ first duty as All-Star coach might be to start Westbrook, even though fans voted for Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant as the starting guards. “Yeah, yeah,” a smiling Durant said when asked if Brooks should wield his power. “He might tell CP to sit down for a little bit to start.”
• Brooks’ effectiveness as the Thunder’s coach was clearly evident Friday. Based on answers given by several players that day, Brooks is dealing with the team’s turnover issue the right way – not with humiliation and threats but rather with calm concern. In addition, roughly three hours before the game at Utah, Brooks and Durant sat and chatted one-on-one for 20 minutes in the front row along the baseline. Judging from Brooks’ hand gestures, he appeared to be sharing advice on options Durant might have coming off the dribble and how a play could develop. The 46-year-old Brooks has the perfect temperament to handle a young and extremely competitive group like the Thunder. Brooks doesn’t get near enough credit. Perhaps his appearance at the All-Star Game will change that.
• Westbrook said Brooks becoming an All-Star coach is far-reaching. “It’s great for the organization, the city, the community. It’s truly a blessing to see what’s going on around here (OKC),” Westbrook said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on this team, but at the same time, we’ve got to be coached. He’s a guy who keeps us steady and keeps our head above water.”
• You must check out Nick Collison’s appearance with Dan LeBatard in “Highly Questionable.” With seven minutes left Friday against the Jazz, Collison drove hard to the basket and converted an acrobatic scoop layup with the shot clock winding down. At that exact moment, I thought, “Shooter!” Listen to the interview and you’ll understand.
• EnergySolutions Arena was another tough venue for the Thunder, just like the four previous stops during the road trip at San Antonio, Portland, Golden State and Sacramento. However, I’ve never heard the Jazz’ building so quiet. The Thunder did a superb job of not allowing the sellout crowd of 19,911 to take control. Winning helps, of course, but other than going on a scoring spurt, what’s the best way to take the home crowd out of a game? “Get fouls called, get some steals, get to the free-throw line,” Westbrook explained. By the way, all five arenas were sold out for the Thunder’s visits.
• Westbrook isn’t crazy about doing interviews, but one of his favorite subjects is discussing the Thunder’s ability to bounce back after a loss. “Oh, definitely,” Westbrook said after OKC upped its bounce-back record to 25-7 the past two seasons. “In this league, you can’t afford to lose three or four in a row and be an elite team. We know that and we’re getting better each and every season, and in every game. When we lose one, we take it personal coming back the next day to be ready to play.”
• The Thunder is now 34-10 in the regular season since center Kendrick Perkins joined the starting lineup last March. “Pretty impressive,” Perkins said, eyebrows raised. “I’ll take 24 games over .500 any day.”
• Perkins won the 2008 world championship with the Boston Celtics, who went 66-16 (.805) that season. The Thunder is 21-6 and has a similar winning percentage (.778). Perkins said even great teams still lose games. The trick is letting the losses go while not forgetting what happened. “Obviously, we’ve let a few slip away this year that we still think about, but we know what to do about it now,” Perkins said.
• An .800 winning percentage is truly impressive. Look at it this way: For every game that team loses, it must immediately go on a four-game winning streak to make up lost ground. The Thunder would have to finish 53-13 this season to reach .800 or higher.
• On Thursday, OKC had 23 turnovers. On Friday, it had 17, which is still about four or five too many, but it’s far better than 23. Pointing out the obvious, the Thunder sure looks much prettier when it’s collecting steals and not handing over the ball. “Oh, gosh,” reserve guard James Harden said with a smile. “It’s always such a relief when you get easy buckets on the road. It calms the crowd down. They’re game-changers.”
• Rookie guard Reggie Jackson missed his first five shots Friday and attacked the basket with 10 seconds left in the third quarter rather than playing for one last shot. He’s a rookie and has a long ways to go. Better decisions and less hesitation running the half-court offense are Jackson’s biggest challenges.
• I miss watching Eric Maynor play. Then again, I knew I would.

