Tuesday NBA Roundup: Thunder Win Big as Wizards Fail to Impress Kevin Durant
Fans at the Verizon Center came prepared to do whatever it took to woo Kevin Durant (which ironically included booing him), but a 125-101 Oklahoma City Thunder win against a mostly inept, significantly undermanned Washington Wizards club probably didn't give KD much of an itch to leave behind what he has with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Durant will be an unrestricted free agent this summer—a fact you absolutely know if you're reading this, and his hometown D.C. fans have made little effort to conceal their hopes of luring him. Last January, the Verizon Center video board featured an image of Durant in a Wizards jersey.
In advance of this latest trip, Durant told reporters:
"It was cool to see all my family there, but if our team did that to somebody coming in our arena, I wouldn't like it. So, I didn't really like it. We played a really good team in the Wizards, a great team with great young talent and a good coach. I think that was disrespectful.
"
Wizards fans, realizing that giving KD what he wanted would require pretending not to like him, did what they felt was right—albeit half-heartedly, per Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports and csnmidatlantic.com's J. Michael:
Durant started hot, scoring 10 first-quarter points, punctuated by a pair of pull-up threes. A strained left hamstring ended his night at halftime, but Durant had done enough (with some help) to give OKC an 18-point advantage heading into the locker room—one which held up easily. He finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 17 minutes.
If this was some kind of tryout for the Wizards, who've taken steps to free up the max money necessary to sign Durant in July, it wasn't an impressive one. Hampered by the absences of Bradley Beal and Nene, Washington struggled on all fronts.
John Wall spent ample time as the only viable creator, and even when he found shooters, none could convert. Washington shot just 5-of-24 from long range on the night, and many of the shots were quality looks.
Perhaps sensing the opportunity (or perhaps just propelled by the same wild-eyed competitive lunacy that always drives him), Russell Westbrook did plenty to show KD that no other team could offer what he could.
Westbrook registered his 20th career triple-double with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in only 28 minutes. It came complete with his typical flair, per Eric Freeman of Yahoo Sports:
Positives for Washington included committing just eight turnovers after giving the rock away 49 times combined in its last two games. But the Wizards shot just 39.2 percent from the field and couldn't do enough to keep OKC from getting comfortable on offense.
The Thunder shot 51.2 percent from the field and drilled a ridiculous 15-of-23 from deep.
It's probably not fair to judge the Wizards on this one game. They were missing key pieces and ran into a Thunder squad that finally seems to be finding its form after a shaky start. Unfortunately, Tuesday's contest was the last chance Washington fans will get to impress Durant before free agency.
What's worse: KD will spend the rest of the season watching Westbrook dominate from up close.
And it's pretty hard to overlook how good that guy is.
LeBron James and the Cavs Dictate the Terms
Coming into Tuesday's contest, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz occupied two distinct sections of the league's elite; Rudy Gobert and the Jazz have been a powerful defensive force, while LeBron James and friends ranked among the leaders in offense, according to NBA.com.
Cleveland, of course, has a chance to get much, much better on that end down the road, as Yahoo Sports' Dan Devine noted:
Anyway, this meeting of the league's offensive and defensive superpowers was probably the game of the night, with the Jazz surprisingly getting the kind of scoring the Cavs typically enjoy. Cleveland couldn't force Gobert and Derrick Favors off the floor with smaller options and, incredibly, Utah hung tough throughout the 118-114 loss without recording a blocked shot.
Gobert had his chance against James and didn't exactly make the most of it:
James also scored 17 points in a tight fourth quarter, hitting a huge runner over Favors' outstretched arm to give Cleveland a four-point lead that ultimately held up.
Simple summation: Both of these teams are really good, and Utah probably put forth its best start-to-finish effort of the season in defeat. The Cavs managed to speed up the Jazz, forcing a high-scoring contest when Utah probably would have preferred an uglier, slower affair.
It's not easy for a normal team to dictate the tempo against a defensive behemoth like Utah. The Cavs aren't normal.
Marcelo Huertas is an Artist
Kobe Bryant sat out to rest as the Los Angeles Lakers fell by a final score of 101-88 to the Miami Heat.
So I guess we can't blame this one on him.
Nick Young, perhaps psyched about one less shameless chucker sharing the floor with him, caught fire during a second-quarter stretch, scoring 14 of his 17 points on the night in a four-minute span. Stunningly, he also registered two assists.
Chris Bosh put up 30 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Heat.
But none of that mattered because Lakers rookie guard Marcelo Huertas did this:
We may never see a better example of the "Welp! The shot clock's running down and I have to shoot this, so all the rules of normal basketball have ceased to exist" mentality than this.
Give that dude more minutes. I want to see more ridiculous stuff.
Robin Lopez Is in Midseason Form
Maybe you were worried the brighter lights and intense media scrutiny that come with being a member of the New York Knicks would prevent Robin Lopez from pursuing his true passion: stomping out NBA mascots.
Thankfully, RoLo has stayed true to himself:
That clip could also count as a metaphor for the Knicks' blow that struck the Raptors, who suffered a 111-109 home defeat, giving them three straight losses after a perfect 5-0 start. The Knicks aren't a complete pushover this season, but Toronto simply can't drop home games to teams with inferior talent if it intends to be taken seriously in the East.
DeMarre Carroll's plantar fasciitis has kept him out for the last two contests, and that's clearly an issue for a team that needs a two-way wing. But it's an insufficient excuse. The Raps just have to be better.
Postscript: Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis was just 3-of-11 from the field for eight points, but it's now a requirement to highlight any tip-in dunk he registers.
Obligation satisfied.
Karl-Anthony Towns for President
The Minnesota Timberwolves couldn't secure their first home win of the season, falling 104-95 to the Charlotte Hornets' bench onslaught. The Hornets received a combined 51 points from reserves Cody Zeller, Jeremy Lamb and Jeremy Lin.
Karl-Anthony Towns was his usual superstar-in-waiting self, scoring 19 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking three shots in a big effort that wasn't quite big enough to compensate for the injury-driven absences of Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio.
He is a polite monster, according to NBA analyst Zach Lowe:
Nothing makes me feel older and lamer (and maybe more uncomfortably paternalistic) than hearing this and catching myself quietly nodding approval. But, I mean, come on...Towns checks all the boxes, right?
Pelicans Win...Then Lose
The New Orleans Pelicans finally got their first win of the year, a 120-105 triumph over the Dallas Mavericks.
But at what cost?
Anthony Davis suffered a right hip contusion and didn't return after halftime. X-rays were negative, according to Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com. Fortunately, Davis scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 19 first-half minutes, which helped the Pellies build an advantage big enough to allow some easy second-half coasting.
New Orleans needed a victory, but it'd probably trade another 20 straight losses for a healthy AD.
Even the good days for the Pelicans have come with bad news this season. It's been that kind of year.
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