UPDATE: Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman reports Kevin Durant is unlikely to play tonight. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s probably bad. But if there was ever a night for Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka to play out of their minds, and for a guy like James Harden to bust out with a 20-plus point game, this would be it.
The longest streak so far this season for the Thunder is two. To make that three, well, the Thunder’s going to have to play their best game of the season.
Really, if you look at OKC’s schedule these first three weeks, it’s been fairly brutal. Only one loss is unforgivable and that was to the Clippers. But winning in Boston isn’t something expected, but to this point, the Thunder’s playing their best basketball. But they’ll have to play even better than that to win in Boston. Read more…
The Thunder announced Jeff Green is out and Kevin Durant is questionable for tonight’s game in Boston because of ankle injuries. That’s six out of seven games Green has missed after spraining an ankle and then tweaking it Sunday against the Spurs. If Durant misses the Celtics game, it would be the first game he has missed since the spring of 2009.
That’s one reason why I wouldn’t worry too much about Durant missing the game, if I had to bet on it. If this is the same ankle injury he suffered that caused him to spend a little time on the floor Wednesday against the Rockets and slowly walk it off, then we know he’s already played on the ankle. But it could certainly have stiffened up after he cooled down following the game and the team took almost as lengthy an NBA flight the Thunder will have on the trip to Boston. (Side note: That’s an underrated lucky factor the Thunder has going for it. Oklahoma City’s central location means there aren’t many, if any, flights the team has to take that are longer than about three hours. Only a cross-country road trip would make them have an uncomfortably long journey, and trips like that don’t often show up on the NBA schedule.)
Serge Ibaka will surely start again for Green. It would be interesting to see what lineup and rotation changes Scott Brooks comes up with if Durant has to sit, although “interesting” is a relative term because I don’t know if Oklahoma City could compete with Boston on the road if Durant can’t play. James Harden would be a good bet to start at shooting guard with Thabo Sefolosha sliding over to small forward, or the two would act interchangeably depending on what the offensive and defensive sets called for. Maybe Oklahoma City would go small for a big portion of the game.
First a quick note: I’ll be out of pocket for the next few days. But fear not! I have a good bench in place and they should be able to carry you through. If not, let me know and I’ll be sure to waive them when I get back.
Cole Aldrich, in his latest post at Dime: Someone asked me the other day to compare Coach Brooks and Coach Self. I would say the main thing that sticks out is both of their philosophies are defensive-minded. If you look at the teams that have won NBA championships, they were strong defensive teams like Boston and the Lakers. In terms of differences, Coach Brooks is probably a slight bit more laid back than Coach Self. He always expects a lot out of you, and he’ll get after you a little more. Read more…
I really got a kick out of this last night. Kyle Lowry picks Russell Westbrook’s pocket, which is something you rarely see. Westbrook doesn’t get the ball taken from him very much. He just gives it away.
Anyway, Lowry steals it from Westbrook and you can see Russ is peeved that he let that happen. So in very Russell Westbrook-ish fashion, he takes it right back. And then of course finishes with a nice dunk. That play really sums up Westbrook’s on-court personality Oh you’re going to take it from me? WELL I’LL TAKE IT RIGHT BACK AND DUNK ON YOU.
Westbrook is one of the most fierce, tenacious competitors in the whole league. It just oozes out of him. It’s probably my favorite thing, that “Why Not?” play-all-out attitude. I said this to someone before that if you made me pick 12 players on the Thunder to clone to build a whole roster from, I’d take Russell Westbrook. No doubt in my mind. And that team would be dang good.
Darnell Mayberry on last night’s game: “Without question, this was the Thunder’s most complete game. Regardless of the Rockets’ injury situation, this was an impressive performance by the home team. Impressive because we’ve seen so many losses in games just like these. But rather than toy with a short-handed squad, as we’ve seen the Thunder do so many times in the past, OKC took it to Houston. The energy and hustle was the difference. There were no bad quarters in this one, no prolonged and unmatched Rockets runs and no stretches of sheer sloppiness by the Thunder. It’s as good of a sign as we’ve seen early this year that this team is growing up.” Read more…
With three minutes left in the third quarter, Oklahoma City led by nine points. And in my notes I wrote down, “big three minutes here.” Because this game was going to swing one way or the other. Either it was going to go the way of the Philadelphia game and get closer than it should be, or the Thunder was going to put away a lesser opponent.
And heading to the fourth after those three minutes ticked off, the Thunder held a 14-point lead. Ball game, essentially over.
In fact, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha checked out of the game late in the third and never had to re-enter. The Thunder’s second unit stretched the lead to as wide as 20 and finally, OKC took care of business the way they’re supposed to. Those terrific games against the Jazz and Blazers are a lot of fun, but my heart needed a rest and thankfully, OKC gave it one tonight. Read more…
An opportunity to build on the good things from Monday and to start some consistent play. That’s the opportunity here for the Thunder. The Rockets aren’t near as bad as their record would indicate but they aren’t healthy. Aaron Brooks is hurt and overall, they’re struggling to defend. Houston is a capable team, but there’s not a lot of reason to lose this at home. Read more…
Nick Collison on the standing ovation: “That was awesome,” Collison said. “I wasn’t expecting that. But it was really cool. It’s always good to know that the fans appreciate what you do. You hear it from coaches and other players sometimes. But to know that the fans appreciate it, that means probably the most.”
