Monday Bolts – 2.25.13

Darnell Mayberry: “I couldn’t understand why the Thunder didn’t push the pace in the early stages. After nearly every stop early on, the Thunder walked the ball up the court only to find itself in a much more difficult halfcourt situation. The Bulls are a great defensive team, and part of that is their ability to get back in transition. But the Thunder, it seems, wasn’t even trying to push the tempo.”

Berry Tramel on KD: “Let’s not pretend Durant is in some kind of slump. Not since December has he gone back-to-back games shooting under 50 percent, and even then his percentages were in the mid-40s. But last Wednesday in Houston, when Durant made just four of 13 shots, he still produced just the second triple-double of his career, with 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Similar game Sunday night, and Durant might very well have tripled-doubled again, had the Bulls been courteous enough to make this a ballgame and require Durant to play the fourth quarter.”

Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider writes LeBron might be the NBA’s best jumpshooter: “But this might just be a natural progression. When James took the world by storm out of high school, we wondered what he might look like in his prime. Well, here it is, folks. James is registering 27.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game on 56.7 percent shooting — a stat line that has never been achieved in NBA history. And he now wields one of the best jump shots in the game. We’ve never seen anything like this. So sit back and appreciate what he’s doing because now more than ever, James is a shooting star.”

Is Russell Westbrook a cat or a dog?

Kurt Helin of PBT on Fisher: “If you see a lot of Fisher on the court, it’s not a good thing. He knocked down a few shots but was a defensive liability for the Thunder last year — he averaged 6.3 points a game playing 22 minutes a night, with a PER of 10.4. Now he’s a year older and coming off a knee injury. But as a backup in the locker room he can work. He has been there.”

John Schuhmann of NBA.com has OKC third in power rankings: “It’s kind of amazing that the Thunder have held opponents to the two lowest field goal percentage marks of the season, including the 29 percent that the Bulls shot on Sunday. They’re not nearly the most improved defensive team in the league, but they’re much better on that end than they were last season (when they ranked ninth) and they’ve been pretty darn consistent from month to month.”

Marc Stein of ESPN.com has OKC third too: “After letting James Harden become just the third player in the last 30 years to crack the 45-point plateau against the team he played for in the previous season, it was a handy reminder that the Thunder — no matter how much rollin’ they’ve been doing — won’t be judged until the playoffs.”

David Aldridge of NBA.com: “Nothing wrong with getting Ronnie Brewer from the Knicks, or dealing Eric Maynor to Portland if you think Reggie Jackson is ready to handle the backup point role in the playoffs. But OKC could have used another veteran wing for the title drive — maybe a Hakim Warrick or a Mike Dunleavy, Jr.? –who could help stretch opposing defenses and keep teams from loading up on Durant and Westbrook more than they already are.”