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.