Yes. Blake Griffin’s dunk was pure, unadulterated awesomeness. Twitter and highlights from every corner of the internet have shown us that. What hasn’t been mentioned nearly as much is another truly spectacular display from last night; Chris Paul’s first quarter.

With 11 points and 5 assists in the period, Paul put himself on pace for is an incredibly rare (and possibly never accomplished before) feat of a 40-20 game. That’s right. 40 points and 20 assists. A game of that magnitude is almost as mind-blowing as Blake Griffin leaping over the Kendrick Perkins, six fans and a minivan en route to the rim last night. Alas, Paul ‘cooled off’ and finished with a mere 26 points and 14 assists. Given his first period was an absolute clinic on point guard play, it’s still worth reviewing, especially considering that’s kind of what we do here at Playbook.

The first thing to look at is how incredibly well Paul uses his body and dribble to keep defenders out of a play and/or create space. The next video contains two clips. In the first, Paul has the ball passed out to him near the top of the key with only seven seconds left on the shot clock. Reggie Evans sprints out for a ball screen in order to create some quick offense.

Evans, however, slips the screen leaving Paul to battle both Russell Westbrook and Nick Collison on his own. Paul reacts by driving hard at Collison’s hip, turning the corner on him and keeping Westbrook behind the play. As Collison recovers to Evans, Paul, in a brilliant maneuver, curls behind him and in front of Westbrook, dribbling in an “S” curve that frees him for an elbow jumper with just over a second left on the shot clock.

The second clip in the video contains similar movement. Paul gets into a pick and roll with Griffin at the left elbow. Immediately coming off screen, Paul has nothing. The help defense has sagged into the paint and Westbrook is still in a position to contest any shot or pocket pass. Paul, being the Houdini that he is, uses a low hesitation dribble to get the stunting help defender (Harden) out of the way and put Westbrook on his back. After a quick hop-step deep into the paint, Paul finds himself free for a two foot floater.

In the next edit, the Clippers find themselves with Paul and Griffin engaging in another bailout, shot clock-induced, ball screen. This is perhaps the most technically perfect ball screen attack one could find. Paul comes off the screen with great pace and his defender on his back. Paul uses an in-out dribble on the big zoning up the paint (Ibaka) changing speeds with aplomb before exploding to the rim for an inside hand finish.

The next stop on the Chris-Paul-Is-Really-Good tour is a pick and roll between him and Evans. Due to some prior action, Evans’defender (Collison) is unable to get up to hedge on the screen. Paul wraps right around Evans’ hip unimpeded with a full head of steam toward the rim. He in-outs Collison on the dribble but the crafty Collison stays right with him. While Paul gets an opportunity to get off a runner deep in the paint, he sees Collison staying with him looking to contest. In the air, Paul finds Evans, who powers his way to a rim for a finish.

This play showcases two great Paul traits. The first is his ability to read the second line of defense. With no hedge, Paul looks to come off the screener shoulder to hip in an effort to keep his defender out of the play. The second is Paul’s great feel for manipulating space. By using an in-out dribble and getting to the middle of the paint, Paul creates the space for Evans to be open near the rim. After that, it’s just Paul’s unselfishness to pass up a mediocre look for a potential great one.

The final two videos simply show off Paul’s intelligence. The first is a rather non-descript. Following a rebound, Paul receives an outlet near the Thunder’s 3-point line. But before taking a second dribble, Paul sees an opportunity to snap a crisp two-hand pass over half the court to Griffin posting near the left block. Griffin misses the hook, but Paul’s ability to not only see the opportunity, but execute the pass is extremely rare.

The last second clip perhaps illustrates Paul’s film study habits. After inbounding from a made OKC free throw, Paul pushes ahead and finds DeAndre Jordan for an easy lob. This type of play should clearly never happen, but perhaps seeing a lax approach to transition in a few clips of the Thunder, Paul pushes with pace and gets an easy shot at the rim against a defense that should be set and ready to make L.A. work.

The amazing thing about all these clips is that this only part of the brilliance Paul showcased in that first period. It was about as technically perfect as a coach could ask his primary ball handler to play. So despite major holes in their roster, when the Clippers have a point guard playing as well as this, dunks shouldn’t be the only thing the league is talking about.

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Despite missing a key cog last night, Chicago put up quite the fight against Miami. Barring injury, these are the two teams many expect to battle it out in the Eastern Conference Finals once again. With the two teams meeting three more before the playoffs, every regular season tilt, even minus a player like Deng, still helps each team experiment with new ways to slow down an opponent they are becoming more and more familiar with.