Darnell Mayberry returns in this slot on Tuesday. Commence cheering.

- JOHN ROHDE

• In answering one of my post-game questions, Kendrick Perkins told the story of this game. It was a simple response, but it easily was the most disturbing thing about tonight’s performance. “They just out-smarted us in every way,” Perkins told me. I thought the Thunder was past that point in its development. I thought OKC could now handle a Spurs team that is missing its best player and, really, is now reliant on one aging future Hall of Famer, a speedy point guard and a bunch of role players. I was wrong. This looked liked the Spurs-Thunder matchup of three years ago, when San Antonio used to take OKC to the woodshed and teach it a lesson in Basketball 101. We’re supposed to be beyond those days. You can make one excuse after another for this type of performance. You could say it happens. You could say the Spurs are great at home. You could say the Thunder was on the second night of a back-to-back. But that’s not what happened here. The Thunder looked over-matched and out of its league for the last 43 minutes. The Spurs, as Perk said, simply out-smarted the Thunder. And by the time the trip to the woodshed had ended, San Antonio had taught OKC yet another lesson.

• Russell Westbrook got the biggest schooling tonight. At least you can only hope he learns from this one. It’s not so much that Tony Parker went completely off on him. It’s much more about how Russ couldn’t control his emotions and figure out a way to contribute nearly anything positive once the snowball started its descent. We saw classic bad Westbrook tonight. Poor defense. Forced shots. Frequent complaining. Inadequate focus. Costly turnovers. The usual. Tough night. Tough, tough night.

• Westbrook’s mano-a-mano mindset clearly started with four minutes left in the second quarter. That’s when Westbrook and Parker hit the floor while fighting for a loose ball. It’s worth noting that replays clearly show that Parker pushed Westbrook just before the scrum. But Westbrook got up fuming, and it was downhill from there. Over those final four minutes of the first half, Parker scored five points on 1-for-2 shooting with an assist. Westbrook scored two points on 1-for-2 shooting with an assist and a block. The battle boiled over in the third quarter and got ugly for the Thunder.
• I hesitate to include this because I have no idea what the conversation was about. But referee Dick Bavetta appeared to try to calm down Westbrook as the Spurs shot free throws with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter. Bavetta put his arm around Westbrook as he bent over and whispered for a while in his ear. It didn’t look like Westbrook had any reaction at all to whatever was said. He just walked away when Bavetta was done.
• Parker finished with 42 points, the most any player has scored on the Thunder this season. He did absolutely whatever he wanted to do against the Thunder tonight. He got into the paint. He created open shots for himself and his teammates. He knocked down jumpers. He dished dimes. And he took amazing care of the ball, playing 40 minutes without turning it over a single time.

• It’s debatable how much blame Westbrook deserves when it comes to the Thunder’s pick-and-roll defense. That’s where Parker really had his way. Defending the pick-and-roll is really a team game. The guard’s got to start with pressure. The big has to show hard. And everyone else has to be on a string, with help to help the helper on the weak side. That’s at least three things that need to happen on every single pick-and-roll, maybe even four. It’s not going to be perfect every time. But I do know that a team has no shot at success if the guy leading the defense — the point guard — doesn’t bring the right amount of intensity. Unfortunately, that’s what I saw out of Westbrook tonight.
  

• After the game, Westbrook basically blew off a reporter’s question about his matchup with Parker. He didn’t take responsibility for what happened. Instead, like everyone else, he put the blame on the entire team (which includes him so don’t read that the wrong way. He did not throw anybody, or everybody else, under the bus). “They moved the ball well,” Westbrook said. “They got in the paint and moved the ball with quickness. We were just a step late.”

• The crazy thing is the pick-and-roll defense actually started off great. The pressure was there. The rotations were excellent. And the help was consistent. Where did it go wrong? “One, Tony Parker is really good,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “We didn’t get good enough control of the ball and we didn’t stop the ball and that broke down our defense. That’s always the first line of defense. That’s something that we have to get better at.”

