AMC Presents: THE WALKING DNP-CD
After yet another ridiculous display from Russell Westbrook on Saturday, will the Oklahoma City Thunder guard go Super Saiyan on the Atlanta Hawks tonight (8:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Oklahoma) in OKC?
Westbrook ran roughshod over the Phoenix Suns over the weekend, his latest triple-double virtuoso performance including a career-high 22 assists to accompany 26 points and 11 rebounds, guiding the Thunder to a cruise-controlled 114-101 victory at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Russ acknowledges the incessant post-game talk about getting triple-doubles, or not getting one, or averaging one (for the record: 30.4 PPG, 11.0 APG, 10.5 RPG), has been grating on a player who gets easily bristled anyway.
“Honestly, man, people and this triple-double thing is kind of getting on my nerves, really,” he advised the Oklahoman this past week. “People think if I don't get it, it's like a big thing. When I do get it, it's a thing. If y'all just let me play -- if I get it, I get it. If I don't, I don't care. It is what it is. I really don't care. For the hundredth time. I don't care. All I care about is winning, honestly. All the numbers (bleep!) don't mean nothing to me.”
The difference between a Most Valuable Player candidate and a disreputable stat-padder is that Westbrook’s efforts have been leading to winning basketball for a team that was sapped of a lot of talent over the summer. But despite prevailing in seven of its last ten games, wins haven’t been coming easy of late for the Thunder (16-11).
Backcourt mate Victor Oladipo sprained his shooting wrist over a week ago, in the first quarter against visiting Boston. Westbrook would carry OKC to victory against Al Horford and Friends, but his team experienced tough sledding in its next two games on the road. The Thunder fell 114-99 in Portland, then 109-89 in Salt Lake City, with hardly anyone aside from Westbrook and Enes Kanter able to provide offense, and no guards able to make stops.
Oladipo, who remains out tonight, is OKC’s second-leading scorer and (by default) assist-maker, and top 3-point maker. So when Jerami Grant couldn’t fill the bill as a replacement starter, coach Billy Donovan switched to former Hawk Anthony Morrow, the sharpshooter who lit up Philips Arena with a season-high 4-for-6 3FG performance a couple weeks ago in a 102-99 Thunder win. On Saturday, Morrow’s three triples helped the Suns set early.
In the NBA West, a slide toward .500 basketball only risks a dogfight with Portland to avoid the eventual 8th-seed and a first-round meeting with Golden State, but that’s what OKC wishes to avoid. In the mediocre East, a .500-ish record places your team anywhere between the 3rd-seed and the 11th. And Atlanta finds itself on shaky ground in the 10-spot (a half-game in front of the rising Wizards) after falling flat late in the first and second halves of its 107-99 home loss to Charlotte.
Against the Hornets, pick-and-roll defense was poor, and closeouts along the perimeter were shaky at crucial junctures. Westbrook (32 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists @ ATL on Dec. 5) sniffs out weaknesses and mistakes to exploit in opposing defenses. Guards Dennis Schröder and Malcolm Delaney have to make swifter and wiser decisions on screens than Hawks fans witnessed on Saturday night. Schröder also has to finish on drives in the paint, remember to feed Dwight Howard (23 rebounds, but 6 FGAs vs. CHA; 2 FGAs off putbacks, none assisted by Dennis) early and often, and force Westbrook to make defensive plays that go beyond transitional rebounds.
One of the few Hawks who made a positive impact at both ends on Saturday was Kent Bazemore (6-for-9 2FGs, 5 assists, one crazy block). No one will confuse Kent with Stella, but while he doesn’t completely have his groove back he will have his starting spot back, for now. Coach Mike Budenholzer intends to watch his minutes closely, although he has been on the floor about as much as starter Thabo Sefolosha in recent days.
It will be not Thabo, but Tim Hardaway, Jr. who returns to the bench, and that’s a bit of a surprise. More pressing for the coaching staff than watching the status of Bazemore’s sore knee is the lack of defensive impact among the reserves. Atlanta’s bench ranks dead-last in the NBA this month with an atrocious 119.5 defensive rating.
Predictably, the Thunder bench’s offensive efficiency isn’t stellar (99.3 December O-Rating, 26th in NBA, even with Enes Kanter), but Atlanta’s bench isn’t much better (99.7, 23rd in NBA), despite the inclusion of Kyle Korver to the unit. Bazemore and Sefolosha will log plenty of floor time not only helping to contain Westbrook and close out on shooters, but to help Hawk reserves (league-worst -19.5 December net rating) from leaking lots of oil. (If I could use Purple as a protest font color to get Bud to play a certain somebody, I would).
Paul Millsap (24 points vs. OKC on Dec. 5, second-most this season; last six games: 19.8 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.0 SPG) needs to dominate his matchup with rookie Domantas Sabonis, and the Hawks getting productive paint touches will draw help from Andre Roberson away from the perimeter, freeing up Atlanta’s guards and wings for quality perimeter shots.
Of course, there will be plenty of misses among Atlanta’s long-distance shot volumes. But when Westbrook gets the rebound or the outlet pass and begins to make a head of steam in the other direction, there had better be five Hawks in position and awaiting his arrival across the halfcourt line.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