In yesterday’s match up, the latest twist in strategy came with Tom Thibodeau deployed a zone for a handful of possession starting in the middle of the first quarter. While this move was most likely meant to help Derrick Rose avoid picking up a debilitating third foul, it could be tool the Bulls use again come playoff time. The question of whether or not they use it is something that remains to be seen, but both teams now have the tape to assess whether not it will be effective and to what degree.

Before diving into the film, it’s important to review what exactly a zone does to opponent’s game preparation. Depending on its effectiveness, a scheme change like a zone can take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes of a given practice, walk-through and/or film session to countering it. That doesn’t seem like much. But remember, in a lockout-afflicted season teams (like the Heat) have precious little practice time to perfect their own schemes, let alone react to another team’s.

If a team consistently struggles against a certain scheme then that 10-40 minutes can blow up to over 3-5 hours of practice/film/walk-throughs over the duration of a playoff series (assuming that coach wants his team to be prepared). That is time a team could spend refining their own concepts, adding new wrinkles or simply use to let their players rest their worn-down bodies. With that logic, it seems like the perfect idea for the Bulls to trot out even a marginally effective zone against the Heat, right?

When looking at the numbers, it would appear to be a no-brainer. By unofficial count, the Bulls limited Miami to 5 points over 6 possessions (0.83 PPP). Obviously, six possessions is a ridiculously small sample size. That is where the film comes into play and when looking at that, the answer becomes much less clear.

The first time we see the zone is off a sideline out-of-bounds with 3:03 left in the first quarter. LeBron James enters the ball into Mario Chalmers who quickly swings the ball to Shane Battier on the left wing. Battier reverses the ball back to Chalmers then (perhaps unintentionally) cuts along the baseline with Udonis Haslem back to the strongside of the floor.

As James’ catches on the right wing, Ronnie Brewer drops to defend both cutters, giving up a gap in the zone. LeBron, employing a basic tenant of attacking zones, punches that gap with his dribble, flattening out the defense and forcing two defenders to the ball. On the collapse, James executes a brilliant hook pass to Chalmers spotting up on the weakside wing. The result is a semi-contested 3-pointer (Chalmers could have easily used a shot-fake, one-dribble pull up attack for a cleaner look, however).

Here is the video:

On the surface, it looks as if the Bulls forced a tough shot, but in all reality Chalmers just didn’t exploit a long closeout by Hamilton efficiently enough. The next clip is a bit of a mirage as well.

Norris Cole ends up setting a screen inside the top on ball defender (Rose). James uses the ball screen to pull Hamilton high toward him. Seeing Haslem flashing middle, James threads a pass through the gap. However, Haslem doesn’t hold his position long enough and looks to change space, leaving James’ pass to find only Joakim Noah.

Even though this lead to a run out and layup for Chicago, Miami was in a great position had Haslem just used a bit more patience. In the following picture, you’ll see that if Haslem catches the ball in that spot, the Bulls defense is extremely vulnerable. Not only does he have the space to immediately shoot a foul line jumper, but Haslem can look to go high-low with Eddy Curry (if Noah rotates up) or find Shane Battier (if Boozer rotates) hunting space either behind the defense or cutting up to the opposite wing.

Upon further inspection, this turnover is an easily correctable mistake. Perhaps this concept and alignment will be something that Spolestra uses should the Bulls zone them again.

The other things zones are notorious for giving up our offensive rebounds. In one possession, the Bulls actually gave up two offensive rebounds and only escaped due to a botched putback attempt by Haslem. In the following clip, a freeze-frame highlights a blockout dilemma for Kyle Korver.

With Noah and Carlos Boozer moving to contest a shot from the corner, Korver is left to try to fend off two Heat players (Battier and Mike Miller) coming in from the weakside for the rebound. Korver chooses to throw his body in front of the hard-charging Miller, which opens up a gap for Haslem (left unimpeded by Rose) to sneak in for the third shot attempt. Haslem misses a great chance, but this possession highlights the rebounding problems zones bring.

With two more match-ups on the docket in the regular season, it will be interesting to see how much (if any) zone is used by Chicago. Perhaps last night was a one-time thing centered around a need to protect Rose given his foul trouble. Or perhaps it was a chance for Thibodeau to see if a zone has a chance to slow down the Heat come playoff time. Either way, this chess match will be fun to watch.