• That poor pick-and-roll defense played a large part in the Thunder giving up 12 3-pointers, one shy of the opponent season high set by the Clippers on Monday. It never fails. Watch the Spurs or the Mavs and you walk away thinking ‘Why can’t the Thunder play like that?’
• Parker became the Spurs’ all-time leader in assists tonight with a dish to Tim Duncan at the 4:56 mark of the third quarter. No surprise that it came on a ball screen. Parker now has 4,477 assists. To put that number in prospective, Westbrook has 1,889. The NBA’s all-time leader, John Stockton, has 15,806!
• Perk on San Antonio’s ball movement: “The ball was like a hot potato; bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Whoever it was, they were trusting their teammate and trusting that extra pass.”
• The Thunder got off to an 11-4 start…then the Spurs went on a 13-2 run that served as the start of things going south for the Thunder the rest of the way.
• Westbrook’s streak of games with at least five turnovers came to an end at five. He had only three giveaways in this one. That’s something positive, right?

• Kevin Durant’s early passing was a small bright spot. He read the defense perfectly on one possession and slipped a pass to Serge Ibaka. He lobbed another beauty to Ibaka for a thunderous dunk. And he had a textbook drive-and-kick to Reggie Jackson, but the rookie missed a corner 3.

• Could Air Congo be back for good? After finally unveiling it Friday against Memphis, Ibaka spread his wings again in the first quarter against San Antonio. He did so after throwing down that monster dunk off the alley from Durant.
• Perk picked up two fouls in the first minute and a half after two mix-ups with Duncan. The first time, the two got tangled up near the end of a Spurs possession. The second time, Perk appeared to unintentionally pop Duncan with an elbow while trying to complete a post move. Hey, at least he didn’t get called for a technical foul.
• The Spurs switched to a zone on one possession at about the four-minute mark of the first half. And Westbrook ate it up. He dashed right through it and got a layup. To me, that’s been the team’s best offense for a zone. The Phoenix game last year sold me on that.

• I don’t mind dumping it into Perk. I really don’t. I actually agree with it. But it’s time Perk gets a counter. We all know when he catches it, it’s going to be: pound, pound, pound, and then a jump hook over his left shoulder. Defenses are more than prepared for that. A counter is the answer.

• Perk had just three rebounds, one night after grabbing just one. Duncan had 15.
• I loved Perk’s two blocks, though. He had a monster stuff on Matt Bonner that led to a Daequan Cook 3 at the other end. Then he blocked DeJuan Blair and it led to an Ibaka layup and three-point play chance.
• Of course, Ibaka missed the free throw on that three-point play chance. He was just 2-for-7 from the stripe tonight. Not his day.

• KD had four blocked shots. That ties his season high and is one shy of his career high.

• The Nick Collison to James Harden backdoor play was back tonight. They pulled it off masterfully early in the second quarter.

• Duncan was 1-for-8 in the first half…and the Thunder trailed by 10.
• Here’s how cool and confident KD has become in his fifth season. When he leaned against the scorer’s table waiting to check back in midway through the second quarter, he had his legs crossed and his arms folded as he chewed on his mouthpiece and carefully watched the action. Perhaps my description doesn’t explain much. If not, just trust me, the guy looked like he had ice in his veins.

• KD’s offensive performance clearly didn’t match his smooth outward appearance. He finished with 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard did a great job on Durant, making his looks tough and playing physical defense. Durant actually admitted that he was taken out of the game, but not by Leonard. “They got physical in the third quarter and I picked up two cheap fouls,” Durant said. “Once you’ve got four in the third, you can’t play as physical as you want to play. So I was kind of hesitant to push off or get to the ball as hard as I normally do because, of course, I had four fouls. That’s how the game went.”

• With all the questions about whether the Thunder can win a title with a rookie backup point guard, did anyone notice how much more poised Jackson was compared to Westbrook? One game, I know. But the point is, once again, he’ll be fine.

