November 11 2012

Switchin it up here. I found that the whole highlights expedition, game story commenting & talking about what I wanted to talk about from the games was just wearing on a bit too much so here’s my new style that will free up (hopefully) more time for fun posts (like the Miami one)

ORL-BKN

JJ Redick has really been more of a playmaker this year. His high for a season (and consequently, a career) is 2.5 assists (from last season). He had 4.6 apg going into the Nets game where he had 9 dimes. This isn’t from the Nets game but it is a nice pass by JJ.

Kris Humphries had 14 points & 21 rebounds for Brooklyn

ATL-LAC

Matt Barnes was the Clippers leading rebounder…why?

Is this the greatest in & out move ever? Well the Hawks defense sure acted like it.

Eric Bledsoe put the moves on. It reminded me of Dragic’s shake move. Which in turn reminded me of the dream shake (actually, it reminded me of Dragic’s move, Steph Curry’s move, Sam Cassell’s ball fake which he picked up from Hakeem, who picked it up from Pete Maravich but that’s lengthy & I’d wanna find a clip of each one)

CLE-OKC

Russell Westbrook & Kevin Durant actually took the same amount of shots this game (from the field anyway)(16). Westbrook had 27 points (10-16 FGs), 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steal BUT 8 turnovers.

MIA-MEM

Wayne Ellington played like he was back at UNC. I say that because he hit 7 3’s against Miami. He led the Grizzlies in scoring with 25 (7-11 from deep, yes, I know) with an absurd plus/minus of +36

SAC-LAL

Dwight Howard took full advantage of DeMarcus Cousins’ (ridiculous) absence with 23 points, 18 rebounds & 3 blocked shots.

I know Kobe is waiting on Phil Jackson to make his decision but honestly, this isn’t going to entice him.

November 9 2012 Part II

DET-OKC

Greg Monroe followed up his triple-double with yet another good night: 14 points (6-15 from the floor), 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks but did commit 4 turnovers.

Rook watch: Andre Drummond led the Pistons in scoring with 22 points on 8-10 shooting, with 1 block, 1 steal & 8 rebounds (5 offensive) for good measure in 20 minutes.

This game marked the first game all season that Russell Westbrook took less shots than KD. (16 vs 10)

Kevin Durant had 25 points (9-16 FGs) and 13 rebounds

Serge Ibaka had a career high 25 points (9-13) with 7 rebounds & 3 blocks. If you want a breakdown, Serge got assisted on 78% of his shots (7 baskets) and chipped in 6 from the line.

Kendrick Perkins had a career high 6 assists. 4 of those were to, you guessed it, Serge Ibaka. Feed the hot hand!

IND-MIN

George Hill led the Pacers with 29 points on 11-17 shooting with 5 rebounds & 7 assists

David West was a force with 19 (8-16), 13 rebounds (6 offensive), 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers.

The Wolves had a balanced scoring night: 9 of the 10 players scored got 6 or more points but everyone who got on the floor scored tonight. Malcolm Lee had 2 points but clearly those 2 were important because of the margin of victory.

A little play breakdown here:

It looked like the play was for Kirilenko to go 1 on 1 (with the score tied, there’s nothing to lose). Budinger came off a screen from AK & after that, Kirilenko came off a screen from Cunningham. Andrei made a great read on a cut by Budinger when he noticed Gerald Green absolutely fell asleep on this play.

DEN-UTA

Kosta Koufos outplayed Javale McGee for the first time all season with 15 points (6-8), 10 rebounds, 2 steals & 3 blocks in 25 minutes. Compare that to McGee’s 4 points (2-8), 1 block & 5 rebounds in 18 minutes.

Corey Brewer was the high scorer tonight for Denver with 20 points (7-14) & 2 steals in only 20 minutes.

The dynamic duo of Paul Millsap & Al Jefferson did not play well. 15 points (6-20), 16 rebounds and 1 block.

Thankfully for Utah, Enes Kanter & Derrick Favors did: 23 points (9-16), 17 rebounds & 8 rejections between em.

Andre Miller, the patron saint of the oop, had his usual night: 6 points (2-6 FGs), 3 rebounds, 7 assists & 2 blocks. Yeah. Here’s one of em

CLE-PHX

Marcin Gortat’s double-double streak is broken but he is still dominating the league in blocks. 12 points (4-6), 8 rebounds, 3 steals & 5 blocked shots.

The Suns overcame a 26 point deficit to get the W.

