Fred Katz (Norman Transcript) on this latest stretch of games for the Thunder which has been particularly grueling: “The Thunder are in the midst of a brutal portion of the schedule. They change time zones between five consecutive games — with four of those contests making up a couple of back-to-backs. It’s hectic enough that coach Billy Donovan has decided to forego a couple of morning shootarounds, doing so before Tuesday’s eventual loss at the Washington Wizards and and before Thursday’s game at the Denver Nuggets.”

Colin Ward-Henninger (CBS Sports) on the possible teams vying for Greg Monroe’s services: “Go ahead, try to name the Thunder’s backup center. Trick question … they don’t have one. Jermai Grant has been filling in at center for the second unit, but at 6-foot-8, 203 pounds, he’s not exactly an earth-mover out there. The lineup of Grant, Paul George, Alex Abrines, Raymond Felton and Patrick Patterson has a net rating of minus-33.6 in 85 minutes this season — not good.”

Get ready for more of these types of tweets over the next 7 days:

According to Royce Young, the Clippers inquired about acquiring Paul George for Blake Griffin.

Former OKC Hornets and Tulsa 66ers player Rasual Butler died tragically in an automobile accident yesterday in California.

Brett Dawson (NewsOK) on the Thunder refocusing on defense: “With the way we were playing defense the last five games, if we would have played defense like that tonight, we wouldn’t have even given ourselves a chance to be in the game,” Donovan said. “That’s gonna happen. You’re gonna have guys that have off shooting nights, guys that don’t make shots, and you got to defend and guard.”

Berry Tramel (NewsOK) on Forbes considering Carmelo Anthony the most overpaid player in the NBA: “Carmelo is making an estimated $26.2 million this season. That’s a lot of money for the fourth-best player on the team. Carmelo has been good for the Thunder, but he’s a 33-year-old forward who isn’t as explosive as he used to be. Carmelo still can score and still can shoot. Heck, he’s rebounding well, too. But whatever defense Carmelo could play in the old days is largely gone.”