• Lost in everything tonight: Harden played well on the road again.

• All 10 of Cook’s shots were 3-pointers. That’s got to be hard to do, even for a 3-point specialist.

• I sat next to Michelle Beadle’s dad tonight, she being Michelle Beadle of ESPN’s SportsNation fame. By far the most random thing that’s happened to me this season. Well, actually a distance second. The runaway winner was Omar from The Wire sitting next to me on a plane from Newark to Denver.

• The Thunder has not won in San Antonio since Nov. 14, 2009. Apparently, it was a three-point win. I don’t even remember it.
• Up next. At Portland on Monday. In the meantime, forget about this one by enjoying the Super Bowl, everybody.

-DM-

Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s win over Memphis.

• Kevin Durant is indeed The Real McCoy.

• The way KD took over the game tonight just leaves you shaking your head and admiring his greatness.

• Durant scored 16 of his game-high 36 points in the final quarter. It was one less than the Grizzlies had as a team!!

• More impressively, 14 of KD’s 16 fourth-quarter points came in the final five minutes with neither team ahead by more than five points. Those are all clutch-time points, folks.

• Memphis coach Lionel Hollins on KD: “He’s a great player. I mean, that’s all you can say. He’s a great player. He made great plays and great shots down the stretch. He took over the game. He’s going to be one of the all-time greats if he stays healthy.”

• I said this tonight on one of our award-winning video recaps (you don’t really believe that do you?). I was more impressed with Durant’s rebounding in the second half than his scoring down the stretch. The points will be what’s remembered, and rightfully so. But KD’s rebounding is more of a testament to his development into an all-around player. Better yet, a cold-blooded killer. He had zero at the half. He finished with 10, including four in the fourth quarter. It helped the Thunder take control of the boards in the decisive fourth quarter after Memphis manhandled OKC for the first three.

• OK, back to KD’s scoring. Dude had missed all five of his 3-pointers before burying perhaps the biggest shot of the night with 53.8 seconds remaining. Said KD: “That 3, as I was shooting, it looked good. But I was missing. So it was just a matter of time before one of those were going to go down for me.”

• Durant said he liked the 3 more than the beautiful, off-balance J he hit over Rudy Gay with 22 seconds left. “Because I had missed five of them that looked good,” Durant said. “But that one finally went in for me and it was a critical part of the game. So it was a big shot.”

• Consider this the second time Durant has stolen shine from a teammate. James Harden was about to be the player of this game before Durant decided to turn deadly. Harden ignited a 22-10 run that turned an eight-point deficit at the start of the fourth period into a four-point lead with 3:14 left to play. Over that run, Harden scored or assisted on 14 of the Thunder’s points.

• When it’s a close game in the fourth quarter, I don’t like to see much of anything out of the Thunder’s offense except the ball in Harden’s hands. That’s the only time I can relax. And it’s the only time I know something good will happen.

• One thing I didn’t like about Harden tonight. He got the Durant treatment by the Grizzlies after getting hot and didn’t respond that well. Tony Allen switched onto him, and Memphis even sent a few doubles his way. But when Allen began playing more physically in denying the ball, Harden couldn’t get open. Keep an eye on that. If teams start doing that, the Thunder’s saving grace is gone.

• Daequan Cook got the start again for the injured Thabo Sefolosha and played his tail off…defensively! Cook started the game 0-for-4 from the field but was a pest at the other end. He blocked a putback attempt by Allen, broke up an alley-oop intended for Gay, boxed out Marc Gasol so well he pushed him all the way under the net and blocked another shot by Allen. And that was all in the first five minutes. Cook’s final line was five points on 2-for-7 shooting with seven rebounds and three blocked shots in 32 minutes. Be honest. You’d love it if Kendrick Perkins provided that production.

• Perk’s actual line: five points, one rebound and one blocked shot in 30 minutes. Insert Scott Brooks‘ favorite line here.