Andy Varejao had 14 points (5-12), 10 rebounds, 3 assists & 2 steals.

Kyrie Irving scored 17 points (mostly from the foul line with 8-9 FTs), 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block but SEVEN turnovers.

I don’t know if people will appreciate this play as much as I do but great off hand pass by Mike Beasley

SA-SAC

How old is Tim Duncan actually? 23 points (9-12 from the floor), 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals & 4 blocks, really? How is he?

The Spurs won despite losing the turnover battle (20 vs the Kings’ 11) & getting outworked in the middle (40 points in the paint vs Sactown’s 50).

DeMarcus Cousins had a great rip, run & rumble on the rim.

GSW-LA

Steph Curry with the crazy shot in traffic:

In response to LA firing Mike Brown & ditching the Princeton, that’s dumb. The Princeton works fine, ask Adelman’s Kings or Eddie Jordan’s Wizards (sure, not champions, but they did win A LOT). It’s a system that allows for the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts. Early on, the Lakers’ age really showed when they went to execute it but that doesn’t mean scrap everything you worked for all training camp. You know, people compare this super team to Miami but those guys played together and established chemistry while on the Redeem Team & still struggled to get it going early on. Nash got hurt. Kobe’s playing hurt. Dwight’s trying to round into form. If you think that ditching the Princeton is the best thing, then do so, but don’t blame that for the lack of wins.

November 8 2012

OKC-CHI

You know how they say that big time players don’t have back-to-back bad games? Well if for whatever reason you still consider Carlos Boozer a (relatively) big time player, cross him off. He’s gone just 29% from the floor the last 3 games. He tallied 9 points (3-9 shooting), 11 rebounds and a team-high 5 turnovers.

Not pictured: the answer to Chicago’s problems

Russell Westbrook had 16 points but needed 22 shots to get there & only got to the foul line once (1-1). He did have 12 assists though.

Kevin Durant continues to get outshot by Westbrook (22 vs KD’s 19). Durant went 7-15 through the first 3 quarters but finished with 4-4 from the floor in the close final frame to seal the W. To his 21 points he added 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks and game high 6 TOs.

Luol Deng lead Chicago with 27.

There was an interesting moment where it seemed like the Thunder had a designed play to get Serge Ibaka a three. I say designed but it might have just turned out that way: a high pick and roll with Westbrook and Nick Collison with Kevin Martin on the wing & Durant & Ibaka in the corners. Westbrook’s penetration sucked in Noah (who was sagging way off of Serge anyway) for an open Ibaka three in the corner. I take note of that because I saw it in last week’s game against the Spurs also.

The Bulls starting five (although it should be noted that Hinrich only had 1) generated 16 of the team’s 20 turnovers.

The Thunder, on the other hand, had a more balanced approach: 7 players had 2 or more turnovers led by KD’s 6. But hey, KD’s comes through when you need him, right?

Serge Ibaka had 21 points, 9 rebounds & 4 blocked shots, including this one where he beats Boozer’s soft stuff with remarkable effort:

LAC-POR

Damian Lillard had a solid night against (arguably) the best point guard in the league today: 16 points on 6-13 shooting, 4 assists & 3 steals. Does this kid know how to read the pick and roll or what? Here he is with a great spin out of the double to finish with an And-1

LaMarcus Aldridge struggled this game with 14 points on 7-17 shooting with just 4 rebounds and 5 assists. He picked up two fouls early on and failed to get back in the groove the rest of the game.

Nic Batum made up for Aldridge though: 23 points on 6-18 FG, 8-12 from the line, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Although, I think Batum would have scored more if Ryan Hollins was always checking him

Chris Paul led his team to a W with his 21 points (9-17 from the floor) with 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. He kept exploiting the rookie (who played good defense), scoring 7 of his 9 field goals with Lillard defending.

Ultimately, the Clippers just beat on the Blazers inside, outscoring them 56-30 in the paint and outbanging em 44-31 on the boards. Although, Meyers Leonard won the battle of the bigs off the bench with this:

November 6 2012

Aka the Election Day special.

ORL-CHI

Blue vs Red for control of Chicago. Well, not really because Illinois turned blue in a hurry but the Orlando Magic did come into the CHI undefeated.

As with the battle of blue vs red, it took the loser a little while to concede, fighting to stay in it as long as possible. It was a 4 point game with 4 minutes left to go in the 4th.

Joakim Noah had 20 points on 7-13 shooting, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots.

