Monday Bolts - 11.10.08

• Highlights from last night's game. Be prepared to spend two to three minutes watching and re-watching Russell Westbrook's two-handed flush.

• Peachtree Hoops' reaction to last night's game: "I see another good defensive performance (Only deemed "good" rather than "excellent" due to the opposition. If you're going to be without you're best interior defender, the Thunder are going to make you pay for that as little as any team in the league.), another excellent rebounding night from Solomon Jones, another perfect three-point shooting night from Marvin Williams (and a key three it was), and the scenario that concerned me before the season: 27 minutes for Flip Murray (14 points on 14 FGA and 4 FTA) and 6 minutes for Acie Law IV."

• Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “You can’t just expect to come in here and roll over this team,” the Hawks coach told his players at their morning shootaround practice prior to playing Oklahoma City. “It doesn’t work like that.” Hours later, trailing the lowly Thunder by seven points with 6:45 to play before a thunderous crowd of 18,231, Woodson’s words must have still been ringing in his players’ ears. It’s a good thing they listened."

• Someone (where's the byline?) from the Oklahoman makes the case for more Westbrook and I course, join them in that: "Almost as disappointing, though, was Westbrook sitting the bench during crunch time. The rookie point guard threw down an explosive slam with just under 8 minutes remaining in the game. That gave him what was then a team-high 15 points. But after a timeout, Westbrook was replaced and played less than a minute the rest of the game. Why?"

• Ball Don't Lie Behind the Box score: "Here's a reason to feel terrible for Thunder fans: Oklahoma City still has that tradition (superstition? I don't know where it came from, besides the NCAA) of standing until the home team puts in its first point. On Sunday night, they had to stand for a good eight or nine minutes of real time until the Thunder threw in its first free throw. Then the home fans were treated to a solid game, in parts, even if they probably didn't know who any of these guys were (I'm not talking about the big fans or the bloggers, but the neophytes, and there's nothing wrong with that) save for Mike Bibby. Russell Westbrook continues to look at the part of a someday semi-star, Earl Watson ran a good show for a while, and the Thunder almost pulled off another surprising Sunday night win."

• Joe from Thunderguru on last night: "Why do other coaches use their timeouts and ball stops to insert offense for defense, yet P.J. doesn’t seem to believe in the concept? Why do we let Atlanta finish the fourth quarter with an 18-5 run and turn a blind eye to the obvious mismatches? Why do we allow Atlanta to block 9 of our shots, and three in the fourth quarter while we play small ball? When their bigs get tough with us under the rim, all we can do is foul them and send them to the line for freebies. Ok, enough of my soap box. I think I’ve made it clear that I blame this loss on Coach. It isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last I’m sure."

Atlanta Hawks vs. Thunder: Pre-game primer

vs.

Atlanta Hawks (4-0) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (1-4) Sunday, November 9
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
6:00 p.m. CST

TV: KSBI - Thunder TV (Cox 9)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Game thread
NBA.com preview

The Hawks 4-0 start isn't as surprising as who they beat in those first four wins. Road victories in Orlando and New Orleans and a good win over Toronto show this Hawks team could be a good one. Statistically, they're similar to the Jazz - good defensively (86 ppg allowed) and slightly above average offensively (97.8 ppg).

The Thunder played much better offensively in Utah - well, much better in the second half - possibly giving a bit of encouragement to OKC fans heading to the Thunderdome tonight that the ball may go through the hoop a little more.

Atlanta relies heavily on guard play with Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson (averaging 25.3 ppg), and will rely on it more than usual as the Hawks will be without gifted power forward Josh Smith. Smith sprained his ankle Friday against Toronto. Forward Marvin Williams and forward/center Al Horford will be picking up the slack for the injured Smith.

In order to win... the Thunder needs to sustain for four quarters. Sustain rebounding, intensity, defense, but most importantly, shooting. It's quite a quandary how a team can come out of the blocks so hot like it did against Boston and Utah, but then cool off so quickly. Those two games were like taking a lava-hot Hot Pocket and dropping it into liquid nitrogen. Why it happens, no one knows.

One thing to watch tonight is Kevin Durant. Not for the obvious reason, but because 1) He hasn't shot the ball that well at home and 2) If he's scoring, to see how he handles it. He was shooting and scoring well in Utah but he wasn't shooting that much and wasn't playing a ton either. If he can get going, it will be interesting to see how he handles the rest of the game.

Prediction: One thing Oklahoma City gained in Utah Friday night besides a loss was momentum. The team played incredibly well down the stretch and hopefully proved to itself that it can score and can play well. Jeff Green looked as good as ever and was 3-3 from downtown. As mentioned, Durant was scoring well. Russell Westbrook didn't have much of an impact but that was because Earl Watson was playing better. Confidence and momentum are a great thing and if OKC can bring those home with them to the Ford Center tonight, the outcome could be favorable. Perimeter defense is key because of how much Bibby and Johnson prefer the outside shot and equally key is limiting second chances on missed long balls. Tonight, Green and Durant carry over the stellar performances and combine for a bevy of points leading the Thunder to their second win. Thunder 97, Hawks 95.