• Is Cook making a case to remain in the starting lineup even when Sefolosha returns? Some already think he deserves it. And as I wrote after the Mavs game, at least one player thinks he’s a good fit in the first string. I doubt it will ever happen. But Cook has quietly become a much better defender than he was when he first got here. And, although I don’t know where he ranks among other shooting guards, his rebounding appears to be above average. And we all know his shooting gives the first five a different dynamic. Could it at least be worth Brooks considering?

• Brooks on Cook: “D.C. was all over the ball. He was all over the floor. It’s a nice luxury to have one of the best 3-point shooters play the defense that he plays. He plays hard. He’s always in the right spot. He’s a great help side defender.”

• It seems Cook will get some more time to present his case to crack the first five. As our man John Rohde reports, Sefolosha will be sidelined a tad longer.

• So much for Perk chilling out on the techs. One game after he told me he would, he was whistled for a double technical foul after getting tangled up with Gasol. It was Perk’s ninth of the season. He’s now four shy of an automatic one-game suspension. With 44 games left, I’m not sure Perk has enough chill in him.

• Was that Perk on that early reverse layup of Dr. J? (Too far? Yeah, definitely too far.)

• What an awful opening three quarters the Thunder played. What, you thought I was going to overlook it? The Thunder won this game thanks only to a terrific fourth quarter in which it outscored Memphis 32-17.

• The first 36 minutes were the worse I’ve seen the Thunder play this season. I mean it. OKC didn’t even look interested in being on the court. The Thunder’s defensive rebounding was disgusting (Memphis had 14 offensive boards). OKC gave up way too many second-chance points (19). There were sloppy passes being made all over the court. Turnovers galore (15 leading to 22 Grizzlies points). Missed free throws (20 of 25 through three but just 11-of-16 with 4:16 left in the third). A lane violation (by Perk, wiping out a KD freebie) and some terrible transition defense.

• When Brooks admits his team didn’t play with effort, you know it was bad. “We were a little flat for some reason,” Brooks said. “We usually don’t play as sluggish as we played tonight.”

• Harden when asked why the first three quarters were nothing like the last one: “That’s a great question. We were trying to figure the same thing out.”

• Boy, that fourth quarter was might impressive, though. Don’t overlook the defense that helped decide the outcome. The Thunder held the Grizzlies to 5-for-18 shooting, blocked five shots and turned Memphis over five times. OKC also kept Memphis off the free throw line, holding the Grizzlies to just six attempts in the final period. Only four of those came in the final five minutes.

• If I had a Fave Five of NBA players, I think Tony Allen would be in it. He is one tough sucker.

• I could have sworn Allen was about to fight somebody tonight. First it looked like it would be Russell Westbrook. Then it looked like it might be Harden. In between, it looked like it would be O.J. Mayo.

• Did you see KD’s left handed jump hook attempt tonight. I don’t think I even want to see him add that to his arsenal. That’s scary.

• The M-V-P chants for KD as he stood at the stripe with 17.4 seconds left…fitting.

• Harden on KD’s clutchness tonight: “When he gets it going like that, you just got to sit back and watch. He made every shot tonight at the end of the game. He led us to victory.”

• Y’all like the man-leggings that’s sweeping the Thunder roster? Westbrook, KD, Perk and Reggie Jackson all wore them tonight. Most guys wear an even longer, tighter version of them under their clothes after games. But I’ve never bothered to ask why. I asked Nick Collison tonight. He told me they’re supposed to help with recovery. Then he said, “But I don’t know if they helping during the game.”

• It seems the Thunder gets better after every game against the Grizzlies. They’re a tough, hard-nosed, never-say-die team. They’re physical. They play smart and together (at times). And they’re extremely well-coached. It’s always a battle between these two. Said Brooks: “When you play against them, you know that you have to play tough. They step up to that level. So hopefully we take something with us to the next game.”

• Up next. At San Antonio on Saturday.

