Carmelo Anthony, Westbrook questionable against Lakers
LOS ANGELES – First, Carmelo Anthony. Now, Russell Westbrook.
Both Anthony and Westbrook are listed as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Lakers with ankle sprains. Anthony sprained his right ankle in the first quarter of the Thunder’s 125-105 win against the Warriors on Tuesday. When Westbrook picked up his injury is unclear.
The Thunder is already down one starter with Andre
Roberson sidelined for the season after rupturing his the patellar tendon in his left knee on Jan. 27. Now, it could potentially send out a patchwork lineup against the Lakers, who have won seven of 10 games, including a win against the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Westbrook has started all 55 games for the Thunder this season, averaging 25.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and a league-leading 10.3 assists per game. Anthony has started 54 games, only missing a Nov. 12 game against Dallas with a sore back.
While Anthony’s status remains in question, the Thunder at least has its options at power forward.
In the Thunder’s 125-105 win against Golden State on Tuesday, Patrick Patterson put in a disruptive defensive game. Josh Huestis finished at the rim off drives and putbacks. Jerami Grant continued the best stretch of his Thunder career in getting to the free-throw line.
Anthony might not be able to play on his sprained right ankle Thursday against the Lakers, but the Thunder is coming off a game in which it received quality minutes from all three players in various roles.
Patterson went 0-of-3 from 3-point range, but Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he was particularly happy for him. Patterson played a season high in minutes (30) and was everywhere in nba. com’s “hustle” stats categories, leading the Thunder in screen assists (screens set for a teammate that lead directly to a made field goal for that teammate), deflecting three passes and coming up with three steals.
“Certainly, we’re not happy that Carmelo went down and couldn’t play, but I’m happy because Patrick is a hard working guy,” Donovan said. “We’ve got to try to find, when he’s out there, we’ve got to try to find him a few more threes. I thought a couple of times we could have hit him and we just kind of missed him.”
Grant and Huestis didn’t miss much, going a combined 6-of-12. Grant also attempted four or more free throws for the fifth time in six games.
“He’s gotten better,” Donovan said earlier this week. “One of the things he’s doing is sometimes when these teams maybe close a little bit shorter to him to contain him, he’s doing a good job of taking up space and driving the ball, changing directions. He’s had some good drives.”
Starting Huestis
When Roberson missed his first game this season with left knee tendinitis, Donovan started Huestis. He then went to Terrance Ferguson and stuck with the rookie for seven straight starts until Roberson returned.
When Roberson went out again, this time for good, Ferguson started five games until Tuesday’s matchup against the Warriors where Huestis received the call.
Donovan called it a decision to get more size and length on Golden State’s wing players. Donovan was also confident he could reach back for Grant in the event that Huestis had troubles, and he wanted to keep a second unit intact as much as possible with the Thunder’s rotations being altered with Adams’ foul trouble and Anthony’s injury.
“I thought he played a good game,” Donovan said of Huestis. “I thought he played within himself. He scored a few points in that first quarter around the basket. Really worked hard defensively, and just wanted to see how it went.”
Off in L.A.
The Thunder didn’t practice Wednesday, instead continuing with a pattern of rest for its players in the last two weeks at every opportunity. A handful of players gathered to shoot at UCLA’s campus.
The Thunder has practiced just twice since Roberson’s season-ending injury Jan. 27, but Donovan said getting a day of practice time Monday before headed for Oakland was valuable for the Thunder’s defensive principles.
That showed against the Warriors, as the Thunder limited Warriors sharpshooters Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry to a combined 11-of27. The Warriors shot 28.6 percent from 3-point range (8-of-28) after the Thunder entered allowing 11.8 3-pointers made and 40.4 percent from deep in its previous five games before Tuesday.
“Obviously, they’re a hard team to guard with all their movement and their ability to stretch it and drive it,” Donovan said. “I thought our guys gave great effort. There was great communication out there. They helped one another and they really sustained it for a really long period of time.”
Thunder No. 18 on Forbes list
The Thunder dropped one spot in Forbes’ annual report on NBA franchise values but had gains in nearly every other category, showing the increased financial strength of the league.
The Thunder is ranked 18th out of 30 franchises in value, clocking in at $1.25 billion, an increase from last season’s value of $1.025 billion. The Thunder also earned reported revenue of $225 million during the 201617 season compared to $187 million the previous season, and operating income of $64 million, a 22-percent jump from 2015-16. The Thunder had an operating income loss of $8.4 million in 201516, a season in which it was one of three teams to lose money.
The drop in the franchise value rankings speaks to the increase in value of all NBA teams, as it’s the first time that all 30 teams are worth $1 billion or more, per Forbes.com. The average team is worth $1.65 billion, an increase of 22 percent.
The New York Knicks are again the most valuable franchise in the NBA, worth $3.6 billion.