Tuesday Bolts – 3.1.16
Anthony Slater: “Enes Kanter rose up for a 19-footer with two minutes left on Monday
night, providing the only sliver of late-game drama in a sleepy Sleep Train Arena. With a jumper toward the fringe of his range, Kanter was risking his perfect night. But the shot rattled in and then Billy Donovan subbed Kanter out. He finished as the only player in the NBA this season to make at least 11 field goals without a miss. And so it went for the Thunder in a much-needed 131-116 road win over struggling Sacramento.”
Berry Tramel on the Warriors game: “But the Thunder can draw strength from this game. A team really wants three things to be prevalent going into the playoffs: Health. You need your guys. Champions rarely are crowned with key players on the disabled list. Season habits. Doing the right thing — defensive rotations, moving the ball, blocking out — are not something teams decide to do. Those are learned behaviors. You learn them over the 5-1/2 months of the regular season. Playing well going into the postseason. The playoffs are no time to find your groove. Finding your groove in March is much preferable to finding your groove in mid-April.”
J.A Adande of ESPN.com: “Magic Johnson’s versatility and eventual breaking of Robertson’s assists record kept Oscar in the news, though. More recently, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook’s stat lines harkened back to Robertson’s numbers. Now Curry is taking the game to previously unoccupied territory, away from Robertson and everyone else who came before him.”
Stein has OKC fourth: “Thursday’s rematch in Oakland gives the Thunder an immediate opportunity to prove they haven’t been spooked for good against Golden State after what happened Saturday night. Yet it’s clear OKC, having dropped four of five, has been rocked by recent events. And understandably so, given the tragedy (Monty Williams) and injury (Mo Cheeks) that have robbed coach Billy Donovan of his top two assistants.”
NBA.com has OKC third: “Curry broke their hearts, but the Thunder gave us one good reason why they may be the Warriors’ toughest matchup. If the champs can’t get defensive rebounds, they can’t get into transition, where they have a league-high effective field goal percentage of 65.9 percent. OKC’s 16 offensive boards only produced 15 second chance points on Saturday, but gave Golden State something to be concerned about going forward.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com has OKC eighth: “Their defense is setting off all kinds of alarms, and their lack of composure in the biggest game of the year Saturday was equally concerning. Failing to call timeout when trapped? Throwing that kind of pass? Fouling Andre Iguodala down two? Risking the sixth foul on the Curry drive? Billy Donovan and Kevin Durant teamed up for a How-To guide for screwing up a huge game.”
