By now, you’ve seen Kawhi Leonard’s gravity-defying layup.
Thunder player completely loses it when he realizes Kawhi Leonard is unstoppable
Joffrey Lauvergne couldn’t help but spike something.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
The San Antonio Spurs’ All-Star forward used a deliberate between-the-legs crossover to shift Victor Oladipo before hanging in the air for an amazing up-and-under finish past Thunder big man Steven Adams. It was the highlight of a night that included 36 points (13-for-26 shooting), eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks, building Leonard’s case for MVP consideration.
But what you may not have seen was Oklahoma City’s reserve big man Joffrey Lauvergne, who went berserk on the sidelines the instant after Leonard picked apart the Thunder defense. Watch closely as he slams his towel onto the ground.
There are a number of factors in play here that could have sparked Lauvergne’s inner Gronk:
Why the hell is Kawhi Leonard so good?
Leonard is averaging 25.6 points per game and is just a few percentage points shy of joining the illustrious 50-40-90 club. Oklahoma City had no answer for him, and The Claw reminded the Thunder bench when he made Oladipo Milly Rock on defense.
Not another loss
Oklahoma City (28-21) stands seventh in the Western Conference and has a far better record than any of the six teams competing for the eighth seed. But the Thunder went 7-8 in January and endured a major setback by losing Enes Kanter, who broke his own forearm unleashing frustration into a chair in early January and is out for two months. If the West’s bottom half somehow ramps it up after the All-Star break, there will be a lot of towel spiking in Oklahoma City.
Stop turning the damn ball over, Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook is asked to do a lot — pretty much everything. It’s the reason he’s averaging a triple-double this season: he literally has to win games by himself for his team.
But in doing so, Westbrook averages an inordinately high number of turnovers per game (5.5), more than any player in the NBA not named James Harden. In fact, Westbrook has been in the top two in turnovers per game every season since 2013-14 and in the top six in turnovers in all but one season of his soon-to-be nine-year career (that lone season, he ranked 10th).
Westbrook had six turnovers in Oklahoma City’s loss to San Antonio, including one on the possession leading to Leonard’s Dr. J-like layup.
That’ll make anyone spike a towel into the court.
