“It’s going to take a lot”, Hoiberg said when asked how to beat the Thunder. “They’re putting it on teams right now”. It’s a very confident team. Kevin Durant is averaging 26.6 points per game without Russell Westbrook (mostly) trying to steal the spotlight (25.8 points, 9.3 assists), as it seems like the Thunder aren’t scrapping, but slightly moving away from their usually more individualistic tendencies. With players like Steven Adams struggling to finish at the rim, the Thunder could use Ibaka down low.
There were plenty of highlights to choose from in tonight’s game, but I chose this 3-pointer by Gary Harris for the play of the game because it was the best example of spacing, player movement and ball movement that I’ve seen from the Nuggets in a long time.
Centre Enes Kanter was the only other Thunder player to hit double figures with 14 points for Oklahoma City. Besides Minnesota, Milwaukee has the second-tallest average starting lineup in the National Basketball Association, with backcourt starters Michael Carter-Williams and Khris Middleton measuring at 6-foot-6 and 6-8, respectively. Most disturbingly, star Jimmy Butler recently criticized coach Fred Hoiberg for being too soft on the team while a report this week said the Bulls are facing “big-time problems in the locker room”, with no chemistry or camaraderie. “You have to stop (Durant and Westbrook) from getting easy looks, make them work for their money, and then keep everybody else off. Don’t let the bench have an impact”. Denver continued to attack the paint and get rebounds in the post; the Nuggets had 10 offensive rebounds and 40 points in the paint. It’s a challenge, obviously.
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Kanter, Oklahoma City’s backup center, scored 11 of his 21 points in a five-minute span that featured two powerful dunks that gave the Thunder the momentum and helped lift them past the Nuggets, 122-112.
The loss of Noah makes this one even tougher. “Now the confidence is lacking”, said Hornacek, whose team was expected to contend after the arrival of Brandon Knight last February and the offseason addition of Tyson Chandler. Will Barton and Nikola Jokic kept the Nuggets trading the lead back and forth with Oklahoma City, leaving the game at 43-42 in favor of OKC when Durant came back in. Friday’s afternoon tip does preclude a shootaround, though. “We needed something like this to show our guys how good we can be”.
“I got on the bus and saw all the fans”, Bryant said of the sizeable contingent of Lakers backers in attendance.
If there’s such thing as a statement win in December, the Bulls got it on Christmas. I don’t know. But I do have the confidence our team will compete and just grow.
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