The “yeah, a 24-0 run will probably kill you every time” edition:
Anderson: that breeze you feel is from the wand of the wicked witch of the north beckoning Alan back, telling him his time is up. Seems to have lost the faith of Casey and is, frankly, running out of control around the court. May work at a pick up game at the CityPlace court, but not in OKC.
Bargnani: not like he was playing like Wilt anyway, but when he pulled up lame just before the half, it was all she wrote for our boys. Sure, they brought it close in the third, but even I could make it look like I was a stud for the first few minutes in bed with Ivanka Trump, but soon after that I would lose all control. No word on the severity of the calf tightness, but never good when a guy looks like he’s been bitten by a pitbull.
Calderon: Sonny Liston decided to come out for the 12th round tonight. It was mentioned on the broadcast, but it’s true: the game off actually helped him and you could see it in his shot and his confidence in said shot. He went 8 for 12 and kept OKC honest as they played him hard to start then backed off him, giving Jose the opportunity to chip away.
Davis: nothing shows how tough you are more than standing up and mouthing off to a ref when you are down big with less than a minute left in the game. You’re a tough guy, Edward. He donned his green headband tonight because, you know, it matches the uniform so well, and it brought him next to nothing for luck.
DeRozan: it’s like DeMar went to Costco for his shots tonight as he heaved 22 of them, making a whopping 6. Talk about deep discounting. Not sure how much he let the refs into his head since he was on the short end of a couple of no-calls early. He’s been told to attack and get to the line and you have to imagine he’s frustrated when he does the first part with wild abandon only to wind up on his butt and watching the play go the other way.
Forbes: I was surprised to see him pulling off his warmups, but he did well. This was a perfect example of what his role is (much like Magloire tonight) and how he could help any team. He took advantage of open shots, defended well, and absolutely showed no fear. Very much a positive game in a dark night.
Gray: impressive line with 10 boards and what is not a typical sub 5-shot night for him. Not like his game changed at all, just fortunate to have balls land in his hand. Kind of like Ryan Seacrest.
A. Johnson: honestly, I want to start calling this guy AR as in Animal Rescue. His game is quickly resembling the looks of the faces of dogs and cats at your local rescue shelter. Whatever is going on, the guy needs a personal intervention that involves at least 5 group hugs and a butt squeeze.
J. Johnson: and speaking of dogs, look who got released from his house. Before you get excited: 2 of 11 and the personality makeup of an orphan at Christmas. Not hard to see why Casey would sit this troll down.
Kleiza: ugh. How to describe his game tonight. Hmm. Imagine you had fallen on hard times and needed some clothing so you went to the Salvation Army. You picked up some cool clothes, felt good about them, went home and the next day you decided to wear them out. You run into that prick you hated in high school and he loudly points out that you are wearing his cast offs. That is Linas’ game in Loud City.
Magloire: good appearance by Jamaal tonight. He was a physical presence on the floor and made the OKC front line take notice. This, along with his direction from the bench, is his strength and needs to be tapped into more often.
Uzoh: tough match up for a D-Leaguer tonight, but Ben has some skills that has him on the cusp of making the big show. Tonight did him no favours though as he regressed and regressed hard.
Driving the bus: Jose Calderon
Under the bus: Linas Kleiza
Theme of the Game:
