Monday Bolts – 11.3.14
Andrew Gilman of Fox Sports Southwest: “Weird doesn’t explain it. The Thunder played a zone defense and did it with the gusto of a 15-seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Brooks coached like he had to win. The team played like it, too. So what if OKC has to play without Westbrook and Durant for at least the next month. So what if they struggle to match the intensity of Saturday night, counting on baskets and stops from guys like Lance Thomas and Andre Roberson. For now, it’s worth enjoying and it’s OK to say it.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Limiting turnovers also was a key factor. The Thunder had only one giveaway in the first quarter and a mere five at the half, when OKC had constructed its improbable 22-point cushion. The ball security allowed the Thunder to maximize possessions and increase the odds of scoring. The toughest part will be replicating the same energy, effort and execution for 48 minutes every night. Forget the physical demands. Conjuring up the emotional and mental strength it takes to sustain a high level of play always is extremely difficult.”
Bethlehem Shoals of GQ: “I can’t lie, it’s a little disappointing to admit that I might have been seeing the Russell Westbrook I wanted to see, not the full player or person. It’s the most predictable sin of fandom, the transformation of athletes into symbols or stories to serve our own purposes. You could argue that the basketball evidence supported my conclusions. But that kind of raw information, whether statistical or anecdotal, always begs interpretation and there it depends on how much credit we’re willing to give players, how much we want to believe they are a certain way between the ears. Athletes may be fundamentally unknowable to us; we’re sometimes forced to admit that we fill in the gaps and take liberties.”
Kevin Nesgoda of Denver Stiffs: “It never seemed like the Nuggets were there all night. They were slow on their defensive rotations all night, playing under screens, leaving the Thunder wide open for jumpers, over playing guys who can’t shoot and then getting burned for an easy layup or dunk. On offense there was zero ball movement, on most possessions it was one pass, contested shot, brick, Thunder rebound and they score. The Nuggets must have thought that they were playing a rec league team from Loveland or something, because that was the type of effort that we saw tonight. The Thunder were missing three of their best four players and the I think the Nuggets just thought they were going to roll over and die.”
Brook Lopez is looking to return tonight.
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post: “But if the Thunder can’t do better than, say, 6-14 or 7-13 while Durant and Westbrook miss approximately 20 games (barring setbacks), it would leave them having to go on a ridiculous streak just to squeak into the playoffs out West. And a playoff miss would move the Thunder one step closer to the summer of 2016 without a championship, one step closer to the potential of a complete collapse — Durant choosing another franchise once he hits free agency. This would have seemed unfathomable before the Harden trade. The Thunder had a young core of four All-Star-caliber players, poised to run the league for years to come. But after making a deal because they had a long-term plan they believed in, the Thunder could be about to learn the hard way that failing to seize opportunities in the NBA can have very real consequences.”
Berry Tramel: “Who would have guessed that? The Thunder can’t keep that up without Jackson. Telfair has been valiant the last two games, playing about 38 minutes a night. He can’t seem to shoot a lick, four of 28 this season, but he’s got 18 assists and three turnovers. Telfair is hanging tough, which is all you can ask from a third-team point guard who was playing in China last year and now is going mano-mano with Chris Paul and Ty Lawson. That can’t last. The Thunder needs Westbrook. The Thunder needs Jackson, starting Monday night in Brooklyn. The Thunder needs Telfair to stay out of foul trouble. And as a last resort, the Thunder needs anyone who ever stepped in some manure.”
