Monday Bolts – 11.23.15
What is Kevin Durant’s relationship with Russell Westbrook really like? “Yes, you can watch them on the court and make certain assumptions about them based on how they behave towards one another. But no one knows how they interact when they’re behind closed doors, so it’s impossible to say what their relationship is actually like. KD talked specifically about the media members who have tried to drive a wedge between him and Westbrook. He doesn’t appreciate it when people say things like, “KD hates Westbrook because Westbrook takes too many shots.”
From The Dallas Morning News: “The Mavericks had a 108-104 lead, but Dion Waiters scored five of the points in a 7-0 OKC run. The last two came when he stole a handoff pass by Zaza Pachulia and completed a one-man fast break with a layup and a 111-108 lead. (Bonus) Westbrook took it on himself at the end. He stared down Zaza Pachulia and rose up for an 18-foot jumper that made it 117-114 with 24 seconds left. The Mavericks never scored down the stretch.”
Tim MacMahon: “Dirk Nowitzki after the Mavs’ winning streak was snapped: “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We knew that before we won six in a row. Weve got to play hard. Weve got to play together. … Weve got to defend, weve got to rebound and I like our chances against anybody.”
More from Tim McMahon: “Dirk Nowitzki was not necessarily too disappointed that his Dallas Mavericks had their winning streak snapped at six games on Sunday evening.“You know, sometimes a loss is not the worst thing in the world,” Nowitzki said after the Mavs’ 117-114 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. “Get everybody’s focus back.” Details matter for Dallas, a 9-5 team that has emerged as the West’s most pleasant early surprise, especially considering the low external preseason expectations for the remodeled Mavs. As the second-oldest team in the league, the Mavs rarely have an advantage in athleticism. They’ll almost always have an intelligence edge, however.”
Berry Tramel: “The Mavericks started making shots. A 15-footer by Zaza Pachulia, which by definition is an open shot. Three-pointers by Wes Matthews and Deron Williams. A drive by Chandler Parsons. A 15-footer by Dirk Nowitzki. “Every Dallas starter scored in the first three minutes of the third quarter, and the Mavs didn’t stop there. They kept shooting and kept making. When finally Devin Harris’ 3-point shot found nothing but Anthony Morrow’s hands, the Mavericks had made their first 10 shots of the second half. An eight-point Thunder lead had become a 10-point deficit, and the heads in Chesapeake Arena not shaking were being scratched.”
Have you guys heard about or seen “The Kiwi Way” thing the Thunder did on Steven Adams? I guess it aired sometime over the weekend but I really don’t know. Anyway, you can watch it here and look at pictures here. I’ll definitely be checking it out since I was on the same flight to SFO with Nick Gallo and the rest of the crew when they were headed to New Zealand. I was traveling with our then 10-month-old and we lost a shoe. But Big Game Gallo came to the rescue.