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During Wednesday night’s game against the visiting Timberwolves, the Dallas Mavericks received their much-anticipated championship rings for the 2011 season. You don’t often see teams on Ring Night mirror those of the previous season, change always happens. With these 2012 Dallas Mavericks, change is certainly noticeable when looking over at the bench.

Gone is Tyson Chandler, who has taken his talents to the Big Apple this season to try to do for Carmelo Anthony what he did for Dirk Nowitzki. Just to give you an idea of how good Chandler was for the Mavs last year, Chandler finished in the top 1% of overall defense. That is a stat that is sure to make any club much better. Dallas finished last year with a .928 Points-Per-Possession, good enough for eighth in the NBA, according to Synergy Sports. Now, I don’t need to break down all the ways in which Chandler was a major asset to the Mavs, Sebastian Pruiti already did so over on Grantland.com.

The surprising turn of events has been that the Mavericks have been able to reproduce the success defensively this season that they showed last year, only minus Chandler. They are currently forth in the NBA in overall defense, coming in to today with a fantastic .859 PPP. Last season, back-up big men Ian Mahinmi played a small role on the team, accounting for only 12% of total minutes according to 82games.com. This year with Chandler gone, Mahinmi is now getting more minutes, his percentage playing time all the way up to 41%. So far, he has used his 6’11 frame to help contribute on his end to fill the shoes of Chandler.

Late in the game on Wednesday night, a game in which Rubio and the Timberwolves attacked the rim and got to the free throw line 33 times, they tried to again get to the paint create havoc. In this play, Mahinmi is going to hedge hard on Rubio, almost like a soft-double team, not worrying about the pick and pop from Pekovic.

Mahinmi is able to use his feet well and deter Rubio from thinking of a three-point attempt, then recovers to his man on the roll.

Finally, Mahinmi finishes the job with rolling onto his man, closing off any passing lane Rubio may have towards Pekovic, and contesting any shot that may come from Rubio. The play ends with a turnover as Rubio gets stuck underneath.

Brenden Haywood has also proved to be more than capable in the starting center role, starting every game so far this season. Haywood has always been known for his post-up defense, using his size and strength to keep opposing pivots as far away from the block as possible. A big reason why Dallas is second in the NBA in points in the paint defensively is because of him. 

Here, Haywood uses his strength to move Emeka Okafor off the block just enough that Okafor has to reach for the entry pass, causing Okafor to be off-balance. What Haywood is trying to do is stay body-to-body, letting his strength do the work and if need be, his length to go up and contest the shot or block it.

After letting Okafor try to back his way in deep, Haywood knows that if Okafor goes in either direction, he’s got him. He knows that each way Emeka turns, he’ll already have position on him and be able to make the shot a difficult one.

Haywood gets the block on Okafor that was set up by his being low, staying wide and using his length.

Most Dallas fans knew replacing Chandler wasn’t going to be easy. Until Wednesday night, the Mavs have made it seem so by holding opponents under 100 points for 15 consecutive games, a franchise record. Thanks to both Haywood and Mahinmi men, the Mavs are also currently ranked fourth in opponent FG%. With Dirk out of the line-up for the next week or so, the offense will have to pick up, but the defense is still the key if there is to be another ring ceremony.

Ricky Rubio has stolen most of the attention for this rookie class (including here at Playbook), but there is another young point guard in Cleveland showing off his immense potential as well. Kyrie Irving has taken a downtrodden Cavs franchise and surprisingly moved them into the hunt for a low playoff seed. Rubio and Irving have surely touched off a few “who would you rather have” debates among fans, so it’s probably safe to say they are the 1 and 1A of this rookie crop.

While Rubio’s style of play is a hybrid of Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, Kyrie’s game has a lot of Chris Paul in it. It was even apparent in last night’s (ugly) win over the Knicks. Irving finished with a mere seven points, he was still able to control the game and dish out seven assists. His playmaking, pace and precocious understanding of game management were all very much on display.

The first clip we’ll look at occurs very early in the game during a transition push by the Cavs off a missed shot. Anthony Parker finds Irving in the middle of court. Notice that as the ball is just getting to Irving’s hands, his eyes are already up court “taking pictures” (a David Thorpe term) of the action ahead.

Irving continues to scan the floor as he pushes the ball ahead. Upon reaching half-court, Irving notices that Amare Stoudamire is dropping deep to protect the rim (a habit of a post in transition) instead of paying attention to Antwan Jamison’s run along the right lane. Irving sees both this drop and Jamison slowing his run to station himself near the three point line for a jumper. Irving promptly delivers the ball at the exact time Stoudamire is reaching the deepest part of his transition retreat. This combination of vision and timing by Irving allows for an unhurried attempt by Jamison.

