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@The DON
Yeah there are definitely complaints to be made. I don't mean to come across like the complaints aren't valid.

But the point is that the only reason these complaints exist is because we're so damn good. You think anyone gives a shit when Memphis loses? Or that the Pacers massively underachieved this year?

We're 1,000 miles ahead of schedule. For every time you watch a game and say "what the hell is Westbrook doing?" or "KD has to get a better shot than that" keep in mind that the only reason that matters right now is because we're the envy of the league.

If thunder win tomorrow,I dont mind loss tonight but it loss again,I will be crazy.
We realy need some shooter,haywood of Butler?I think thunder pick can get him

@Dylan

I think what most of us are frustrated about is the fact that, the big picture aside, we are FAR better right now than what we showed tonight, and every time you fall miserably short of what you're capable of then there is room for complaints

Greg :
Can anyone find Duran’ts first half ppg and second half ppg? It seems like every single night the guy is on fire especially in the first quarter, carries it into the second, and then gets ice cold in the third.
Love the guy, not complaining, he’s the league’s leading scorer. But his streaks are rather puzzling to me, especially since it’s always around the same time during the game.

Yeah, I would love to see that stat actually. And not just his ppg 1st half vs. 2nd half of games, but his field goal percentage

There is an unmistakable pattern, which you just pointed out, of him getting off to smoking hot starts and then fizzling out

i would rather have a super-young, talent-LOADED team that every GM in the league would chop their dick off for that sometimes loses focus, then a less talented one that is focused all the time.

but i'm a sucker for upside.

@Dylan

This team isn't a 35 win team, though. It's a 50 win team looking to make its mark in the playoffs and fighting for a playoff seed. It doesn't excuse the mistakes and effort. It might explain them.

Can anyone find Duran'ts first half ppg and second half ppg? It seems like every single night the guy is on fire especially in the first quarter, carries it into the second, and then gets ice cold in the third.

Love the guy, not complaining, he's the league's leading scorer. But his streaks are rather puzzling to me, especially since it's always around the same time during the game.

@Greg
I'm sorry but you replying to yourself made me lol

@Greg
Especially the inbound where Thabo throws the ball right at Harden's shoe, unbelievable.

I'd point more towards two serious f*** ups on inbound plays with less than a minute go, especially considering Green being hit in the eye.

I know you haven't lost faith, wasn't directing the comment to you. The comment was directed towards those who're saying we're going to get blasted by Portland tomorrow, rolled over by LA, or saying things like welp I guess we'll have the offseason to get better now.

That's just conversation that isn't needed. The team OBVIOUSLY wasn't focused tonight, and got up to a big lead and then let off the pedal (something we, along with just about every other young team in history, are notorious for). We couldn't build on our lead because I'm assuming our heads were in tomorrow's game, and not tonight's.

Tomorrow they'll bring the energy and focus and it'll be a great game. I just hope we play better in crunch time. Our play in crunch time hasn't been pretty at times, and playoff basketball is 48 minutes of cruch time. Tomorrow both teams have it all on the line, it's gonna be great.

dream catcher :

justin :

The DON :On another board, all these non-Thunder fans are calling KD un-clutch and a choke artist who can’t deliver when it counts
Whats frustrating is that I cannot muster a sufficient rebuttal for them

You point them to Jeff Green’s (our supposedly clutch ‘glue guy’) two bricked free throws that ended up the difference in the game essentially.
It’s hard to shoot well and effectively every night when teams are crowding you and forcing you into jump shots. Our lack of shooters, and our strange penchant for jump shots tonight, will see Kevin Durant have some nights like this when he’s swarmed.
We need that legitimate second option. If it costs Jeff Green, then so be it. This is what’s going to happen to Kevin Durant in the playoffs, only worse. He’s going to be forced to make jumpers, which he actually isn’t that great at. Kobe has always had a lot of options except those couple years between Shaq and Gasol. LeBron has six shooters on his team better than our best shooter. Durant has James Harden and that’s about it for efficient, reliable offense outside of himself.
The fact that KD is above 60% TS as more or less our only consistent offensive option is unbelievable.

Green was poked in the eye before the free throws and probably could barely see straight. anyways I don’t know why you brought him up, he IS clutch and our glue guy.

Thabo got pocked in the eye in NY and made both.

Stop panicking... we will be champions i can tell. And facing the lakers wouldnt be that bad because we have some serious problems at defending point guards.

this was a bad loss no question, but we can still avoid the 8th seed with a win vs Portland and Memphis.

Yea this loss sucks, but it was because of a lack of focus. I'm not too worried about that because come playoff time I have confidence they'll be able to bring it every night

@justin

If this team had won 35 games like we all expected, no one would be bugging out (as much, anyway) about their lack of focus or lack of consistent focus. They'd be saying wow, what an exciting young team, what a great future they have ahead of themselves.

