Game Recap: Thunder vs. Spurs

Last night, the Thunder did it again. OKC beat the Spurs on their home court last night 101-98.  Kevin Durant dropped 25 and my man crush on Jeff Green continued as he posted 21 pts and 10 rebounds. Rather than give a complete recap of the game (which you can read on ESPN), I thought it more useful to post some observations instead. Since Royce already posts the Daily Bolts, I’ll call these observations (or mini bolts) the Daily Shock.

• Richard Jefferson takes really long strides to the basket. This usually allows him to get to the rim with only 2 or 3 steps where he’s pretty good at finishing. He tends to get fouled on alot of these plays which only compounds his effectiveness. He loses the ball on these plays occasionally but he’s still pretty effective.
• Nenad Krstic is a solid contributor for the Thunder but he’s definitely not a starter in the NBA. He would be a really good backup though. Either via the draft or free agency the Thunder have to get themselves a legit big man before they’re really contenders. Jeff Green does a great job as a 4 but he’s more of a hybrid 4 and not a banger like the Carlos Boozer’s and Al Jefferson’s of the world.
• Dajuan Blair is a really good rebounder. He’s definitely a load down low. He looked lost at times on the offensive end however and he got into foul trouble early. He started at Center last night for the Spurs. If I were an opposing team’s coach, I’d be aggresive taking it to the rim against him. It should draw alot of fouls. If he can cut down on the foul trouble he could be a really good rebounder in the league, even as a rookie. His per minute numbers are crazy. He’s posting 12.8 rebounds per 36 minutes and he’s rebounding 21.1% of the total available rebounds while he’s on the court. Not bad for a rookie.
• Kevin Durant should look to be even more aggressive taking the ball to the basket. He’s a very good shooter (eFG % of 44.7%) and at times he falls in love with his jumper. However, when he takes the ball to the basket he tends to get fouled alot and he’s such a terrific free throw shooter that he gets alot of and 1 opportunities. This happened a number of times during last night’s game against the Spurs.
• Jeff Green is a really good all around player (as I’ve written before). I won’t elaborate here but lets just say people are starting to take notice.
• According to the commentators, the Thunder are allowing the fewest points in the 4th quarter of any team in the NBA. They only allowed 10 pts to the Clippers on Wednesday, holding them to 3/19. Now that’s defense.
• Kevin Ollie is an unheralded pickup for the Thunder. He’s a strong veteran presence in the locker room and although he never posted impressive numbers, he’s a pro who knows how to run a team.
• Kevin Durant is really getting after it on defense this year. In his rookie year his defensive rating was 110. Last year it improved slightly to 109. As a refresher, defensive rating is the number of points a player allows per 100 possessions. Any number under 100 is above average. This year, KD is only yielding 97 points per 100 possessions. That is a big time improvement. In fact, of players that have played in at least 9 games (minimum 100 minutes), he’s # 16 in the entire league in defensive rating.

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