Game Thread GAME# 57: THUNDER @ BLAZERS - FEBRUARY 27, 2015 - FRIDAY, 7:30 PM (PST), ESPN & CSNNW

Yes tonight is indeed a big game. The Thunder worked hard last night and and went into OT just missing out on a 2nd OT when Westbrook's drive at the end came up a bit short. That was a fun game to watch. The huge issue i saw was Westbrook holding what looked to me as a twisted right ankle on the last drive. Of course this guy is tough as nails but the fact is he did twist that ankle and it might have some effect tonight. You have got to give Phoenix some credit. They played a solid game and never quit. Jeff Hornacek is just about as tenacious a coach as he was a player. I have always Hated what he does but you got to respect it.



The Blazers are suddenly looking like they could gain some control here if they can pull off a victory tonight. This would be of course a 3rd straight win over the Thunder and it would become the deciding factor in any tie breaker if needed. You can bet the Thunder know this and will be playing at a very high level. At this point there is no tomorrow for them. They have got to win games if they want to catch the Blazers. I never buy the whole "Tired" scenario. Not when this much is riding on a game. These guys are professional athletes in prime condition when they need to perform they will.



The addition of AAA and the much needed play from Batum has come at just the perfect time. Really this is exactly the kind of game that these two really help the team. We have all been saying it for a long time. When any player is not a threat in this offense the other team can lag off them and it becomes a 4 on 5 situation that kills the flow/flex system. Finding an open man is nearly impossible. The open man tonight might be a whole bunch of RoLo. Kanter is going to have to handle him alone as Ibaka will be glued to LaMarcus. If Lopez can score and or pass out efficiently the offense will click. The Blazers simply have too many scorers to defend if the shots are falling and now i just don't see LA, Nic, Wes, and Dame plus AAA,Kaman,Blake and CJ plus Meyers all having a bad shooting night.

Here is a nice article from BE's Willy Raedy on Alonzo Gee. I just didn't know much about him so i am reading up. I guess he is more than a throw in.

http://www.blazersedge.com/2015/2/27/8112315/alonzo-gee-portland-trail-blazers-synergy-sports



Everyone is talking about Batum but another Blazer shooting better is Dame. The problems with Dame are not so much shooting as defenses taking him out of the game. They are simply saying "you are not going to get open looks to beat us". So Lillard is scoring other ways but when they slip up and leave him open he is hitting his 3's and open mid range shots. Some of this might also have to do with Batum again but Dame could have a big game if Westbrook is at all hampered by a balky ankle.

Pick tonight is Mattews. How can it not be? The guy is sure to show up and with some help he could very well be the deciding factor again in this game.

Go Blazers!

kjironman is a fan!!!

 

No Durant? We need to get this win!

Can I please borrow your sig? I want to make it my avatar for a bit. I would appreciate it if I could.

 

Kill em. Kill em all.

 

I want to blow them out tonight. completely humiliate them, beat them down and make them our bitches. Get them down early, step on their throats and not let up for one second. I want our starters to kill their starters, our bench to dominate their starters and our 3rd string to own their bench. I don't want to have to rely on Westbrick playing hero ball to get us the win tonight. Because, if we face them in the playoffs, I WANT Westbrick thinking he has something to prove. When our guys (Aldridge, Lillard and Matthews) fell like they have been disrespected, they use it as motivation to play their asses off for the betterment of the team. When Westbrick feels like he has something to prove, he completely dominates the ball and becomes and even bigger chucker. He freezes Durant out, takes (and misses) all the big shots himself, and absolutely kills his team.

BNM

 

Hate for Westbrook is so unwarranted. The guy is a bad ass baller.

Very few players in the NBA go 110% on every play. Ya the cerebral aspects of the game aren't completely there for him yet, but I'd take him on my team any day of the week.

 

No thanks. I'd HATE to have that guy on my team. All his energy is devoted to making HIM look good and it costs his team games. Did you not watch the Phoenix game last night? The guy hoisted 38 shots and only made 12 (that's .316 FG%). If you just look at the raw numbers, he had a triple-double and scored 39 points, but it was an INCREDIBLY inefficient triple-double (1-10 3FG). Sure, Durant wasn't playing (if he was, Westbrook would have frozen him out, too - just like he always does in the 4th quarter of close games in the playoffs), but 38 shots! That's insane. Basketball is still a team sport and when your PG is jacking up 38 shots, he's not getting his teammates involved.