I think we need to realize who gets over 90 percent of its contribution from first, second and third year guys is going to have lapses like this. If it was any other team of our respective age group, people would say "well, this was a trap game, young teams do this."

If it's happening in 2 years, then it's a concern. Right now it's just something to fix.

The only good news is that Brandon Roy got hurt tonight and might not play tomorrow.

@dream catcher

I get caught in moments like everyone else.. :)

Albabycakes :@Dylan

Word. How could you not be excited about a possible Lakers matchup with the way we’ve played them this year, the way they’re playing recently, and the favorable matchup at pg?…That’d be a really fun series, even if we do get sweeped.

I completely agree that playing LA would be best and that a series against them would bring us more noteriety and attention

I just hope we put up a good fight against them, and I think we will

Strangely enough, I think we are better off playing the lakers than Dallas

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we still control our own destiny with the 6th seed? If we beat Portland (I know, big if) and Memphis then we will still have 6th, correct? If so, who cares about this game? It happens every month where teams lose to teams they shouldn't and play with no fire. Let's put it behind us and move on. A lot of fun ahead.

justin :@dream
catcher
I have statistics that show how ‘clutch’ Jeff Green is (he’s OK, but not great). Clutchness tends to get colored by perception, you remember the ones he makes more than the ones he does not.

umm you have even said on numerous occasions that he is clutch...

justin :
Nobody’s lost faith. There’s a difference between losing to a good team that’s better than you and losing a game of this nature where the team lacked focus and played wildly out of character.
If we had lost to Phoenix and won this game there’d be a lot less of an issue, I think. You can fix talent in the NBA and improve the team but it’s up to the players to fix their character, and achieve consistent focus on both ends. That’s a larger issue than talent, and there is no real excuse for it.

we are a really young team, they aren't perfect.

@dream catcher

I have statistics that show how 'clutch' Jeff Green is (he's OK, but not great). Clutchness tends to get colored by perception, you remember the ones he makes more than the ones he does not.

@Bruno
reggie williams had 29-6 against phoenix and it wasn't the end of their season, and i promise you if we were matched up with phoenix tomorrow, everyone here would be shitting in their pants and the upcoming,for sure 30 point loss.

it means nothing. I couldn't pick reggie williams out of a lineup, but he's average 17-6-3 in april on 53=53=88 percent shooting. IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. THIS TEAM IS AWESOME AND IS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, ENJOY THE RIDE.

It's a tough loss but call up Golden State's GM and ask him if he wants to swap rosters. He'll have a contract faxed over to you before you can finish the sentence.

@Dylan

Fair enough

Nobody's lost faith. There's a difference between losing to a good team that's better than you and losing a game of this nature where the team lacked focus and played wildly out of character.

If we had lost to Phoenix and won this game there'd be a lot less of an issue, I think. You can fix talent in the NBA and improve the team but it's up to the players to fix their character, and achieve consistent focus on both ends. That's a larger issue than talent, and there is no real excuse for it.

justin :

The DON :On another board, all these non-Thunder fans are calling KD un-clutch and a choke artist who can’t deliver when it counts
Whats frustrating is that I cannot muster a sufficient rebuttal for them

You point them to Jeff Green’s (our supposedly clutch ‘glue guy’) two bricked free throws that ended up the difference in the game essentially.
It’s hard to shoot well and effectively every night when teams are crowding you and forcing you into jump shots. Our lack of shooters, and our strange penchant for jump shots tonight, will see Kevin Durant have some nights like this when he’s swarmed.
We need that legitimate second option. If it costs Jeff Green, then so be it. This is what’s going to happen to Kevin Durant in the playoffs, only worse. He’s going to be forced to make jumpers, which he actually isn’t that great at. Kobe has always had a lot of options except those couple years between Shaq and Gasol. LeBron has six shooters on his team better than our best shooter. Durant has James Harden and that’s about it for efficient, reliable offense outside of himself.
The fact that KD is above 60% TS as more or less our only consistent offensive option is unbelievable.

Green was poked in the eye before the free throws and probably could barely see straight. anyways I don't know why you brought him up, he IS clutch and our glue guy.

@The DON
Melo is better than LBJ in clutch time,but I just find 3 fans think Melo is better than LBJ

@Dylan
Word. How could you not be excited about a possible Lakers matchup with the way we've played them this year, the way they're playing recently, and the favorable matchup at pg?...That'd be a really fun series, even if we do get sweeped.

We'll beat Portland tomorrow and avoid the 8th seed. Book it.

This team's played great with its back against the wall this season. I look for them to bounce back and play with much more effort, intensity, and focus. Portland's coming off a game today as well, so we aren't at a disadvantage.

Don't lose faith yet people, we're just now getting to the good part. FINALLY, after 80 games.. from here on out everything is so crucial.

The DON :On another board, all these non-Thunder fans are calling KD un-clutch and a choke artist who can’t deliver when it counts
Whats frustrating is that I cannot muster a sufficient rebuttal for them

You point them to Jeff Green's (our supposedly clutch 'glue guy') two bricked free throws that ended up the difference in the game essentially.

It's hard to shoot well and effectively every night when teams are crowding you and forcing you into jump shots. Our lack of shooters, and our strange penchant for jump shots tonight, will see Kevin Durant have some nights like this when he's swarmed.

We need that legitimate second option. If it costs Jeff Green, then so be it. This is what's going to happen to Kevin Durant in the playoffs, only worse. He's going to be forced to make jumpers, which he actually isn't that great at. Kobe has always had a lot of options except those couple years between Shaq and Gasol. LeBron has six shooters on his team better than our best shooter. Durant has James Harden and that's about it for efficient, reliable offense outside of himself.

The fact that KD is above 60% TS as more or less our only consistent offensive option is unbelievable.

@The DON
post the ppg leaderboards and tell them you'll take a guy who leads the league in scoring for the first 47 minutes of the game and they can enjoy their broke-ass scrubs.

I have a good feeling about tomorrow nights game. no idea why.

@Keith
it's not important to "lash out and get frustrated," that just makes you look like an idiot (again, not talking about you, just in general)

it's important to analyze why this happened. It was a terrible loss, one that likely sends us into an 8-seed. But it's no promise that we get "blown out in Portland," that's ridiculous. Tonight has nothing more to do with that game than that excellent win over Phoenix had to do with tonight's game.

It's a bummer and we played awful for 40 or so minutes, but the best case scenario for this team is probably being a tough out in the first round, anyway, so what's the harm?

On another board, all these non-Thunder fans are calling KD un-clutch and a choke artist who can't deliver when it counts

Whats frustrating is that I cannot muster a sufficient rebuttal for them :(

hello lakers,we are coming

Dylan :@Keith

they’ve played awful ever since the first 8 minutes and this will be a terrible loss, but we’re going to probably win 50 games this year and make the playoffs at LEAST a year ahead of schedule. One bad outing from a VERY YOUNG team that’s played more games in the last two weeks than anyone in the NBA is not a reason to freak out “WE’RE GOING TO GET KILLED TOMORROW AND SUCK IN THE PLAYOFFS THESE GUYS ARENT GIVING ANY EFFORT” (not directed at you)
it’s just annoying.

well, I agree with you, this team is so much better than what it was "supposed" to be.

but on the other hand, there's no excuse for a team with this kind of talent to lose to these Warriors, it's just depressing.

how can it be ok for the Thunder to let REGGIE FREAKING WILLIAMS score 20 and grab 9 rebounds? this is just amazingly bad, there's no way to shine a better light to it.

we all should still be happy about this team's improvement, and I'm ok with losing to Utah on overtime with a botched call (and even getting beaten up by Denver, they're a good team at least).

but losing to the Warriors with these kind of defensive execution? just plain unacceptable.

Wow. Bad loss. Hello 8 seed.

Minus derek fisher's performance that laker game in OKC, every PG has had a very above average performance against us dating back as far as i can remember this season

Who's fault is that?

@Dylan
Sports are emotional rides, that's why we love them. It's as important to get frustrated and lash out as it is to be ecstatic and relieved.

And let's both be honest: if we play the way we played today, Portland WILL kill us tomorrow. And given our overall lackluster defensive effort since the all-star break, it's not ridiculous to think we are torpedoing our changes in the playoffs.

well that sucked

Ridiculous game. I know it's one game, but this is the most important loss of the season against a bad team. If this doesn't prove that we need another player, another option next to Kevin Durant for crunch time that is not Jeff Green then I don't know how to prove that.

The lack of focus and intensity was appalling in such an important game. I can't believe it. Especially after the Phoenix win.

Maynor AND Green passed up wide-open threes to get it to Durant. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I know this will never happen, especially at this point in the season, but Ibaka/Collison need more minutes at Green's expense. Look at Green's stat line. What exactly is he contributing?

man up and take that shot Maynor or Green.... annoying..

Yep, a blowout tomorrow in portland and a sweep in the 1st round

Wasted a ton of time getting that 3 off..

@Dylan
We're upset because we've allowed our opponents to shoot over 50% in 6 of the last 7 games. Its a legitimate concern.

@Keith
they've played awful ever since the first 8 minutes and this will be a terrible loss, but we're going to probably win 50 games this year and make the playoffs at LEAST a year ahead of schedule. One bad outing from a VERY YOUNG team that's played more games in the last two weeks than anyone in the NBA is not a reason to freak out "WE'RE GOING TO GET KILLED TOMORROW AND SUCK IN THE PLAYOFFS THESE GUYS ARENT GIVING ANY EFFORT" (not directed at you)

it's just annoying.

@lou

Yeah it was. Just about as evident as the Utah Situation. I'm not going to lie.

Will these be the longest final 10 second of any game ever?