Monday Bolts: 2.12.18

Royce Young on there being no update on Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony: “Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony both sat out their second consecutive game with sprained ankles on Sunday, during the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 110-92 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Westbrook and Anthony were late scratches in both games, going through workouts prior to the Thunder’s game Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers and Sunday’s game against Memphis. Their official status for Tuesday’s game against the remodeled Cleveland Cavaliers is unknown, with an update expected after practice on Monday.”

Nick Gallo recaps last night’s win over Memphis: “That was more of a cushion than the Thunder needed to close this one out, as it maintained at least a 13-point advantage the rest of the night in a 110-92 victory at Chesapeake Energy Arena. After scoring just 81 points without Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony on Thursday night in Los Angeles, the Thunder again came into this one shorthanded. This time, without Westbrook and Anthony but with a different starting lineup and rotation pattern, Head Coach Billy Donovan helped orchestrate a 74-point first half behind a Thunder record-tying 12 made three-pointers over the opening 24 minutes.”

Erik Horne on the Thunder’s three-point barrage that sank the Grizzlies: “Thunder coach Billy Donovan didn’t put that burden on Abrines in a 110-92 win against the Grizzlies. The result was George setting the tone creatively, and the Thunder following suit with a barrage of 3-pointers. The Thunder had 21 assists on 34 made baskets without Westbrook or Carmelo Anthony, who missed their second consecutive game due to ankle sprains. The Thunder had just 16 assists in their first game without Westbrook Thursday. Without Westbrook and Anthony, the Thunder tied its franchise record for 16 made 3-pointers. The Thunder also made 16 on Jan. 29, 2014 at Miami.”

Michael Sykes (SB Nation) on Thunder fans and the “We Want Paul!” chant: “The Lakers have long been connected to Paul George in free agency this summer and Lakers fans joined in on the pursuit with a “We want Paul” chant in the Staples Center on Thursday night. Well, on Sunday night when the Thunder returned to their home arena, Thunder fans had their own chant showing their love to George. They gave him an ovation and a ‘We love Paul’ chant as he shot free throws.”

Berry Tramel on Alex Abrines’ shooting and how it ignited the win over Memphis: “Abrines nailed all four of his first-half 3-point shots and scored 16 first-half points. Abrines was scoreless in the largely-irrelevant second half, but no matter. The Spaniard looked very much like the weapon the Thunder desperately needs from outside. Maybe it’s a good thing he wasn’t traded. Abrines seemed like Sam Presti’s most attractive card to play at the trade deadline last week. And Abrines’ recent hot streak — averaging 9.8 points the four games just before the deadline — only made it more likely that the Thunder might deal Abrines.”

Brandon Richard (Sole Collector) with a look at the “All-Star” colorway of the Nike PG2: “The “All-Star” Nike PG2 sports an Undefeated-like green and black upper featuring mesh and suede panels. Orange adds pop to the collar and a speckle print along the midsole, while an icy translucent sole caps off the look below. The look is said to by inspired by George’s hometown of Palmdale, with green representing the inland city’s desert and dust, while orange is symbolic of it sunsets.”

The Thunder is 9th in ESPN’s latest batch of power rankings: “Not only is Paul George leading the league in steals, he also leads in deflections by a wide margin. According to NBA Advanced Stats, George’s 4.5 deflections per game are 0.6 more than anyone else. The gap between George and second-place Robert Covington is the same as the gap between Covington and Victor Oladipo, who ranks eighth. To go along with a career-high 42 percent shooting from beyond the arc, George has been the NBA’s best 2-way player this season.”

Steven Adams discusses his role alongside the OK3 with Kristen Ledlow of NBA TV:

Kevin Bowen (1070 The Fan) discussed the Paul George trade with Pacers GM, Kevin Pritchard: “Sam Presti is a really good friend of mine. We’ve worked together. Where I got the most heat and truth was I played a couple of years of high school basketball in Oklahoma and my ex-teammates were sending me OKC police tweets and all of that kind of stuff, I favorited the tweet about a couple of weeks ago. It was a little wink back to my buddies, it wasn’t a wink back to Oklahoma City, it was to my buddies. It was funny. I called Sam after that and said, ‘That was to my buddies, that wasn’t to you guys.’ He laughed about it. I think it was a win-win in terms of the trade. Paul is at a place where he has a chance to compete at the highest level against some of the best teams and for us we hit a little bit of the reset button, but Victor (Oladipo) has been at the very least super special for us and somebody we can really build around. Domas is like Hoosier basketball. He’s a lunch pale, hard hat kind of guy. We love that. That’s exactly what we want. What we forget about Domas is that he’s 21 years old.”

Around the League: The new-look Cavs rolled over Boston yesterday…. Paul Pierce had his jersey retired by the Celtics…. Isaiah Thomas says he has his powers back…. Kobe Bryant said he would be protesting the National Anthem if he still played.