Arron Afflalo led Orlando with 28 points (10-17), 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds but had an awful night, getting 5 of his shot blocks and many altered, going just 7-22 from the field. Joakim accounted for 4 of those 5 blocks, here are a pair of those:

It probably didn’t help Big Baby that this happened either (with Booz’ offhand mind you)

TOR-OKC

Well, the bickering and the egos gone wild seem to have stopped, at least for one game. Oklahoma City had 6 players in double-digit scoring. Eric Maynor fell just short with 9.

Speaking of Eric Maynor, he only had 2 assists and while most people won’t appreciate the laser he fired to Nick Collison, I trust people here will.

Russell Westbrook has outshot Kevin Durant in every game this season. To clarify, I mean in each and every game played, Russ has taken more shots than the 3x scoring champ. 19 points on 5-12 shooting, 2-4 from 3, with 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 block.

Serge Ibaka, who only missed one shot (8-9) for 17 points, actually accounted for 6 of Westbrook’s 8 dimes. The other two? You guessed it, Kevin Durant.

KD had 15 points (4-11 from the field, 1-4 from deep), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals but did turn the ball over 4 times. Then again, when you baptize a rook like he did, you can go 4-11.

Lost in the shuffle is how well Thabo Sefolosha played. 3 for 3 from long range in the first quarter to finish with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block & 2 assists, including a criminally underrated no look pass to Ibaka, makes for a VERY good night.

DET-DEN

Greg Monroe had the game we’ve been waiting on this young season: 27 points on 10-20 shooting, 7-7 from the foul line, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.

6 players scored in double-digits tonight for the Nuggets. Andre Miller & Danilo Gallinari each fell just short with 8.

Speaking of Gallo, he continues to struggle mightily from the field. He came into this game shooting just 8-31 from the field. A plus, as Rob Mahoney states, has been that he seems to recognize his poor shooting and has gotten to the charity stripe 25 times (making 17) to compensate. He picked up right where he left off, going 3-11 but failing to get to the line this game. Luckily for him, the Nuggets didn’t need to lean on him this game. The Nuggets need him to take better care of the ball though (4 turnovers this game vs just once through the first two games).

JaVale McGee (a player who is not starting even though he’s KILLING his competition in Kosta Koufos) had 16 points, 3 rebounds (surprise, surprise, all offensive boards) & 3 blocks in just 18 minutes of play. If you’re wondering where he’s getting his points: putbacks (4 points) & basically lobs from the PGs (Miller had 4 dimes to him, Lawson had 1 for 10). Here’s two plays that boil down his night:and whatever this is

Brandon Knight has continued to be turnover plagued. In his last two games, he’s generated just 4 points but coughed up the rock 9 times. He’s saved by the fact that he’s been penetrating and dishing though, racking up 15 assists in those two games.

Andre Iguodala led the way with 17 points (6-15 FG, 3-6 from outside), 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.

BONUS: Laphonso Ellis was in the building last night to present the game ball. Here’s hoping he reenacted this right before he handed it off

November 4 2012

Today had a bunch of fun so let’s get to it:

PHI-NYK

Jason Kidd continues to be WILDLY effective. Starting at the 2 guard for the 2nd straight game, he picked up 12 points on 4-8 shooting, 2-5 from deep and 2-2 at the line. He added 3 boards, 6 assists, 3 steals and never once turned the ball over in 25 minutes of action.

Pablo Prigioni scored the first basket of his NBA career. He did just score the one basket though, finishing with 2 points, 2 steals and 4 assists in just 15 minutes.

JR Smith led his squad in rebounding with 9, he also dropped in 20 points on 8-15 shooting (4-5 from 3 point land) and 2 steals.

Jrue Holiday played well for the 76ers with his 27 points, on 11-18 from the field & 5-6 from the great beyond, 7 assists and a steal but he did turn the ball over 6 times.

The Knicks fan chanted for Sheed again. They were rewarded. Rasheed Wallace scored 3 points again, this time from going 1-2 at the line and dropping in a jump hook in the lane, which I got right here: 

MIN-TOR

Kyle Lowry & DeMar DeRozan had nearly identical stat lines: 22 points, 3 steals, 7 rebounds and 2 turnovers. The only difference was the DeRozan dished 2 assists while Lowry got 5. Both also hit 8 shots from the field (DeMar 8-14, Lowry 8-10)

Alan Anderson came off the bench to score 18 points. He also lead the team in the plus/minus category with a +20. If you’ve been following his career, good. If not, Anderson won the Spanish King’s Cup MVP Award 2 seasons ago. Past winners include Pau Gasol, Rudy Fernandez (twice), Jorge Garbajosa & Pablo Prigioni. Here’s a little bit of him showing out back in 2009:

Andrea Bargnani’s rebounding numbers plummeted this game, which is made even more impressive by the fact that he’s gotten only 3 rebounds in each of the past two games. Drea pulled in just 1 board.

