Preseason Thoughts: Thunder 118, Mavericks 109
The Thunder bounced back big time with an impressive — oh I can’t do this. The Thunder beat the Mavs 118-109 in their second preseason game. There were a few notable things that happened, including Reggie Jackson leaving early with an injured wrist, which is going to cause a stressful weekend.
Five thoughts:
- So… Steven Adams. He put up 14 points in less than a quarter in Denver, finishing with 15 on 7-8 shooting in 21 minutes. Tonight, he went for 19 on 8-9 shooting in 29 minutes, adding five rebounds, four steals and three blocks (and five fouls). He’s got such good touch from inside six feet, catching and finishing beautifully out of the pick-and-roll. I don’t have to tell you, but this is something the Thunder haven’t had, well, ever from a center. With that kind of catch-and-finish ability, Adams gives the Thunder a completely new offensive dimension. He has really good hands, keeps the ball high and gets it up on the rim softly. And then he showed of a slick lefty baby hook early in the fourth quarter which had me changing pants immediately.
- Jeremy Lamb’s hair looked less bad tonight! After his horrendous 1-14 outing against the Nuggets, Lamb put up 19 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals in 30 minutes. Still shot just 6-15 from the field and 2-5 from 3, but he has shown a better ability at drawing fouls and getting to the line. Last season he attempted a total of 64 free throws in more than 1,500 minutes. In two preseason games, he’s taken 19 free throws in 67 minutes. That’s going from 0.04 free throws per minute to 0.3. That’s a good improvement so far. It’s a good thing everyone didn’t decide he sucks after one poor preseason game.
- Breath officially on hold for Reggie Jackson. He had to leave the game early after taking an ugly fall on an impressive and-1 finish, favoring his right arm. He stayed in to shoot his free throw, but immediately doubled over and checked out of the game. It’s being called a right wrist injury with more evaluation coming in OKC this weekend. Oh boy.
- Anthony Morrow showed a little of what an underrated pickup he might be. He led the Thunder in scoring tonight with 21, hitting 4-of-7 from deep. He put the ball on the floor some and tried to do a few more things than just spot up from 3. And he spent most of his minutes on the floor with the second and third units. Hopefully as preseason goes on he sees more time with Westbrook and Durant.
- Couple quick hitters: Always good times to listen to opposing announcers attempt to dissect Russell Westbrook, talking about how he plays too fast to be a point guard and question whether he should change positions… There were 68 combined fouls called in this game, and 85 free throws attempted. EXACTLY what you want to see in a meaningless preseason game… Perry Jones started at power forward in place of Mitch McGary and Serge Ibaka (sprained ankle). Nothing all that notable from him… Andre Roberson hit a 3! And didn’t let up any on the energy, pulling in eight boards and adding four assists in 26 minutes.
Next up: Tuesday at home against the Grizzlies
