Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: At some point, some point soon at this rate, we’re going to run out of ways to effectively put into words what Russell Westbrook is doing. In his latest act, which came on a frigid but otherwise ho-hum Wednesday night, against a ho-hum opponent, Westbrook erupted for 49 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a 123-118 overtime victory over Philadelphia inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. But it wasn’t just what Westbrook did in dominating the Sixers while leading his team to victory. It wasn’t just that he posted his fourth consecutive triple-double. It wasn’t even the monster numbers within that triple-double. This time, it was that Westbrook did all that just four days after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured right cheekbone. Five days ago, the man had a dent the size of a nickel in his face. On Wednesday, had it not been for the protective mask Westbrook wore — a conventional clear one much to the chagrin of many — you wouldn’t have known anything was wrong. He returned from a one-game absence and pulverized Philly much like he did every other opponent he faced in February. Not even the mask could derail his dominance. Jeff Faraudo of The Oakland Tribune: The Milwaukee Bucks went small against the Warriors on Wednesday night and paid for it. "Small ball is the way the league is going," coach Steve Kerr said. "It's good for us -- we're good at it." They certainly were in their return to Oracle Arena after a six-game, 11-day trip, using the smaller, more versatile lineup throughout most of the fourth quarter to forge a 102-93 victory over the Bucks in front of their 109th consecutive sellout. Kerr went to reserve Shaun Livingston at the point, moving Stephen Curry off the ball alongside Klay Thompson, and sliding Draymond Green to center. On his 25th birthday, Green had 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Warriors improved to 25-2 at home, 47-12 overall. They have won at least 47 games three straight years for the first time in franchise history. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal: When Jonas Valanciunas wrapped LeBron James around the neck and threw him to the ground in the third quarter, the home crowd cheered. When James elbowed Valanciunas away as the big man tried to help him up, the sellout crowd roared in delight. It seems to be open hunting season on the league’s best player. Now the question remains: Who on his team will do something about it? In a vacuum, the flagrant foul on James in this pivotal Eastern Conference swing game wouldn’t have been of great significance. But since it came three days after James Harden kicked the royal jewels, an alarming pattern is perhaps developing on both sides: teams going after James and no one on the Cavs doing anything about it. Harden’s punishment was a flagrant-1 and ultimately a one-game suspension. Valanciunas’ foul doesn’t rise near the level of a suspension, but no one retaliated in defense of the league’s best player. Part of the problem was the Cavs’ smaller lineup. With Timofey Mozgov on the bench and Kendrick Perkins out of the rotation entirely, Tristan Thompson was the only big on the floor at the time of the foul. Still, sooner or later the Cavs have to deliver a fastball to the opponents’ ribs. Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: With a furious late-game rally, a barrage of incredible plays from Nicolas Batum and a little luck, the Trail Blazers continued their March momentum in dramatic fashion Wednesday night. The Blazers stunned the Los Angeles Clippers and a sellout Staples Center crowd, overcoming a 10-point deficit with less than three minutes left in regulation before gutting out a dramatic 98-93 victory that was both improbable and exhilarating. The Blazers closed the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run and outscored the Clippers -- who controlled the game for most of the second half -- 23-8 over the final seven minutes, 38 seconds, including overtime. It didn't matter that Damian Lillard didn't make a field goal in regulation. Or that the Blazers shot 39 percent and committed 16 turnovers. Or that Chris Paul scored a season-high 36 points and had 12 assists. The Blazers (40-19) did just enough to win their fourth consecutive game and inch up the Western Conference standings, moving to third place, percentage points ahead of the Houston Rockets (41-20). Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: Though he is a pioneer in the practice of resting veteran players to minimize wear and tear Gregg Popovich has his limits.The notion of lengthening the NBA season to reduce the number of back-to-back games and the occasional four games-in-five nights scenarios was mulled by commissioner Adam Silver during his All-Star Weekend news conference. Included in the discussion: a pledge to consider all possibilities, even playing into July. The Spurs coach wants none of it. “I think the season is long enough,” Popovich said. “I will not come to work in July. If there’s a game in July, count me out?” Even for an NBA Finals game? “Count me out,” Popovich reiterated. “Count me out. Life is too short.” Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald: If they weren’t already, the words “short fuse” might be in bold letters on Whiteside’s scouting report for the rest of the season. Whiteside said before the game that teams might target him after his incident with Phoenix Suns center Alex Len on Monday, but also added that it wouldn’t be anything different than his first few months back in the NBA. Whiteside was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for tackling Len. Len initiated the altercation by slinging Whiteside to the ground. “I feel like they’ve been doing that since I got here, though, and just doing whatever they think they can do that refs won’t call to keep me from getting the rebound or finishing because my free throws are now where I want them to be at this moment,” Whiteside said. “I always hear coaches saying foul him.” Whiteside doesn’t plan on backing down from anyone but said he won’t be getting into any more fights. He did receive a technical foul on Wednesday for arguing with an official. “I’ll just walk away from it and hopefully let the ref see that the other guy is instigating it and not me,” Whiteside said. Chris Tomasson for The Denver Post: The Nuggets have won as many games in two nights under Melvin Hunt as they had won in nearly two months with Brian Shaw. Shaw was fired as coach