In the next video, Irving makes an incredible poised play for such a young player. After some initial action away from him, Irving is denied ball reversal by everyone’s favorite Knick, Toney Douglas. Irving makes the correct read and makes a hard backdoor cut. His cut toward the rim, however, is met by a quick-reacting Tyson Chandler.

Here is where we see some special qualities from Kyrie. Instead of forcing a tough drop off pass through Chandler’s hands (which a high percentage of players would do) to Varejao (who also has Stoudamire right on his back), Irving slows himself down, takes one dribble into the paint and hits a wide open Omri Casspi on the opposite side for the floor.

Seeing Casspi, given the pace/nature of the action leading up to the delivery of the ball is a rare enough feat for most young players. Kyrie takes it a step further by not only adroitly reading the second line of defenders, but purposefully and calmly navigating to a window to make an accurate pass. In short, this rather non-descript play shows why Irving could be rather special.

In a pick and roll later in the second quarter, Kyrie makes very Paul-like read off a pick and roll in the middle of the floor. Paul is very adept at “creasing” (changing sides underneath the screening when the big zones up) ball screens and wrecking all sorts of havoc from there.

After a high ball screen from Varejao, Irving creases and puts immediate pressure on the Knicks help-side defense. Varejao delays his roll to time up Kyrie’s shifty movement toward the rim. As Varajeo starst to dive Irving delivers a brilliantly executed ‘pocket’ pass that leads to a wide open dunk for the Brazilian big man.

In the final clip, Irving showcases another quality that makes Paul so special; the ability to move at a controlled pace during a transition push. In high school and college, most players are instructed to play as fast and as hard as they can, this often leads to players moving at a speed where it’s impossible to make good reads. Playing a notch below full speed (and speeding up only when necessary), even in transition, is a nuance that sometimes takes years to fully master.

Like Paul, Irving shows the ability to play with an excellent understanding of pace. In the third quarter versus the Knicks, the Cavs run out off a miss. Kyrie pushes ahead quickly at first, probing New York’s defense then slows when starting to reach an operating area. As he slows, his head is immediately on a swivel looking to see where the rest of the players on the floor are.

Since Tyson Chandler is the last to arrive, Landry Fields is cut protecting the basket and hasn’t yet been ‘kicked out’ to a perimeter player. Irving notices this and realizes that Parker will be lost in the shuffle. Kyrie delivers the ball in rhythm and the result is a wide open 3-pointer.

More than anyone to enter the league recently, Irving, like Paul, has the ability to manage a game through both scoring and distribution. Rubio will always be labeled as the better playmaker due to his flashy and clever passing skills. But don’t let Kyrie’s impressive scoring numbers mislead you, he can more than hold his own in that other category.

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Of the numerous attributes attached to Ricky Rubio so far in his young career, flair is undoubtedly near the top of that list. From his passion to his wrong-foot finishes, Rubio’s style is meant for entertainment. Or is it?

Lost in clever passing arsenal he displays on a nightly basis is that everything Rubio does serves a distinct purpose. Every one-hand lob or behind the back pass, while certainly aesthetically pleasing, is facilitated by a necessity to find the appropriate time-space window to deliver the ball. Rubio’s usage of the no-look pass lies in that same vain and was evident again in the Houston game.

Late in the second quarter, the Wolves reset after Anthony Randolph rebounds his own missed jumper. He passes back out to Rubio and the two immediately engage in a step-up screen toward the baseline. It is here where Rubio’s no-look savvy strikes.

As we break it down, we see Love moving up toward the slot position just as Randolph is getting set to screen. Love’s defender, Sam Dalembert, is forced to move away from the basket with him. Dalembert is typically used to being stationed near the basket, doing things like jamming any dive off a ball screen that comes his way. This a responsibility he refuses to relinquish despite the Wolves off-ball alignment in this instance.

In the next picture, we see Dalembert intently focused on watching Rubio’s eyes coming off the pick and roll, as he anticipates possibly having to help off onto Randolph should his defender (Scola) have trouble recovering. Seeing that Rubio is locked in on Randolph, Dalembert pays no attention to his man (Love) settling in beyond the arc.

As Rubio delivers his no-look pass, we see his head completely turned away from Love with both eyes focused on Randolph. Dalembert, even after the ball is out of Rubio’s hand, is still staring at where the young Spaniard is looking.