-DM-

• First thing’s first. Here it is.
• There’s really not much I can add, except that it was the most vicious dunk I’ve ever seen in person, and I’ve been there to witness some pretty wicked dunks from Blake Griffin the past few years – a baseline slam soaring in from the left wing in Norman comes to mind when he scrapped his head on the backboard, which thankfully was padded. I was seated behind the basket where Griffin threw down the dunk of the year in the NBA on Monday night against the Thunder. Truly scary. I can’t imagine what it looked like from Kendrick Perkins’ point of view. Glad I was lucky enough to see it. A truly amazing athlete, Griffin.
• Griffin’s dunk easily beat what LeBron James did Sunday as the NBA’s top dunk this season. James jumped over a crouching, 5-foot-somethin’ John Lucas III. Griffin threw it down over the 6-foot-9, 267-pound, get-outta-my-face Perkins. Any questions? Heck, even James himself chose Griffin with this tweet – @KingJames (LeBron James): “Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I’m #2 now. Move over #6“
• OK, one more look. Post-game reactions on the dunk:
• Griffin: “When they play the replay over the Jumbotron, you hear the crowd. DJ’s reaction is always my gauge on what the dunk was like. I think that time he screamed, grabbed me and bear-hugged me. I figure he thought it was cool.”
• Clippers point guard Chris Paul: “That’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, just like the dunk (Griffin had) against the Knicks (last season). You’re watching the game, and I’m playing the game. So I can get excited for a split second, but I have to keep everyone locked in and let that one go.”
• Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro: “He’s going to do that when he gets moving. I thought it was a great pass and obviously a great finish. He’s such a tremendous athlete, you’re going to see things like that once in a while just because of his aggressiveness and the way he attacks the basket.”
• Perkins: “It happens. At the end of the day, if you’re a shot blocker, you’re going to get dunked on. It was a great play that he made. Obviously, I wish I wasn’t in it, but it was a great play that he made.”
• Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant: “Man, I don’t care about that dunk.”
• Back to the game. The Thunder took a 4-0 lead and then stunk. If Durant and Russell Westbrook hadn’t shown up offensively, we’re looking at a 50-point loss. Seriously. Hey, bad games happen, and this was one of them. However comma, the Clippers are starting to figure things out, which is trouble for the rest of the West. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said it was the best team OKC has played thus far and he’s right. Now the fun begins for the Clippers, who play seven of their next eight on the road, just like the stretch the Thunder currently is experiencing right now. Keep an eye on the Clippers. They were wicked good on Monday. 
• Brooks said his team is at its best when it defends, and he’s right, but OKC also has the ability to score. They’ve got the two-time scoring champ, fercryinoutloud, and a sidekick scoring 20-something. There’s no polite way to put this, but imagine how good the Thunder could be if it shared the ball like the Clippers? LA had 28 assists on 45 field goals. OKC had 15 assists on 38 field goals. Look, I know Durant and Westbrook have the ability to score off the dribble and not off the pass and James Harden is like a knife through butter, but there’s nothing prettier to watch in basketball than good ball movement. Nothing. You’re telling me whipping the ball around and finding Durant or Westbrook or Harden or anybody for an open shot would be a bad thing?
• When Brooks shows his team footage of this loss, I hope he doesn’t do it for defensive purposes. I hope he tells his players to watch how the Clippers did it offensively. LA had six players score in double-digits and three had 20 or more points. Three guys took 16 shots each, and the other three took 11, nine and seven. Good luck defending that. 
• Clippers guard Chauncey Billups has played a lot of basketball. He’s in his 15^th NBA season and also has played internationally. At no time does Billups recall any team going on a 12-0 run in a span of 51 seconds by hitting four straight 3-pointers, which is precisely what LA did to deflate OKC at the end of the first half Monday. “I don’t believe I have,” Billups said. Not even during Team USA’s 121-66 victory over Angola at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, or four days earlier in a 35-point win over Tunisia? “Maybe. Maybe,” Billups said with a smile.
• With the acquisitions of the three C’s (Chris, Chauncey and Caron), the Clippers instantaneously have transformed themselves from three-plus decades of being a punch line to being a potential powerhouse.
• Brooks: “They are good team. They are the best team we’ve played all year. They have everything – a talented team, their bench is really good and they played well. Give them credit. They took it to us and we have work to do.”
• Nick Collison: “They’re good. Man, they’re a really good basketball team. I was impressed with them. They have a lot of guys that can play. We can play much better, but they do a good job of moving the ball and finding open players.”
• Bad news arrived 90 minutes before tipoff when Brook announced Thabo Sefolosha would not play because of a sore right foot. He remains day-to-day. OKC’s rhythm and substitution rotation was completely out of whack all night. Would the Thunder have won had Sefolosha played? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The entire dynamic of the game likely would have been different. Sefolosha has now missed two starts and OKC has lost both games (at home against Portland being the other). Games like Monday’s are why Sefolosha starts, why he must start. This is not to pin the loss on Harden, but if Harden starts and he’s off the mark, you get what you got on Monday — the Thunder hanging on for dear life.
• Collison on the importance of Sefolosha: “We definitely missed him out there. Defensively, he’s as good as there is. Offensively, he does a lot of things, too. He’s kind of like the motor oil out there offensively where he does a lot of small things that make things go smoothly. He makes a good hard cut to get somebody else open. Obviously, defensively he’s great, too. We gave up a lot on the perimeter and he would have helped. He allows our second unit to play with James. It’s a big loss. Hopefully he can get healthy. We need him back.”
• Brooks said the Thunder has played one bad game. Ever the realist, Collison smiled and clicked off all four losses: “We didn’t great in D.C. In Dallas, um … against Portland …”
• Larry King walked by roughly 5 feet in front of me. Dude looked old. Then again, he is 78 if my math is right (did I carry the one?). King’s seventh wife (eight marriages), Shawn, looked half his age – and she’s 52. 
• At Dallas on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