PHO had NO answer for Kanter. He had a VERY efficient 18 pts on 11 FGA. Waiters and Augustin were also shooting MUCH better than Westbrook. Westbrook should have taken 10 or 12 fewer shots, made sure Kanter got at least 5 or 6 more FGA and a couple more each for Waiter and Augustin. If he would have, OKC would have won EASILY. All the guys on NBA Inside Stuff, especally Kenny Smith, were heavily criticizing Westbrook for taking so many shots after the game. But, it's not just that game, that is EXACTLY the kind of player Westbrook is.

How can you score 39 points, have a triple double, and still hurt your team? Russell Westbrook can. Here's how:

Westbrook: 39 pts/38 FGA = 1.03 pts/FGA

Kanter + Waiters + Augustin: 47 points/31 FGA = 1.52 pts/FGA

If Westbrook "limits" himself to 32 shots and gives two more shots each to Kanter, Waiters and Augustin (his next three leading scorers), OKC wins that game.

I first noticed the way Westbrook froze out Durant, and at the time, James Harden, in the 2011 playoffs. His selfish play completely cost his team the Dallas series, and quite possibly the NBA championship that year. All 4 losses to Dallas were by single digits. In those 4 games, Westbrook attempted 85 FG (21.3 FGA/G), but only made 29 (.341 FG%). In those same 4 games, Kevin Durant, the NBA regular season scoring leader, took fewer shots (82) than Westbrook, in spite of playing way more minutes, and shot significantly more efficiently (.427 FG%) and James Harden only got 34 total shots (8.5 FGA/G) in spite of being OKC most efficient scorer (.500 FG%). After watching the way Westbrook froze out Durant and Harden during the 4th quarter of EVERY close game in that series, I was SO glad they resigned him and gave away James Harden. Their stupid owners could have kept all 3 (and Ibaka) and not paid any luxury tax if they had been willing to amnesty Kendrick Perkins (or could have kept Perkins and paid luxury tax for ONE year). As a Blazers fan, I'm so glad they were too cheap to keep all three, and that the two they did decide to keep were Durant and Westbrook, not Durant and Harden. That team with Durant, Harden and an unselfish PG would be a dynasty that would have won multiple NBA championships. With Russell Westbrook running the point, they will never win a single championship.

BNM

 

Boobs dont play around.

Never thought I say that sentence ...

 

I can pick a (few) game(s) from Dame when he was just as inefficient. Don't let the hate blind you. He plays ridiculously hard and carries his team. They live by him, and on some nights, they die by him.

Please no page long response for my 3 sentences...

 

Boob, your posts are always so well researched, well documented, well reasoned, well written and insightful, it makes me wonder:

Are you really The HCP?

 

Hahahahaha! That's funny right there!

 

All I ask is a 23 game win streak..still holding out for my 60 win season here! Go good guys! Beast mode!

 

No sweat.

 

Don't know if Westbrook's twisted ankle is serious or not. But last night that dude was at another level! 40 shots though?


Sent from my Baller-Ass 5.5" iPhone 6+......... FAMS

 

Wonder if Gee will get some time defending Westbrook tonight?

 

I enjoyed it. Don't care how hard he plays if he plans like a bonehead.

Dame plays team basketball, Russ still thinks there's an I in Team.

 

The key word here is "few" - in Lillard's case. In Westbrook's case it's part of a pattern that's been going on for at least 4 years. It's not just an isolated game here and there, it's multiple entire playoff series (plural). I cited the Dallas series from 2011, but the same pattern continues year after year in the playoffs.

Kevin Durant is a four-time NBA scoring champ and reigning MVP. He is the most dangerous scorer on the planet. His career TS% is .601. (.583 playoffs). Yet, for each the last four seasons, Russell Westbrook (career TS% = .524, .519 playoffs) has more FGA/36 in the playoffs than Kevin Durant. That's not a "few" games, that's a four year pattern of THE most important games of the entire season. When you have Kevin Durant on your team, that should NEVER happen. Your PG should NOT be calling his own number more than Durant's.

How hard Westbrook plays is irrelevant, when that energy is freezing out a much more efficient, much more dangerous scorer and costs his team wins - especially in the playoffs.

OKC's lack of depth has been exposed in the last two post seasons - in particular, lack of scoring punch after Durant and Westbrook. So, their management went out and addressed that need by bringing in Enes Kanter, Dion Waiters and D.J. Augustin. All very capable scorers, but it won't do them any good if Westbrook doesn't share the ball with them. Shit, he doesn't share the ball with Kevin Durant. Do they really think he's going to share it with Enes Kanter?

Not if last night is any indication: 38 FGA for Westbrook, 31 FGA for the next three highest scorers combined. I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts you can't find a single game in Damian Lillard's NBA career where he's attempted more FGA than his next three highest scoring teammates combined.

BNM

P.S. If you find my responses too long, you can always pull a PapaG and just respond with tl:dr. That's much easier than actually addressing what I wrote.