The end result of the play is that wide open 3-point shot for Love. Here is a look again at the play slowed down.

Just like a quarterback looking off a safety downfield, Rubio uses his eyes to move a defender and create an opportunity for a score. So while it’s easy to attribute Rubio’s no-look passes to his flair, it’s forgetting that there is, in fact, a practical application of his flamboyance that has nothing to do with entertainment. Rubio is seemingly the place where substance and style meet.

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A broken nose threatened to derail a match-up inside the Lakers-Pacers tilt that pitted two of the league’s better young post players against each other. Roy Hibbert was not only able to shake off an errant elbow and win his individual battle against Andrew Bynum, he also helped propel his team to a big road victory. He did so by putting an emphasis on one of the most basic things for a big man: post positioning.

One of fundamental aspects missing in today’s game is the ability for players (of any position) to work hard to get good spots on the floor (For post-up opportunities, that usually means getting at least one foot in the paint on a post catch). Contrary to popular opinion, this isn’t always derived from laziness. In fact, most times it’s because players are so used to be so much taller/stronger/more athletic than their competition, that they haven’t yet realized the value of getting prime real estate. Hibbert (and Bynum) are both exceptions that rule.In last night’s contest, Hibbert had a nice contrast of showing the good things that happen with great positioning versus the mistakes that can be made without it.

His first basket of the night was fundamentally perfect from an effort, execution and technique standpoint. About halfway through the second quarter, the Pacers run a quick set seemingly designed to get Paul George and David West engaged in a pick and pop in the middle of the floor. Hibbert starts off on the weakside of the floor as George begins to drive left off the screen.

Knowing that West is popping toward the foul line, Hibbert realize he has an opportunity to duck-in for a quick post up as George clears the hedge. His timing is perfect as he circles around Bynum (whose defensive effort is less than ideal), sits on his legs with both hands high inside the restricted arc. Hibbert receives the ball from George and finishes with a nice no-dribble, right hand jump hook (the ability to shoot so deep without having to use a dribble shows what great work he did to get positioning).
Here is the clip:

The following video has three possessions in which Hibbert again gets great position deep on the block or in the paint. Each catch has at least one foot in (or right near) the lane. Not coincidentally, all three attempts are makes.

As I mentioned before, Hibbert wasn’t flawless on the night. His two turnovers could both be attributed to poor location upon receiving the ball. On each catch that precedes a turnover, Hibbert is pushed more toward the 12-15 foot range than the 7-10 foot range we saw before. The first play you’ll see results in a travel, due to the awkward nature of Hibbert trying to get to one of his counters from so far out. The second is an errant pass possibly caused by Hibbert anticipating an angle out of his post up he wasn’t used to. Check it out:

With Danny Granger struggling to start the year (and not really being a go-to option to begin with), the Pacers could use Hibbert’s post presence to carry them through any offensive lulls. As long as he continues to work for deep post positioning, Hibbert will continue to factor heavily into Indiana’s offensive success.

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The Hawks offense dragged them down in a defeat to the 76ers, but Jeff Teague still contributed quite the stat line. In the first half, he notched five steals that helped Atlanta build a 47-39 halftime lead. With 31 steals on the season (which put him in second place behind rookie sensation Ricky Rubio), he is making the league take note of his presence on the defensive end of the floor.

Any good thief has either quick hands or great instincts. The special ones, like Jason Kidd, have a combination of both. Against Philadelphia, Teague showed he may be in that elite category.

On the first possession of the game, the Sixers look to post Jrue Holiday against the smaller Teague. Holiday gets solid position in the post and frees himself for what seems to be short range turnaround. However, Teague flashes his great hands and reaction time by swiping the ball away as Holiday rises up. Here is the play:

That wouldn’t be the last time Teague terrorized the normally steady Holiday. Two other times in the half, Holiday finds himself relieved of the ball thanks to Hawk’s point guard. In the first play of the following video, Teague actually finds himself switched onto Elton Brand early in the possession. After thwarting Brand’s attempt to score against him in an iso, Teague to switches back to Holiday after a ball screen. As Holiday drives toward the middle, Teague nabs the ball to starts a break the opposite way for Atlanta.