- JOHN ROHDE

Prior to Friday night’s game against Golden State, Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant approached television commentator Matt Steinmetz of CSNBAYAREA.COM and asked some questions about the alleged controversy between Durant and teammate Russell Westbrook.

Here is what transpired, according to Steinmetz.

Thunder reserve forward Nick Collison will be writing blogs for GQ.com throughout the 2011-12 season. He has posted two entries so far. The second appeared four days ago. Much like on the basketball court, Collison’s work for GQ has been superb.

You can find Collison’s work at “Balls Out” here. Here is the opening paragraph for his Jan. 20 entry. As you can see, Collison did not “bury the lead.” Great stuff.

I’m writing this while sitting on a plane after a game. I just finished eating some delicious teriyaki chicken wings and drinking an Arnold Palmer. My seat is comfortable and covered in leather. I have about four feet of legroom between my seat and our shooting guard James Harden, who is sitting at a hardwood table playing cards with three other guys. I have wi-fi, and I’m listening to the new Roots album. The previous ninety minutes were spent finishing off a win, sitting for ten minutes in a portable cold tub (think: inflatable kiddie pool with 50 degree water), then a shower, a quick security screening, a short bus ride, and a walk onto one of the chartered Delta Planes we always fly on. A U-Haul truck filled with the bags of personal stuff and equipment of our 42-person traveling party has already been loaded into the belly of the Airbus 319 that comfortably takes us to the next city. (Our travel party includes fifteen players, seven bench coaches, one video guy, and a training staff consisting of two strength coaches, a trainer, a physical therapist, plus two PR guys, an equipment manager and his assistant. The rest of the group includes our general manager and a couple other front office guys, as well as our local TV and radio crew.) When we land we will hop on a bus and head to a beautiful Four Seasons Hotel. Our bags will be delivered to our rooms, which we do not have to share with a roommate.

This is how NBA teams travel, and it is awesome.”