Monday NBA Roundup: Kevin Durant's Return Propels Thunder Back to Elite Status
Here's hoping the rest of the NBA enjoyed that six-game stretch when the Oklahoma City Thunder, sans Kevin Durant, were the same up-and-down, Russell Westbrook-dependent exhibit of mediocrity they were a year ago.
Because those days are over...again.
Durant returned to the floor in a decisive 111-89 road win over the Utah Jazz on Monday, showing no signs of trouble from the hamstring that cost him a half-dozen contests. He poured in 27 points on just 13 shots, flashing the obscene confidence and rangy bounce we've all come to expect.
There are additional expectations that arise when Durant's healthy—chief among them is our common understanding that the Oklahoma City Thunder will dominate most opponents. Say what you want about Westbrook's statistical heroics last season; the Thunder were barely a .500 squad without their best player. Again, this season, they split their KD-less contests at an even 3-3.
There's no mystery here: When Durant is himself, OKC clearly fills that vacant third spot alongside the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers among the league's second tier. Keep in mind the Golden State Warriors occupy their own tier; it's on the surface of the sun. In any other year, we'd call OKC a top-flight squad.
Unique as the Warriors are, Durant still makes the Thunder something special. His shooting range, length on defense and ability to run the floor transform OKC, putting other players into their proper roles and unburdening Westbrook of the heavy load he carries whenever forced to go it alone.
It's only fair to point out that the Jazz, typically stout and competitive on defense, mailed this one in. But at the same time, the Thunder's overwhelming athleticism and offensive talent tend to sap the life from opponents who aren't ready for it.
I mean, can you blame the Jazz for folding after a brutal blocked shot on one end turned into this turbo-charged runout?
It's not just opponents who change when KD amps up the Thunder. Something happens to his teammates, too.
Dion Waiters, for instance, actually converted a couple of breakaway dunks in this game. And this is a guy who was shooting under 50 percent on layups through the first three weeks of the season. He finished with 12 points and was stoked afterward, per Ben Dowsett of SaltCityHoops.com:
Anthony Morrow, bolted to the bench all year, put up 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
And Westbrook, of course, was his typically brilliant self, albeit a more efficient version with Durant back to take charge. He scored 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added nine assists and seven rebounds.
It's easy to relax, trust in your absurd collective talent and play your game when a former MVP comes out of the trainer's room to hit two deep threes in a 30-second span, eliciting comments like this from CBSSports.com's Zach Harper:
Durant's return is also a restoration of order. The Thunder are back, and in a Western Conference that has mostly been underwhelming outside of the Warriors and Spurs, there are tons of wins to amass.
Expect OKC to grab them by the armful.
Miami's Defense and Depth Paying Dividends
The Miami Heat stifled the visiting New York Knicks with depth and defense on Monday, earning a 95-78 win and solidifying their position as the closest thing to a threat the conference-smashing Cleveland Cavaliers have to fear.
Miami's No. 1 defensive efficiency rating, per NBA.com, looked wholly legit as it held the Knicks to 32.2 percent shooting and completely dominated during the decisive second quarter.
The Knicks managed just 11 points in that period, hitting just one of their first 13 shots.
And wouldn't you know it? The Heat's bench was instrumental in shutting down a Knicks attack that has been pretty potent all year, per Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal:
The Heat's stingy defense and strong depth are actually related, as the reserves have made major impacts on games this season without doing a whole lot of scoring. According to HoopsStats.com, Miami ranked just 26th in bench scoring through its first dozen games. But if you look at the individual net ratings for Heat backups, you'll see a whole lot of positive figures.
Rookie Justise Winslow has the highest on-court net rating on the team (among players logging significant minutes), and that's a direct result of the incredible 88.5 defensive rating the Heat post when he's on the floor.
Tyler Johnson and Josh McRoberts have also contributed net-positive minutes (plus-8.0 and plus-7.6 on the year, respectively) by performing on the defensive end. For what it's worth, all three of those backups have higher net ratings and lower on-court defensive ratings than celebrated shot-swatter Hassan Whtieside.
Against the Knicks, Winslow led all players with a plus-28 in 31 minutes, despite scoring only seven points.
Johnson scored 12 points on five shots, but his defensive activity may have been even more valuable. And McRoberts posted a plus-18 despite missing all three of his field-goal attempts.
Naturally, the Heat will lean on their big names as they continue fashioning themselves into a real contender. And it'd be unfair to give all the credit for the win over the Knicks to a handful of backups.
Chris Bosh scored 16 points and worked himself to the line 12 times; Whiteside put up 11 points, 11 boards and five blocks; and Goran Dragic played one of his better games this season, scoring 13 points, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out five assists.