In the second clip, Holiday comes off a down-screen looking to enter the ball down low to Brand. Being loose with the ball probably isn’t good idea around Teague and Holiday finds himself turned over one more time. Here is the video:

Those first three steals showcased Teague’s quick hands and his ability to aggressively hound the ball handler on defense. The following video shows that Teague also has great instincts off the ball as well. In the first clip, he spots Nikola Vucevic moving out of control toward the baseline and times his jump in front of Holiday. Notice the timing he has on this first play. Too soon on that play and Vucevic may try to save the ball in a different direction. Too late and perhaps Holiday as a lay-up. In the second clip, Teague just make a fantastic read from the weakside and breaks on the ball for a breakaway the other way. Check it out.

With regular playing time, Teague is proving to be quite a force on the ball and in the passing lanes. While this brief stretch isn’t enough to knight him a top tier pickpocket, it certainly is putting Teague in the conversation. Even still, opposing offenses better take notice.

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Here is a look at the defensive schemes Miami put in place to soundly defeat L.A.

The 12-2 Thunder versus the 1-12 Wizards. Last night, this matchup was billed to be the best team in the league steam-rolling over the worst. However, something strange happened along the way and the Wizards claimed a 105-102 victory.

Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook had a great box score, one of the best among every player that participated in the 11 games being played Wednesday night. He finished with 36 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and only 3 turnovers. But there was something else there with Westbrook, something that didn’t quite fit right within the flow of the team. It was certainly a game that gave away different signs than a simple box score or highlight reel could provide.

The Thunder had it rolling early in the first quarter, playing like their NBA-best record. Westbrook scored 4 points, had 3 assists, and committed 0 turnovers in a four minute stretch that saw the Thunder take a 14-5 lead before the Wizards knew what hit them. As you’ll can see in the following video, Westbrook had his hands all over each scoring opportunity. Whether it was using his speed, his vision or his attacking mentality, Westbrook had it all working early in the contest.

When the second period rolled around, things changed as Washington clawed back in the game with their second unit. The absence of Eric Maynor proved to be a factor as OKC stalled as the second unit seemed to lack leadership on the floor. In a game where a team is struggling and lacking flow, it’s important for the head coach to settle his team down in some form or fashion. Some coaches do this by calling sets that hopefully produce a few good looks at the basket. For the Thunder, that usually means trying to get Kevin Durant involved. Here is what was drawn up for Mr. Durant:

Two. Just two shots for Durant in a quarter that saw the Wizards climb back into the game, giving them confidence when it the Thunder had a chance to put them out of their misery. In same time frame of the second quarter, Westbrook took six. Now Westbrook was playing well but certainly forcing the issue on his own offensive game, proving that free-flowing, on-court decision-making may not be OKC’s strongsuit. In order for the team to grow, Westbrook most consistently be able to understand the flow of the game and get it back on track, similar to what he did so well in the first quarter.

Here is a quick look at a great play ran in the first quarter that the Thunder could have used in the second half, a half that saw them fall apart. In this play, Westbrook sets a down screen to free Durant. Westbrook stays in the post, an area on the floor where he is in the top two-thirds of players with at least 20 possessions. While Westbrook has the ball, a back screen is set on Durant’s defender by Nick Collison. Durant can either cut to the basket if there is no help to slow him down or as he chooses here, he fades on the screen, leaving him wide open for an easy three. Here is the play in real-time:

This type of play has been good for the Thunder this year, having the ability for Westbrook to stay in the post opens up spot-up opportunities or cuts to the basket. According to Synergy, the Thunder are currently fourth in the NBA in all cuts to the basket. The freedom to move without the ball makes the offense come easier as Westbrook is able to see the floor from a different vantage point.

The second half was similar to what we saw in the second quarter, more forced offense by Westbrook. This lead to Durant trying to save the team once again with a last second shot. With Serge Ibaka inbounding, Kendrick Perkins tries to set a screen to allow Durant to catch it clean for an open look at a three. The defense does a great job of forcing Durant under, making him curl back around to the three-point line. Perkins then sets a ball screen to free Durant for an open look. Unlike against Dallas, the shot doesn’t fall. Here is the play:

While the box score suggest that Westbrook dominated the game, his performance caused some of the same problems we’ve seen for quite some time. He set the Thunder up for failure as the game rolled on, by not playing with a pace and control that produces wins. Unfortunately, Durant wasn’t able to stave off the embarrassment of losing to the Wizards.

With the news today coming out today that Westbrook has signed an extension, OKC is certainly committed to the duo of Durant-Westbrook for the future. On talent alone, this is bad news for every team in the Western Conference. However, until Westbrook develops that Chris Paul-like feel for managing a game, their could be issues like this that thrawt the Thunder’s ability to contend at the highest level. And you can bet that there will be plenty of attention paid to how it all plays out.