Tuesday Bolts – 1.5.16

Anthony Slater: “With 36 seconds left, Westbrook took the inbounds after a Cousins layup and

raced upcourt with clear intentions on getting a two-for-one. But the execution was peculiar. Without stopping his momentum, Westbrook pulled up from a few feet behind the line and launched an off-balance, line-drive 3 that ricocheted hard off the rim. The Kings grabbed the rebound, milked the clock and scored with four seconds left. That left only enough time for Dion Waiters to race into the frontcourt and fire up another errant pull-up 3. OKC got two shots. But they were both low-percentage misses. Sacramento got one shot. But it was a well-executed layup. The sequence was a microcosm of the third quarter, which the Kings won 22-16 to create enough separation to stave off some mini-rallies in the fourth.”

Berry Tramel on the bench: “So seems clear that balanced scoring is not the ticket to NBA success. In fact, the team whose scoring most closely mirrors the Thunder? Golden State. Steph Curry averages 29.7, Klay Thompson 20.1, Draymond Green 15.1 and Harrison Barnes 13.4. Then comes Festus Ezeli 8.5, Andre Igoudala 7.9, Shaun Livingston 6.3, Leandro Barbosa 6.0, Andrew Bogut 5.6, Marreese Speights 5.1, Ian Clark 5.0 and Brandon Rush 4.8.”

What I wrote for ESPN.com after that gross loss.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com: “The two teams in the West that didn’t change coaches, Dallas and San Antonio — although the Spurs sort of set the curve for everything — actually are winning at a better rate at the moment than they did in the 2012-13 season. It is remarkable that, with everything in the Spurs’ sphere that their competitors attempt to mimic or steal, their continuity seems to be least imitated.”

Bullets Forever on Wizards missteps: “If there’s any hope, it lies in the fact that making all the right moves doesn’t guarantee success at the poker table. Players make bad bets and still win sometimes, even against big odds. That’s the state of the union for Wizards fans – hoping that Ernie Grunfeld ends up being that guy that poker pros hate, who bumbles his way into winning big. If Durant does sign on with the Wizards, most will forget Grunfeld’s missteps. But make no mistake – the Wizards are all in Kevin Durant. If he’s not their ace in the hole, the franchise’s future is going to go bust.”

Interesting from Berry Tramel on bench scoring:

J.A. Adande of ESPN.com on LeBron’s social activism: “We have seen James orchestrate photographs expressing solidarity for the slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, and wear an “I can’t breathe” T-shirt to protest the death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York police. So the Tamir Rice case in Cleveland, literally so close to home for James, seemed like the next logical moment for James to speak out. If members of the Missouri football team could help take down the university president and bring other changes to campus, some activists imagined what someone with LeBron’s clout could do. But displeasure with the handling of the case by the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, an elected official, is best handled by voters, not athletes.”

Zach Lowe of ESPN.com on rebounding: “Fittingly, the very changes that appear to be phasing out offensive rebounding — 3s and small ball — are driving coaches to reconsider their approach to it. Kickout 3s immediately after an offensive rebound are among the very best shots in the game. Over the past two seasons, teams have shot about 39.5 percent — well above the league average — on 3s attempted one pass after an offensive rebound, per data from Vantage Sports supplied to ESPN.com. So far this season, teams have nailed about 39 percent of triples launched five or fewer seconds after an offensive rebound, per SportVU data provided to ESPN.com.”