Jonathan Tjarks (The Ringer) on how the best offense for the Thunder is a great defense: “Oklahoma City is built around an overwhelming amount of length and athleticism. After getting off to an 0-3 start, it doubled down on both its strengths and weaknesses by benching Patrick Patterson for Jerami Grant, an all-world athlete and inconsistent shooter. Grant, at 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, is a hyper-athletic wing who can defend players at all five positions. A frontcourt of Grant, Steven Adams, and Paul George stifles opposing teams, regardless of who the point guard is. That trio has a net rating of plus-13 in 373 minutes with Westbrook and plus-14 in 313 minutes with Schröder.”

Royce Young (ESPN) recaps the Thunder’s win against the Jazz, where Paul George excelled and Russell Westbrook struggled: “I just talked to [Westbrook] in the back [of the locker room] and told him, ‘It’s an 82-game season,’ and I told him, ‘I got your back,'” George said. “He’s had me on plenty of occasions where I had an off night and Russ took over offensively and put the game on his shoulders. I’m his counterpart, and I’ve got to do the same for him. It’s a long season, there’s going to be games like that. Special thing, good thing about this team: We’ve got two guys that can fill it up on a nightly basis. But he’s fine, it’s nothing he’s gotta get coached through. He’s been a scoring leader. He knows how to score the ball.” Continue reading →