SALON

Tuesday, Dec 18, 2012 7:00 PM UTC

Durant, Westbrook sharing load in Thunder offense

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Durant, Westbrook sharing load in Thunder offenseOklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) and the crowd react to a dunk by Durant against the San Antonio Spurs in the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. Oklahoma City won 107-93. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)(Credit: AP)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — From the NBA Finals to the All-Star Game to the Olympics, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have proven themselves to be one of basketball’s most dynamic duos.

To lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to the league’s best record, they’ve found even more ways to make an impact — primarily by putting their teammates in better positions to contribute.

Both Durant and Westbrook are averaging career highs in assists this season while cutting down on their turnovers, helping the Thunder become the NBA’s highest-scoring team with an impressive line of statistics. Oklahoma City leads the league in 3-point accuracy and free throw percentage and ranks second in overall field-goal shooting.

“We’re passing the ball so much better this year,” said coach Scott Brooks, who has long harped on the need to improve the team’s assist numbers and cut down on turnovers. “Our basketball knowledge has improved a lot the past few years just from all the experiences that we’ve had. Our passing and our spacing is really good. Our offense has been in a nice rhythm.”

Somehow, Oklahoma City finished third in the league in scoring last season despite the dubious combination of passing out the fewest assists (18.5 per game) while committing the most turnovers (16 per game). Loaded with individual talent, the Thunder struggled to turn it all into something even better.

“In the past, I think we were more of an isolation team. We relied on our talent, probably too much at times,” forward Nick Collison said. “So, we’re trying to get away from that and get more to where we’re executing, sharing the ball and getting easier shots.”

Although they were unable to sustain it in the NBA Finals against Miami, the catalyst for change may have been the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Down 2-0 in the series, Oklahoma City rallied for four straight wins with its best team basketball of the year.

Durant came back committed to improving his all-around game, proving it with his first career triple-double earlier this season. Westbrook, whose assist totals dropped off last season, is passing the ball better than ever. He’s in the top 10 in scoring, assists and steals and is also among the top 10 guards in rebounding.

As a team, Oklahoma City is now in the top half of the league in assists.

“We’re not having to rely on our guys to make incredible plays, difficult plays. We’re getting a lot more easy shots. I think Kevin and Russell deserve a lot of credit for that,” Collison said. “They’ve embraced it and they’re trusting everybody else. The decisions are easier when the spacing’s better. I think that’s part of it, too. But when we’re not playing in a crowd, we get better shots.”

Some early-season growing pains after NBA Sixth Man of the Year James Harden was traded away — his role taken over by Kevin Martin — has faded away. Durant, who has won the scoring title the past three seasons, got some immediate criticism for being too passive and forcing the ball to others while Westbrook opened the season in an awful shooting slump.

Oklahoma City has dispelled any doubts with the franchise’s longest winning streak since 1996 — the last time it was coming off of an appearance in the NBA Finals (then as the Seattle SuperSonics).

“We’re happy with it but we’re not satisfied,” Brooks said. “We’re going to keep doing what we do, and that’s play every game the best we can and live with the results. We know we’re not going to win every game in this league.”

Westbrook, particularly, doesn’t seem ready to accept that.

Even after Oklahoma City won its 10th straight game, Westbrook was displeased and started to duck around a group of reporters who had gathered at his locker and skip his postgame interview. When he was tracked down at the exit to the locker room, he had no interest in patting himself on the back for his seventh double-digit assist game of the season — more than he had in 86 games last season, including the playoffs.

“I can do better,” he said.

His coach wasn’t surprised.

“He never cheats the game,” Brooks said. “He’s not a perfect player, like nobody in this league is. But his effort is always good. He plays with a lot of desire and a lot of heart and determination.”

More By Jeff Latzke.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations