Well, that’s pretty much exactly how I envisioned this going down. A couple of runs by the Thunder to 
stay “in it” but never really completely being “in it.” The Nuggets needed this game badly and they played like it, taking down OKC 112-99.
But you have to credit the Thunder for hanging tough at times. There were a couple of points where the game teetered on stepping into blowoutsville, but OKC got some buckets and at least pushed the Nuggets to the end. The largest lead Denver had was 19, but the game was in the 10-14 range most of the way.
This was game number four in five days and there were definitely some tired legs on the Thunder side. But OKC stayed semi-close because of the free throw line. The Thunder hit 30-32 from the stripe and they had to, because the jumpers absolutely were not falling. The Thunder shot 40 percent, hit 3-13 from three and only made something like nine shots outside of the paint altogether.
It was pretty evident early that the Thunder was going to have trouble. The Nuggets were back-cutting and getting easy looks in the paint. It seemed like probably 20 or so of Denver’s 31 first quarter points came on layups and dunks (they shot 12-17 in the first; OKC was 8-22). The interior defense and the rotations just weren’t there. I don’t know if it was hangover from the night before or what, but the team just looked a bit flat. OKC turned it over six times alone in the first quarter en route to 16 overall, but that sort of stuff put the Thunder in catch-up mode early. And it didn’t help that they couldn’t hit a jumper to save their life.
But per usual, the Thunder went on a solid 17-5 run to close to within five in the second quarter. OKC turned up the defensive heat and started running a little more and getting easy looks. That’s what you do when you can’t make an open jump shot – you get out in transition and try and get easy looks and layups. Earl Watson – who had probably his best game of the season – key a lot of it, taking every outlet and every inbound pass and ran with it. He pressed the pace and it led to some good shots. Read more…
Recap
vs. 
Oklahoma City Thunder (18-46, 5-26, road) at Denver Nuggets (40-25, 23-8 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 8:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder: 103.6 (28th), Denver: 108.9 (11th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.3 (20th), Denver: 106.5 (10th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.7 (8th), Denver: 93.9 (7th)
In two meetings so far this season, the total difference between Oklahoma City and Denver has been three points. A 122-120 game in January and a 114-113 game in February with two Carmelo buzzer beaters.
And so far in March, these two squads have been headed in different directions. OKC is 4-1 this month while the Nuggets are 1-5, and stuck in three-game skid. But you know Denver is looking at tonight’s game as a “get back on track” game against the Thunder. Denver’s next five opponents are all under .500, so they’re probably looking forward to getting some *easier* wins.
But as we know, nothing comes easy when you’re playing the Thunder. Kevin Durant is a big maybe for tonight (more like a big unlikely), but as we’ve seen, OKC can win without him. But the Nuggets are one of the league’s best at home (23-8) and like I said, they’re wanting this one. A loss tonight could send the Nuggets into a complete tailspin.
Add on that this is the second back-to-back for OKC in under six days with a depleted roster, so there could definitely be some jello legs. It’s a big shot in the arm to have Uncle Jeff back, but in steps The Uncle and out steps Nick Collison with a groin injury. Ah, the revolving door of NBA injuries. (No word if Collison will be back tonight.) Read more…
Preview
Russell Westbrook dropped a spot in SI’s rookie rankings this week: “Westbrook has helped the last-place Thunder win 
four of five as they inch closer to overtaking the Timberwolves in the Northwest Division. With starting forwards Kevin Durant and Jeff Green sidelined by injury, Westbrook has shouldered more of the offensive load lately. The 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 22.2 points and 6.4 assists, along with 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals, in the last five games.”
Scott Brooks is hoping to shed that interim tag soon: “No talks yet,” said the Manteca native, who interviewed for the Kings’ coaching vacancy two offseasons ago. “I’m still interim. It hasn’t really crossed my mind – too much. But I like what I’m doing. I’m getting better. “I feel like I’m almost a mirror of our team. They’re a bunch of young guys who are getting better, and I’m improving with them. I critique myself after every game. Our players are all gym rats, so we’re kind of from the same mold. We want to get better, and I think we have.”
Is this the only headline the Oklahoman uses? “(Insert player) is making an impact.” This time, it’s Chucky Atkins: “Rather than sitting and sulking on the sidelines, the 34-year-old Atkins has voluntarily become somewhat of a player-coach, with obviously more coaching than playing. Atkins has taken Westbrook, the No. 4 overall pick, under his wing over the last two months, educating the 20-year-old on how to be a successful lead guard. Whether during timeouts or during game play, Atkins can be seen yakking in his teammates’ ears, sharing anything and everything he’s learned from 10 years in the league.” They might just be going player by player. Read more…
Other
When you start winning some games (how does FIVE of SIX sound my friends?), it’s not always just about winning the game, but it’s also a little bit about how you win. Well, that’s not entirely true because as long as the Thunder has one more point than the other team when the clock says zero, I’m happy (which was exactly the case tonight).
But OKC had some defensive lapses early, didn’t rebound in the second quarter, gave away a 10-point lead in what seemed like seconds and played a sloppy fourth quarter and at a point sometime in the fourth, I told myself, “Win or lose, I’m not that thrilled about this game.” But then the Thunder made a slew of big plays down the stretch and edged out Sacramento 99-98 and let me tell you, I really don’t care about semi-lackluster first 43 minutes. The last five were excellent.
The Kings took a 92-91 lead on a Rashad McCants free throw with 4:56 left in the game after the two teams had exchanged buckets on the last four possessions. And this game kind of had the feeling of, “Here we go, let’s watch OKC blow this down the stretch.” But the Thunder came up with big stop after big stop holding the game at one. Nenad Krstic stopped Spencer Hawes at the rim. Then after Jeff Green turned it over for a second straight possession, Hawes got tagged for a moving pick. Russell Westbrook then missed a little runner in the lane and the Kings’ Will Soloman streaked at the bucket. But Krstic was there again for a monster stop at the rim, denying Soloman. OKC couldn’t cash in after a McCants steal but AGAIN, the Thunder came up with a stop contesting a Bobby Jackson jumper and securing the rebound.
Finally the Thunder broke through as Earl Watson missed a reverse layup but Krispy Nads was there for put-back to giving OKC the lead for good, 93-92. (Then for good measure, OKC got another stop and Krstic got another offensive rebound and put it in. 95-92.
It was really a crazy sequence of events. It was one of those stretches where the Thunder could have easily been down eight with no chance and relegated to heaving threes, or they could have been up eight cruising to the buzzer. But instead, it came down to the wire and the Thunder made a play or two more than Sacramento and that was the difference. Read more…
Other
vs. 
Thunder (17-46, 4-26 road) at Sacramento Kings (14-49, 10-21 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 9:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder: 103.7 (28th), Sacramento: 104.5 (26th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.4 (20th), Sacramento: 113.9 (30th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.6 (8th), Sacramento: 94.1 (6th)
(Jeff Green could play tonight, according to ESPN/The Oklahoman. I guess we’ll find out around 9:00 p.m.)
Another wonderful matchup in the Blake Griffin Playoffs. So far, OKC has split with Sacramento this season and though the Kings are sitting at just 14 wins (now that we have 17, we can talk down at those crappy teams below us), they did pick up a nice win against Denver two nights ago.
But this is a little different Sactown team than OKC saw the first two times. Gone is John Salmons who averaged 21 points, 9.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds against the Thunder. Add Andres Nocioni, who scored 23 in the Kings big upset over the Nuggs. Plus Beno Udrih (29 points in last meeting) is hurt and Bobby Jackson will be starting in his steed.
The Kings have scored 233 points in their last two games combined, but as we know, the Thunder’s playing some serious defense right now holding their last five opponents to under 90 points a game, including holding Philly to season-low 74. So it looks like we’ll have a nice little offense/defense showdown tonight and I think it could be summed up perfectly by the Thabo/Kyle Weaver vs. Kevin Martin matchup. Read more…
Other
Not much happening on the Thunder front today. So I’ll take this second to ask myself, why do I watch 24 every 
Monday? You’ve got armed terrorists in full camo from Darius Songalia invading the White House and taking the President captive, Bill Buchanan (only my favorite character) dies, the President’s daughter becomes Godzilla in .003 seconds and just pisses everybody off that’s watching, then just when one story gets wrapped, Jack says, “This isn’t over” and the whole thing picks up again and then Jack gets framed for the 29th time and has to go behind the world’s back to save the world. Sigh. Can’t wait for next week.
HoopsWorld rookie watch: “Once wins are taken out of the equation, however, there’s been little difference between Rose and OKC’s Russell Westbrook for most of this season. He only gets better each game and is starting to rack up seven-and-eight assist games with regularity, and he more than almost anyone else in the class (except maybe L.A.’s Eric Gordon) can blow up for 30 points on any given night. The difference between him and Gordon, though, is that Westbrook will also dish 6 assists and grab 4 rebounds.”
The D-League is trying out a cool playoff system. Too bad the 66ers are 7-29 and losers of nine straight: “For the first time, eight teams will qualify for the 2009 NBA D-League postseason, including the winners of the three divisions along with the five teams with the best regular season records, regardless of division. New for the 2009 postseason, the three division winners will have the unique opportunity to select their first round opponent from the teams ranked five through eight. The top-seeded division winner will select its opponent first, with the second and third ranked division winners following in that order. The fourth seeded team will play the remaining team.”
Wonderful New York Times article on Blake Griffin: “The recruiting ground for Blake Griffin’s college decision came at the family dinner table one night in April 2006. Taylor had returned home from Norman, Okla., and soon after the family finished their pre-meal prayer, Taylor quizzed his younger brother about his college future. He then raved about the direction of the Sooners’ program under the newly hired coach Jeff Capel and the benefits of staying close to home.” Read more…
Bolts
SLAM had an article last week where slick writer John Krolik asked if Kevin Durant could be the anti-Battier in terms of plus/minus. Durant has one of the worst plus/minus scores in the league at -6.4 and overall plus/minus of -330 and Shane Battier is known to be valuable based almost exclusively on stats like plus/minus. There’s been some chatter recently about KD’s true value to the team on both ends and a lot of people point to the plus/minus.
But when I look at OKC this year, I really almost consider this as two different seasons. You’ve got the 2008 season and the 2009 season. And Durant’s horrid plus/minus numbers were really built up during that stinky 4-30 2008 start.
Consider: In 2009, in 25 games, Durant has an overall plus/minus of -39 (that’s including a -27 against Minnesota in which he played just 16 minutes). That’s with the team record being 9-16 in games he’s played this calendar year. So he’s averaging a -1.56 a game, which is a far cry from the overall -6.4 he has for the season.
For perspective, KD’s 2008 overall plus/minus was -291 for an average of -9.09 a game (32 games). In fact, he had only four positive games in 2008 and didn’t have his first plus game until the last day of November. That’s a difference of 7.53 between 2008 and 2009. So it’s safe to say, things have changed pretty drastically in this new year for KD. Read more…
Other
Four out of five folks. Four. Out of five. Remember that whole “worst team ever” talk? Good times.
SLAM is looking for a nickname for KD. I thought we all kind settled on Durantula or Kid Declious: “We asked Kevin 
Durant himself if he has any nicknames, and all he could come up with is “KSmoove.” It’s absurdities like that which got us into the nickname business in the first place. Here’s a player with as much pure offensive talent as anyone to come into the League this millennium, as he showed most recently in the Rookie-Sophomore Game. Obviously, this guy needs a nickname that honors his abilities—and he’s on record as asking us for one. Kevin needs your help. Whoever has the best nickname will win a dope prize from the SLAM vault and get their name in Trash Talk next month.”
FanHouse doing lines: “Philadelphia shot below 40% … against the Thunder. OKC’s locksmith line-up — Kyle Weaver, Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha — conspired to wreck the 76er attack, and Sefolosha is looking like he just might be the best player traded near the deadline this season.”
The Scores Report put together the top 68 worst contracts in the NBA. OKC had just one (Nick Collison who hecked in at No. 33 in the “Overpaid Role Players” category: “In most cases, I don’t blame the player himself for his outrageous contract. The fault lies with the general manager that inked the guy to the deal. However, this rule goes out the window if the player has a history of only producing in his contract year – I’m looking at you, Tim Thomas.)”
As Joe mentioned in his recap, Malik Rose was on NBA TV’s arena link and had some pretty interested things to say. Man I like that guy. I kind of want him back next year. Read more…
Other
Box Score.
It’s a treat to not only win our fourth game out of five, but to actually beat somebody by a good margin – a playoff team no less. The Thunder tonight played stifling defense for most of 48 minutes and held the Sixers to 22 points below their per game road scoring average.