Tuesday after his team dropped 19-of-21 games. Since then, Hunt as interim coach is 2-0. The latest win was 100-85 over Minnesota on Wednesday night at the Target Center. Hunt has elicited life into a team that has scored 100 points or more in consecutive games after not having hit 100 in any of the previous six. "They quit on Brian Shaw and I thought they'd quit again," said Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett. "Quitter is a quitter." But the Nuggets were resilient for a second straight game, a night after having beaten Milwaukee 106-95 at the Pepsi Center. Forward Kenneth Faried led the way against the Timberwolves with 18 points and 14 rebounds and then admitted Denver might actually be more comfortable under Hunt than Shaw. "I think just Coach Mel knows us," Faried said of Hunt, who came to the Nuggets as an assistant in 2010 while Shaw was just in his second season with the team. "He's been around us a lot longer than Coach Shaw. ... And (assistant coach Patrick) Mutombo was here (since 2011). They just know our game and how we play off each other." Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: Marc Gasol drove toward the baseline, stopped, elevated and connected on a shot from 10 feet with 0.1 seconds left and the Grizzlies left Toyota Center with a 102-100 victory over the Houston Rockets Wednesday night in Toyota Center. Gasol’s game-winner capped a 21-point performance in an important Western Conference matchup. Memphis entered the game with just a 1 ½-game lead over Houston in the standings. ... It was an important win for the Griz. The Griz had lost three of four, and played Tuesday without three key players. Randolph and Beno Udrih returned from an illness. Allen was back in the rotation after serving a one-game suspension for violating team policy. Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has called himself the Hornets’ middle linebacker. That description sure applied tonight. The small forward played hellacious defense on Joe Johnson and grabbed 13 rebounds. Huge contribution. ... Hornets coach Steve Clifford said he’s taking a “sub-to-win” approach to the rest of the season. Tonight that meant starting Marvin Williams over Cody Zeller for a reason that wasn’t exactly about Williams or Zeller. The Nets go small with Johnson playing power forward. Clifford needed MKG to guard Johnson from tip-off and it’s wasn’t’ a good matchup to have Zeller guard Alan Anderson. Williams can guard small forwards. It was a sharp move. ... In his first two games back from a bruised knee reserve center Bismack Biyombo looked like a guy who missed a month. Wednesday he got back in the flow, finishing with seven points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: After a couple of close calls, the Celtics became whole Wednesday with the return of forward/center Kelly Olynyk after an 18-game absence because of a sprained right ankle. Olynyk was hurt when he landed on the foot of then-Portland forward Thomas Robinson in the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ last-second victory Jan. 22. After being projected to return soon after the All-Star break, Olynyk didn’t show signs of being ready to return until the past few days. “It was definitely a long time, but it was tough, I did some damage to it,” Olynyk said before Wednesday’s game. “I wanted to make sure it was good and I could come back and help.” Olynyk, who checked into the game at the 1:35 mark of the first quarter, played eight minutes in his first stint, missing his first three shots and committing two fouls. He didn’t play in the second half and finished with zero points and one rebound in 7 minutes. “I thought he was fine,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: If we have learned one thing about the New Orleans Pelicans through the first four months of this season it is this: there is no one on the roster with a more passionate, loyal or active fan base than Jimmer Fredette. In this new age of journalistic immediacy, Jimmer Nation takes to the comment stream before, during and after games, often bemoaning the fact that their man isn't getting the chance he needs to prove his worth or defending his honor against the swelling number which bash him. And on the other end of the spectrum, there are the anti-Jimmers, those who antagonize the members of Jimmer nation, goading and gloating over any miss or miscue and generally disparaging his very existence on an NBA roster. The humble, unassuming subject of this ardent support and sometimes vitriolic opposition can merely offer a somewhat melancholy smile, grateful for the encouragement he receives from his fans for whom he would like to offer much more success. Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: When the ball and the feet stop moving on the Suns' offense, Suns coach Jeff Hornacek knows that T.J. Warren can change that. Being the only rookie left on the team after the other two were traded has left Warren busy with rookie chores, like chasing down shootaround balls kicked into the stands and putting teammates' shoes away. But Hornacek is giving him regular work in games too. "We all know he can put the ball in the basket but what it is with him is he's probably our only guy who cuts," Hornacek said. "Everyone else wants to stand around and wait for a kick out pass. T.J. is a guy who, when he sees an opening or his man turns his head, he'll cut. When he does cut, he has good hands to snag it and still finish." Warren was looking for towels for teammates Monday in Miami when Hornacek called on him and played him the entire fourth quarter. David Woods of The Indianapolis Star: There are times to be restrained, and times not to be. For instance, coach Frank Vogel was not exulting in Wednesday's 105-82 victory over New York, even if it was the Indiana Pacers' ninth victory in 11 games. Granted, they beat the Knicks, who affirmed their status as the NBA's worst team. "I'm excited about how we're playing. But coming into tonight's game, we were 10th in the East," Vogel said. "So there's nothing to be complacent about or really proud of. We have a lot of work to do." On the other hand, he didn't want restraint when given a chance to exploit the Pacers' advantage. They led by 11 after one quarter, by 24 at halftime, by 30 in the fourth. The Pacers shot 60 percent in the first half and cleared the bench in the second. Vogel gave center Roy Hibbert the night off, and the Pacers' other starters didn't need to expend much energy, either.
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