On the subject of rebounds, no one broke double-digits in the rebounding category. Lowry & DeRozan had a team high 7 while Derrick Williams of the Wolves had a game high 8.

Then again, maybe I’m wrong about Andrea. Maybe the reason Kyle Lowry, Toronto’s starting PG (and an entire foot shorter than Bargnani) is outrebounding their starting center is because he keeps ripping em away like this:

PHX-ORL

The Orlando Magic are undefeated. Let me say that again: the Orlando Magic are undefeated. JJ Redick led the way for the Magic with 24 points on 9-14 shooting, including 3-4 from deep and 3-4 from the line, he also added 6 assists.

The Magic had 3 players score 20+ points: JJ Redick (24), Arron Afflalo (22) & Glen Davis (22). Nikola Vucevic fell just short with his 18.

E’Twaun Moore started in place of the injured Jameer Nelson and played well. Moore scored 15 points on 6-11 shooting (3-3 from 3), 6 assists & 3 steals.

Marcin Gortat played well for the Suns again with 14 points (7-12 FGs), 11 rebounds (7 on offense) and 4 blocks.

The combo of Beasley & Scola accounted for 46 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists & 3 blocked shots.

Have you ever seen a player go 1 vs 3 and thought he made a good play? Well, I don’t know that this’ll change your mind but it sure worked for him:

ATL-OKC

Kevin Durant did everything tonight for the Thunder: 22 points (7-14 FG, 1-4 from deep, 7-8 FTs), 12 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks but also 6 turnovers.

Zaza Pachulia had a unique stat line: 6 points (3-5), 6 rebounds & 6 assists.

Russell Westbrook had more shot attempts than KD for the 3rd straight game, going 5-18 including 2-6 from the great beyond. He did add 5 boards & 9 assists but turned the ball over thrice.

While we’re on that subject, Westbrook’s shot attempts have steadily gone up every season he’s been in the league and it if he continues playing the way he’s been playing, this’ll be the season he finally outguns the 3x scoring champ (he outshot KD these past playoffs but not by a lot). It’s worked out well for them so far right?

Kevin Martin is clearly feeling more comfortable in his new uniform. 28 points (8-11 shooting, 6-8 3’s, 6-6 FTs) but there’s always room for improvement (4 turnovers).

Al Horford was the man for Atlanta tonight with 23 points (11-19 FG), 12 rebounds (6 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. One of his easier baskets came at about 3:03 left in the 4th when Russell Westbrook committed one of basketball’s cardinal sins: don’t save the ball under your own basket.

Jeff Teague had a monster dunk that was called a charge in his last game. This one wasn’t waved off though:

DET-LAL

Well, it finally happened. The Lakers won their first game. They were locked in from the get-go and never let the Pistons lead.

A team with a front court featuring Dwight Howard & Pau Gasol finally did what they were supposed to: dominate the paint. The Lakers had 56 points inside compared to the Pistons’ 34 and outrebounded them 46-33. Pau & Dwight also blocked 3 shots apiece.

The man in the middle for LA finished shooting 12-14 from the field (4-9 from the line) for 28 points, 1 more than the entire Pistons starting 5 put together. He also had 7 rebounds (including 4 on offense), 2 steals, 3 blocks and 4 turnovers.

Steve Blake was also a force with 6 points (2-4 FG, 2-3 3’s), 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals.

Jonas Jerebko was the leader for the Pistons off the bench with 18 points.

Kobe Bryant had 8 assists in the first half. He finished with 15 points (5-10 from the field, 3-5 from deep and 2-2 at the line), 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 8 assists. Yes. He didn’t pick up a single dime in the 2nd half. It’s a shame he couldn’t just have done this twice more for a double-double

November 2 2012 Part II

Right back in it:

UTA-NOH

I’m sure you know about Anthony Davis’ possible concussion by this point so I don’t need to speak to that. I will talk about how he was on his way to having A GAME: 8 points (4-6 shooting), 6 rebounds (2 offensive), 1 steal & 2 blocks in 14 minutes is pretty good.