Philly essentially made two little runs in the game. The first was in the middle of the first period after the Thunder jumped out to a quick 8 point lead to open up the game. Philly called a timeout and regrouped. They then began to hit their shots and took the lead to end the quarter with a six point lead at 24-18. What was interesting was that this run coincided nicely (sarcasm) with Brooks’ first player substitutions. He took out Thabo and Krstic and inserted Wilkins and Malik Rose just a couple of plays apart. When Thabo and Krstic came out they were +3 and +6 respectively, and the team had the lead. Then a bit later Earl came in for Westbrook and the lead disappeared completely and became a deficit. Westbrook, Thabo and Krstic were the only positive +/- guys for the Thunder in the first; during the opening quarter Philly shot 55% (mostly great shooting in the second half of the first) and opened up a 6 point lead. The Thunder committed 7 turns in the first.
Shortly after the start of the second period Krstic and Thabo rotated back in, and the stifling defense re-appeared. Philly was completely suffocated offensively and could only manage 12 points in the second on 31% shooting, with 7 turns of their own. By the half, Thabo and Krstic were +23 and +25 respectively. These two guys were just having a crazy effect on the game. Russell Westbrook was +10 and Malik Rose found his Geritol and was +7. The Thunder shot 14/24 in the second for 58% shooting, and the Sixers looked like they wanted to be somewhere else. Read more…
Bolts, Other
vs. 
Philadelphia 76ers (30-30, 13-16 road) vs. OKC Thunder (16-46, 12-20 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 6:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder: 103.8 (28th), Philadelphia: 106.4 (22nd)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.9 (21st), Philadelphia: 105.7 (7th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.7 (8th), Philadelphia: 90.8 (17th)
UPDATE: Thabo is a go, Green is not.
I wonder what Shaun Livingston is doing tonight… think he could come down and chip in 15 or 20 minutes?
Coming off a game last night in New Orleans with only eight healthy bodies, OKC has to turn around and lace ‘em up again tonight with Jeff Green and Thabo Sefolosha being question marks. Kevin Durant said recently that he’ll maybe be back against Denver Wednesday, but “definitely back against Phoenix.” Scott Brooks did a really good job of distributing minutes against the Hornets, but with only eight players on a back-to-back, there’s probably going to be some heavy legs.
It’s just going to have to be another one of those hustle and grit efforts to stay in it. Russell Westbrook did a solid job of creating opportunities last night, but his mates didn’t cash in. The biggest issue will be defending the Sixers who have long, skilled guys all over the floor. But they are a below average road team (13-16) and OKC has played well at home in 2009. So don’t count the Thunder out just yet. You might be able to count them out 24 minutes in, but not just yet. Read more…
Other
I remember a few Thunder fans calling for Presti to bring in Shaun Livingston and that’s exactly what happened. From NewsOK:
Livingston, the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, chipped in six points and three assists in just over 18 minutes of playing time as the Tulsa 66ers dropped their eighth straight decision with a 99-96 loss to Rio Grande Valley in an NBA Development League game.
The Thunder has an open roster spot due to waiving Joe Smith, but who knows if Presti will try to bring Livingston up to the Thunder before the end of the year. He did suffer a horrific knee injury just two years ago that forced him to basically re-learn how to walk. But he was a top five talent and a potential solid contributor at point guard and if he’s healthy, there’s no way he’d hurt the Thunder at back-up point guard (I’m not saying anything about anyone specific… but I think you catch my drift). I know I wouldn’t mind seeing him on the roster by the end of the year.
Other
It’s a strange thing when your team gets beat by 18 and you sort of feel good about it. Because you know it could have been much, much worse. 
Though a 108-90 loss isn’t good by any means, we all know it could have been much, much worse. The game was 76-72 with the Hornets leading at the end of the third and we were all thinking the same thing: How in the heck are these guys hanging in this? Damien Wilkins is like 2-41 from the field, Nenad Krstic isn’t scoring and oh yeah, no KD, Uncle Jeff or Thabo. How is it just four heading into the fourth?
