Lay Up Line: 11/2 Basketball Review

Music to listen to:  Louis Vuitton mix by Daft Punk

Here are the headlines that you need to know from last night in the world of basketball:

Vintage Tim Duncan, elite Tony Parker down Thunder:  Before last night’s game against Oklahoma City, the thought was that the Spurs’ age would be unable to overcome the Thunder’s youthful aggression.  Duncan looked like it 2002 all over again for San Antonio, stuffing Kevin Durant’s dunk attempt in the first half.  Then, Timmy abusing poor Serge Ibaka in the third quarter when he posterized the Thunder defender with a vintage dunk that would make Michael Jordan proud.

The true story of the night was the battle of the point guards and the approach to the game each individual has.  Russell Westbrook had an inconsistent game with 18 points but he led the Thunder in shot attempts (21) and had six turnovers.  There were numerous Oklahoma City possessions when Kevin Durant, arguably the best scorer in the NBA, wouldn’t even touch the ball because Westbrook dribbled the ball too long.   In the Thunder’s final possession of the contest before Parker’s game winner, Westbrook let the clock go down to less than eight seconds left in the contest before throwing a lazy pass to Durant that was stolen by the Spurs.  First, why wasn’t the ball in Durant’s hands from the start of the possession?  Second, while Durant could have been more aggressive in getting the pass, the lack of speed on the throw hurt the play the most.

Speaking of Parker, his first major play of the contest was a game-tying three-pointer in the corner off of a scramble play with 28 seconds left in the game to tie the score at 84.  Westbrook lost him on defense again on Parker’s game winner from 21 feet as time expired to give the Spurs the win.  While Westbook had more points than Parker, who finished the game with 14, the Spurs’ guard controlled the flow of the game throughout the contest.  Furthermore, Parker had 11 assists with only one turnover.