We saw last night what happens when a talented team tries to get cute. A 13 point lead was lost and a terrible 3rd quarter completely undid all the positive defensive strides the team took last night. Two steps forward, one step back.
Mayberry's post-game nuggets. He has high praise for the Grizzlies' Tony Allen. It's true; Allen practically won the game by himself, repeatedly picking off errant passes, getting to the line, and preventing Durant from getting clean looks late in the 4th quarter.
Thunder Plays Really Bad, Loses to Memphis | Daily Thunder
Royce Young laments a poorly played game that deserves much scorn. I personally don't feel like it was such a bad game overall as much as it was the bad stuff heavily outweighed the good. And there were some really good things that the Thunder did, namely on defense and in rebounding. However, their second half possessions were treated so flippantly, either because of careless turnovers or bad shot selection, that they undermined all of their efforts in the end.
Grizzlies Beat Thunder in OT | NewsOK
Mayberry takes a closer look at all of the second half turnovers that proved to be the Thunder's undoing. Probably one of the most frustrating things was that Russell Westbrook was the one guy that had a clear advantage over his defender, Mike Conley. Westbrook was making mince meat of Conley throughout the game, but because Westbrook kept losing the ball (8 turnovers) he wasn't able to dominate the match-up in the way he should have.
This is a good story on how more and more NBA teams are looking to yoga to help prolong the careers and increase the rehabilitation of NBA players. I still love this quote though:
"You can’t talk about the sun and opening your heart. [The players] are going to shut you off, and they’re going to laugh at you." - Kent Katich, NBA yoga instructor
More links after the jump.
TNT on Pace to Dunk Highest Rated NBA Regular Season | Multichannel News
TNT is reporting gangbusters business this year in its airing of the NBA, in part fueled by a myriad of great story lines. The network plans on airing 19 hours of All-Star weekend coverage in two weeks. TNT is also reporting that ad revenue is up 30% year over year.
The NBA's 3-Point Contest is Set | Ball Don't Lie
Dwyer and I agree - the contest has less to do with who you want shooting the ball with the clock winding down, and more about who can most easily get into a shooting zone with minimal effort. I'd put Durant at the top of that list. The problem though is that Ray Allen is so, so accurate, that it may compensate for his need to shoot a normal jump shot.
Kevin Durant and the Fantasy All-Star Basketball Team | Bleacher Report
Kevin Durant heads up this list of the top fantasy performers this season. Most guys will be familiar to you, but a few guys do differ from their real world counterparts in the actual game.
I Support Kevin Durant Participating in 3-Point Shootout | InsideHoops
This guy supports Kevin Durant participating in the 3-point shootout.
Fantasy Basketball: Top 100 Overall Rankings | Hoopsworld
A familiar guy is at #1.
Loading comments...