You’d think that with Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors & Paul Millsap (and with the Unibrow out for New Orleans), Utah would dominate the paint. They didn’t. The Hornets outscored the Jazz 56-36 inside.

Greivis Vasquez had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 13 assists and missed the three pointer late to put them up against the Spurs last game but he sure made up for it this game. 13 points including the game winning layup, 4 boards & 10 assists.

Austin Rivers went 1-9 from the field but 5-6 from the line for 7 points, 2 assists & 3 turnovers in his debut against San Antonio. His decision making improved somewhat this game picking up 2 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. Those two points came from the free throw line so that means that this remains Austin’s ONLY field goal in the NBA:

POR-OKC

Kevin Durant has been working on his rebounding and passing. KD had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists against San Antonio & continued against the Blazers with 23 points, 17 rebounds & 7 dimes. Hopefully at this rate, we’ll see a 30-20-10 game.

This was the battle of the point guards. The battle of the number 0. As a rookie point guard (and my pick for ROY), Damian Lillard help up pretty well against the most explosive (and arguably best 2 way point when he plays smart) PG in the league in Russell Westbrook. The rook had 21 points on 9-19 shooting, 2-6 from deep (only 1-1 FTs), 7 assists, 1 steal & 1 turnover compared to Westbrook’s 32 (13-24, 0-2 from 3), 5 reb, 6 ast & 1 turnover.

Kevin played way more minutes than Russell (42 to RW’s 35) but got up 10 less shots. KD went 7-14, 8-12 from the line & Russ went 13-24, 6-8 FT. I don’t know about you but when I have the best scorer in the game today, I’d rather have him take more shots than my PG.

SAC-MIN

This game was about Minnesota’s bench. Yes, Brandon Roy & Andrei Kirilenko are back after both missing last season (they combined for 20 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) but Minny’s bench DID WORK. The Wolves bench account for 55 points, which is 3 more than the Kings starting 5 had. If you’re wondering, the Kings bench had 28.

The Kings starting 5 had 23 rebounds & their bench had 20 (Chuck Hayes accounted for 11 of those) for 43 overall. The Wolves brought down 53 boards (the starters had 27, the bench had 26) so they’re making up for Kevin Love by committee.

MIA-NYK

The Knicks were playing inspired basketball, especially Carmelo Anthony, who had 16 points (6-10 from the field, 4-5 from deep) and 4 boards in the 1st quarter and actually looked locked in on the defensive end. Melo cooled off after the hot start, going 1-9 in the 2nd.

After the 1st, it looked like the Melo of old was back, taking contesting jumpers and just forcing shots overall. He shot 4-18 in the last 3 quarters, although 4 of his shots did get blocked. Here are 2 of his better shots because they were actually at the rim:

Pablo Prigioni, the 35 year old rookie point guard (and one of my personal favorites), checked in with 4:20 left to play in the 1st. When he got in the Knicks had 19 points. When he checked out with 8:23 left in the 2nd, the Knicks had 41. Take that as you will.

At one point, the Knicks had a lineup of Prigioni, Jason Kidd, JR Smith, Steve Novak & Kurt Thomas. They didn’t score very much but the ball movement for this group was very impressive. I don’t know that we’ll see this group again but I certainly hope we do.

There was also this gem: 

DET-PHX

Marcin Gortat was impressive this game with 16 points, 16 rebounds & 3 blocked shots.

Phoenix only had 15 assists all game. They won so it’s hard to argue with the results but 15 assists just isn’t enough I feel, especially not when 10 of them come from Goran Dragic.

Correct me if I’m wrong on this one but Sebastian Telfair took the last shot in the game against the Warriors right? Why was he even out on the floor then? When you’ve got guys like Jared Dudley, Dragic, Luis Scola & Mike Beasley (I didn’t include Gortat because Telfair took a 3 & I’m not entirely comfortable with him taking 3’s), why would you need him out there? Well, whatever the reason, Alvin Gentry had him out there last night too. He went in for Gortat to stretch the lead at the line with under 5 seconds to go but I still want to know why Gentry trusts him. I watched A LOT of Alvin & his Suns over the years so I know he knows what he’s doing but I’m just not confident with Bassie in the clutch.

Speaking of assists coming from your starting point guard, Brandon Knight accounted for 10 of the Pistons 20 dimes.

The stat of the night is obviously rebounding: the Suns banged on the boards and brought down 52 compared to the Pistons’ 39.