And I think Byron Scott was probably asking his team that same thing after the third. Why are these guys only down four to us right now? Anybody? A lot of it was because Chris Paul had to sit for most of the third because he picked up his fourth foul, so that definitely helped OKC stay that close. But once he came back in to start the fourth, the Hornets ratcheted things up and went on a 15-3 run to start the fourth, eventually stretching out to a 20-point lead. Maybe the New Orleans was just pacing themselves, saving their energy to turn it on in the fourth. Or maybe they expected to be up 20 going into the fourth and they collectively though, “Oh crap, we better get going or we’re going to lose to this rag-tag bunch.” Whatever it was, by the end of it, the score looked about like it was supposed to. But OKC made it interesting there for a while.
But like I said, I still feel a little encouraged about this game. It was just a total scrappy effort with guys diving all over the floor, hustling to take charges and doing their absolute darndest to put the ball in the basket. They tried hard. I definitely want to give it up to them for that. They were in the game until the fourth quarter when they all either ran out of gas (hit just 3 of 18 from the floor in the fourth) or the Hornets woke up, but that’s all we could really hope for going into it. I know I didn’t expect to keep it any closer than 20. I figured NOLA would roar out to at least a 15-point halftime lead and maybe the Thunder would close to seven or eight, but then the Hornets would win by 25. I didn’t think there’d be any way that I’d be actively watching and rooting after 36 minutes. But there they were, right in the thing. And that’s saying something when at times, your main offensive weapons are Damien Wilkins and Malik Rose. To be within four going into the fourth is pretty dang good. Read more…
Other
vs. 
Thunder (16-45, 4-25 road) at New Orleans Hornets (38-22, 22-9 home)
TV: KSBI-52 (Cox 9, HD 715)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 7:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder: 103.9 (28th), New Orleans: 109.5 (9th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.8 (21st), New Orleans: 106.4 (10th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.7 (8th), New Orleans: 87.8 (28th)
I don’t know where vengeance ranks in Tyson Chandler’s book, but let’s hope it’s low. I really don’t want to see him miffed and put up 35 points and 26 rebounds or something. I would feel sad if that happened. The Hornets are undefeated with Chandler back in the lineup so it would be kind of nice if OKC could hand them a loss.
But how about this: We’ve got a game with two hot teams as the Hornets have won seven in a row and the Thunder three in a row (how cool is that?). Right now, Jeff Green is a game-time decision and Thabo Sefolosha is listed as questionable. Kevin Durant is stil day-to-day but I’m guessing there’s about a two percent chance he plays. Read more…
Other
So we all know that the last four games have been a big success for the Thunder. The first of the four was the overtime loss to Dallas where KD went down in the fourth, and the Thunder almost pulled one out, but played surprising basketball without our big time scorer. The following three games were equally surprising considering that Jeff Green only played in the first, and Kevin Durant didn’t play in any of them. The Thunder’s play was so inspiring, that it resulted in Mark Cuban lambasting his team and threatening the players jobs for their effort against the lowly Thunder without it’s stars.
The Thunder did it with defense. If you watched, you noticed. No longer were the Thunder’s opponents in those last four games making big shot after big shot. No longer were they scoring at will. Now, suddenly the Thunder were making these other teams work hard to put points on the board-something we haven’t seen much of this year.
I crunched the numbers for the “four factors” for the last four games to illustrate just how these wins have been coming.
First of all the big picture. In the last four, OKC has had an offensive efficiency of 107 points per 100 possessions. That’s not too bad, league average is 107.9, so we are still right there even without our big guns. The Thunder’s defensive efficiency has been 101.35 points allowed per 100. That is really superb by any measure. The league average defense is also 107.9. Read more…
Other
Will it ever end? From Darnell’s blog:
Thabo Sefolosha has sustained a sprained MCL and is listed as day-to-day.
Sefolosha only shot free throws during today’s practice and his status for Saturday’s game at New Orleans is unclear. Coach Scott Brooks labeled Sefolosha a game-time decision.
If Sefolosha is unable to play against the Hornets, he will become the fourth injured player on the Thunder’s roster, joining forwards Desmond Mason, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.
Also, he had an update on Jeff Green, who said his sore back feels “great” but was unsure if he’d be cleared to play tomorrow night. Kevin Durant took part in some shooting drills and is walking without a limp, but is still likely doubtful against New Orleans.
If there’s no Thabo to go along with no Green and Durant, then this winning streak may make it to four. Because the more Thunders that go down, the more we win. That’s how it works, right? But seriously, the thought of Damien Wilkins playing 44 minutes makes me shiver. Get well soon Thabo (and by soon, I mean, like now) .
Other