The key, though, is that the Heat have real options and a true identity to fall back on whenever those top-line talents struggle or miss time. And for all the importance we assign to star power, this version of the Heat is uniquely threatening because it complements Dwyane Wade, Bosh and Whiteside with steady, reliable stopping power that goes nine deep and looks sustainable.
"We keep saying we want to go far and play on the big stage," Bosh said, per Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley. "In order to do that, you have to have a top-five defense."
The Heat certainly have one of those, not to mention the depth to keep it that way. That'll be important as the season progresses, because the seemingly unstoppable Cavs need a nemesis to keep things interesting.
LeBron James Is Delivering
Speaking of which...
Kevin Love never looked comfortable last season, and LeBron James made it a point early this year to emphasize his teammate's importance in Cleveland's operation, calling him the "focal point" from training camp onward, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
Love looked like a central figure in a 117-103 win over the Orlando Magic, scoring 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting and resembling the high-usage Minnesota Timberwolves version of himself the Cavs hoped they were getting two summers ago.
On the block, from long range (he was 6-of-9 from deep) and pretty much everywhere in between, Love dominated. James, content to distribute, racked up 13 assists to go along with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He joined some elite company in the process, per ESPN Stats & Info:
As the Cavs continue to lose rotation pieces to injury (Mo Williams and Timofey Mozgov recently joined Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving on the sidelines), James and Love have held down the fort. How Love's prominent role changes (or doesn't) when the rest of the roster gets healthy will bear watching.
But it's not crazy to think he'll retain his focal-point status no matter who else is available. Cleveland's offense is humming with him as the hub, and he's played well enough of late to keep the job James promised him.
Kemba Walker Closes It Out
The Charlotte Hornets engineered the second-largest comeback in franchise history on Monday, erasing a 22-point second-half deficit to beat the Sacramento Kings in overtime, 127-122.
Kemba Walker scored 25 of his game-high 39 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. The extra period was only necessary because Rudy Gay tapped in an incredible alley-oop pass at the buzzer, neutralizing Walker's running scoop on the previous possession.
It was a wild finish.
Walker's late-game heroism is in keeping with the clutch reputation he established in his college career, though keener observers might point out it's been mostly unearned in the NBA. Last year, Walker shot an icy 28.2 percent in close-and-late situations. The year before: 34.3 percent.
Now, though, things are apparently different—for both Walker and the Charlotte Hornets.
He's scoring more efficiently than ever (hitting over 40 percent of his threes) and finishing games, while the Hornets have made a major pivot toward embracing the long ball. After hitting a league-worst 31.8 percent of their threes last season, they're now in the top 10 at a tidy 36.3 percent.
These are all good signs for a Hornets team looking to move on from a disastrous 2014-15 campaign. At 8-6, the momentum from this one could propel the Hornets even further up the standings.
Closing note: Rajon Rondo had a Kings franchise-record 20 assists. He was also guarding Walker for most of the night. So...call it a draw?
The Sixers and Wolves Are Different
Brett Brown's pregame assessment proved prophetic, as the Minnesota Timberwolves pushed past his winless Philadelphia 76ers behind a late-game surge from a budding franchise superstar.
"I don't even think we are close," Brown said before the game, comparing his 76ers' rebuilding efforts to the Wolves', per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Sixers were close in one sense; they almost knocked off the Timberwolves to get their first win of the year. But Andrew Wiggins, the aforementioned budding franchise superstar and the key difference between these two young teams, was having none of it.
He took over the game late, leading the Wolves to a 100-95 win with aggressive drives and second-effort plays.
Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press took in Wiggins' 32-point effort, and he came away impressed:
Though Karl-Anthony Towns may actually be the Timberwolves' true franchise building block, he was on the wrong end of a 25-point, 12-rebound night from fellow rookie Jahlil Okafor. Foul trouble was a factor for Towns, who logged just 19 minutes, but all that meant was Wiggins had carte blanche to go wild.
The Timberwolves are leaps and bounds beyond the 76ers in their rebuilding process, and the gap will only widen as Wiggins comes into his own.
The Spurs Are Staying Engaged
When you've spent the better part of two decades cruising through regular seasons, you've got to find ways to sustain interest. So as the Spurs won for the eighth time in their last nine games, beating the Phoenix Suns by a final score of 98-84, talk afterward focused on extracurriculars.
Specifically, a potential footrace between 39-year-old Tim Duncan and Spurs reserve Kyle Anderson AKA Slow Mo.
Duncan was the one with the epiphany, per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News:
Manu Ginobili weighed in, via Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express News:
A third entry! Manu's right; get Boris Diaw in there, too!
At 11-3, the Spurs are within their rights to seek out diversions. Being this good for this long gets a little stale.
Let's make this happen, people.
Stats accurate through games played Nov. 23 and are courtesy of NBA.com, unless noted otherwise.
Follow @gt_hughes on Twitter.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