Andre Drummond hasn’t been getting very much playing time but today he made the most of em: 5 points (2-3 FGs) 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in 18.5 minutes.

MEM-GSW

The Grizzlies starting 5 nearly out-rebounded the ENTIRE Warriors team. Zach Randolph had 14, Marc Gasol had 6, Rudy Gay had 8 & Mike Conley & Tony Allen had 3 apiece for 34. The boys from the bay pulled in 36.

Stephen Curry was looking good last night. In the Warriors first game, Steph went 2-14 but  against the Grizz, he got 26 points on 10-20 shooting, 6-10 from deep (but he did miss his only free throw attempt, I’m NOT okay with Curry missing free throws).

I don’t know if anyone else is interested but I wanted to do a Steph Curry/Klay Thompson vs Brandon Jennings/Monta Ellis stat line: the Warriors duo had 37 points & 12 assists (with 5 turnovers) compared to the Ellis/Jennings line of 35 points & 17 assists (with 4 turnovers).

LAC-LAL

What can be said about the Lakers? Well, Kobe Bryant & Dwight Howard combined for half (6 & 4 respectively) of the Lakers 20 turnovers. On the opposite end, Chris Paul & Jamal Crawford accounted for 3 steals apiece, which is good for half of the Clippers 12 thefts.

Pau Gasol took only 9 shots this game, with no shots at the foul line. There’s been a decline every game in his attempts. He went 8-19 (6-8 FTs) against Dallas, 7-14 (2-2 FTs) against Portland and 5-9 (0 FTs) against the Clippers. I know Kobe had 40 & Dwight had 33 the game before that but COME ON, get Pau the ball more.

Chris Paul had a crazy statline: 18 points (7-15) 15 assists, 6 rebounds & 3 steals. That’s not fair.

Have you ever seen someone basically kick the net after a dunk? Well, DeAndre Jordan’s got something for you:

OKC – San Antonio

A couple of things from the OKC-San Antonio Game:

Let’s get this out of the way right away. The highlight of this game sans Parker’s heroics is Pops: 

There was a moment at 7:40 in the 1st when Westbrook kicked the ball out to Ibaka for a 3 with 16 seconds left on the shot clock. I desperately want to understand why.

Russell Westbrook was posting up early and often. His teammates did a great job feeding him but nothing came of it.

Kevin Martin checked in with 4:07 left to play in the 1st and played all but 3.2 seconds of the 2nd. That’s 16 straight minutes after being with the team less than 48 hours. That’s not bad.

Nothing Kevin Martin related happened until he made a great backdoor cut while KD whipped in a bounce pass to thread to needle to pick up a foul, two shots and Martin’s first points as a member of the Thunder.

A big thing that OKC’s second unit did well the last couple of seasons was pair James Harden & Nick Collison on side pick and rolls. Kevin Martin ran a few side picks and rolls with Collison and there may be potential there. The first time they ran it, Martin got Collison a jump hook in the lane. The next few times didn’t result in anything but there’s something in having Martin create instead of having to play off the ball with the second unit like he has to with the first.

Tim Duncan is a man on a mission. For those of you that missed it, Timmy put Serge Ibaka in, around, over and through a poster: 

There was a great moment of awkwardness in the basketball world when Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins ran a two man game near the top of the key that resulted in very little. It ended with a missed pull up jumper from Thabo with his foot on the 3 point line. Scott Brooks never wants to see that ever again. No one does.

When Westbrook got taken out after his fifth turnover, Eric Maynor immediately made his presence felt with this gem: 

Kawhi Leonard had 5 steals against the Hornets last night. He got 5 again tonight, including his late game strip of Durant as he came off a staggered screen with 7.9 seconds left to play. KD & Westbrook looked like they were going through the motions and it costs them a W.

Obviously people will talk about Parker’s heroics and how impressive they were but we shouldn’t gloss over the fact that Westbrook’s mental fortitude was just as underwhelming. He basically watched as Diaw saved the ball and got TP the ball for that game tying 3. I don’t even know how to put into words what he does on the last play. Let me know if you can. 

Overall, you take the good (8 rebounds including 3 offensive & 5 assists) with the bad (6-21 shooting, 0-3 from deep & 6 turnovers) with Westbrook. As someone who loves sharing the rock and watching the wealth get spread, I dislike Russell’s ball pounding. I dislike it even more when you consider that you’ve got one of the all-time great scorers in the game in Kevin Durant just a pass away.