Each night, Eye on Basketball brings you what you need to know about the games of the NBA. From great performances to terrible clock management the report card evaluates and eviscerates the good, the bad, and the ugly from the night that was.
Each night, Eye on Basketball brings you what you need to know about the games of the NBA. From great performances to terrible clock management the report card evaluates and eviscerates the good, the bad, and the ugly from the night that was.
J.J. Barea
A known Thunder Killer, Barea torched OKC in the fourth quarter right as the Thunder were closing in. Barea hit three 3s, drew a big charge on Durant and essentially iced the OKC's winning streak. Any time Durant and Westbrook started to make a push, Barea came back with a big shot. He tends to do that against the Thunder.
The Thunder lost for the first time in 12 games, and played some really frustrating, ugly basketball at times. But Durant was his usual delightful self, scoring 33 on 12-21 shooting. His team did lose though.
Westbrook's competitive spirit and desire can never be doubted. But sometimes he's tries too hard for his own, and his team's, good. He attempted 28 shots, making only nine, and had eight turnovers against the Wolves. He was breathtaking at times leading a comeback charge, and infuriatingly frustrating at other times. In other words, a Thursday in the Russell Westbrook Experience.
OKC's bench
Kevin Martin sat with a thigh contusion and without him, the Thunder bench provided a total of seven points. Seems that Martin is pretty important.
What a weird night for the Nuggets. They lost to the Blazers and had everybody but one person on the roster score. But nobody scored more than 13 points. Danilo Gallinari was 1-10 for just six points. And as a team, the Nuggets somehow went 1-32 outside the paint and 0-22 from 3. How is that even possible for an NBA team?