KD is seventh in ESPN’s MVP watch: “Oklahoma City got off to a slow start, but thanks to the play of the league’s leading scorer, the Thunder have won three of four, including an impressive win Monday against the Jazz.” Read more…
I’ll be honest. I really, really wanted to avoid having this discussion.
Not because I’m afraid of the discussion it’ll start or because I have some weird love affair with Jeff Green. (Though I really do love the guy.) It’s just something you’d rather not have to talk about. In some ways, it’s good because that means that Serge Ibaka is playing fantastic basketball and could possibly be worthy of starting.
But the other side is, that means that Jeff Green hasn’t played well enough to keep that starting spot. That means Green goes to the bench and the Thunder rotation really gets a complete makeover. Which is something we’re not used to, seeing how the same starting five played in 76 of the 82 games last season.
But the question is just unavoidable now. Oklahoma City is 3-0 with Ibaka starting and after his career-high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds and four blocks against the Jazz Monday night, Ibaka has forced his way into the discussion. I mean, with that jumpshot, those athletic abilities and that size, Ibaka is nearly a perfect, prototypical starting power forward. Which is what we all want, right? Plus, he’s not even begun to scratch what he can be.
So who should start the remaining 72 games? Jeff Green or Serge Ibaka? Read more…
Just how important is Nick Collison? Ian Levy of Hickory High looks: “The lineups featuring Collison accounted for roughly 40% of the minutes played for the Thunder last season. Those lineups posted a Defensive Rating 99.5, which is roughly 8 points better than the 107.6 they put up without Collison. The improvement wasn’t just at the defensive end either. The Thunder posted an Offensive Rating of 109.8 with Collison on the floor, a full point better than the 108.8 they posted without him.”
Kelly Dwyer: “What a win. Russell Westbrook was hampered by foul trouble in the first half, but came through with 20 points and seven assists alone in the final 24 minutes. Kevin Durant missed 11 of 17 shots with Andrei Kirilenko in his face, but he also nailed 16 of 16 from the line on his way toward 30 points. And Serge Ibaka? Serge Ibaka needs to start. Clowntime is over, Scott Brooks, because this guy (22 points on 13 shots, four blocks, 11 rebounds, and zero turnovers) changes the game for your team. Read more…
Prior to the game, the always witty Scott Brooks joked to the media, “We’re going to go down 10 and we’re going to see how good Jerry is coaching with a lead.” How prophetic that was. (If you’re unaware, Utah has come back from double-digit second half deficits in five consecutive games to win.)
With 5:15 left in the first quarter, Oklahoma City trailed the Jazz 26-14 and really looked completely overmatched, overwhelmed and any other “over” word you want to toss in. The home crowd was rocking, the Thunder defense was borderline pathetic and I think we were all having flashbacks to the beating Utah put on OKC a couple weeks ago.
But somehow, the Thunder weathered the storm. Partly because Kevin Durant kept them in the game with 15 first quarter points, but OKC somehow got through the first 12 minutes only down six.
And the Thunder kept building on that momentum. After a truly awful start for the Thunder that included their broadcast showing a KSU-Missouri football game, they lead 50-48 over Utah at the half. Then they came out and pushed it up to 12 with a few minutes left in the third. We all thought it was going to be a big mistake, just forcing Utah to come back yet again, but the Thunder did an interesting thing. They played really, really well down the stretch. Read more…
I’m holding my breath here. I feel like if you have something you need to do at around 10 p.m. CT, you’re going to have the time to do it. Because I’m not sure this game tonight will be worth watching at that point. At least that’s the fear. But this Thunder team has surprised us before, so who knows. Read more…
As my wife pointed out, the best part of Serge Ibaka’s excellent dunk from last night is that he hits Gary Neal in the head trying to get his arms up to for the Air Congo. Anyway, here’s that oop if you missed it.
Former Thunder player Kevin Ollie nearly had a tragic accident: “Recently retired 13-year NBA veteran Kevin Ollie’s debut as a Connecticut Huskies assistant coach is on hold after a freak accident nearly cost him his vision in his right eye. Ollie was stretching with the team before Wednesday’s practice when a band snapped back and struck him in his eye. Ollie said he walked off the court, went into a locker room and saw that his eye was filling up with blood. He said he couldn’t see initially out of the eye. He then went to see his doctor off campus.”
Darnell Mayberry: “What killed me about this one is the Thunder almost refused to run. On several occasions there were opportunities to race up the court and get some easy transition points. But after grabbing defensive rebounds, the Thunder pulled up, looked toward the bench for a play or just walked the ball up the court. The possession that sticks out came on a Durant rebound in the second half when Westbrook, Eric Maynor, James Harden and Serge Ibaka were on the floor Why on earth didn’t they try to run the Spurs out of the gym? A top five defensive team comes to town and the Thunder took their chances scoring on them in the halfcourt. That will get you 38 second-half points.” Read more…
I feel like I can say without hesitation that at this point in this young NBA season, that the Oklahoma City Thunder are the worst defensive team in the league.
I don’t even feel like that is all that bold. Coming in to the game against the Spurs Sunday, the Thunder ranked 29th in defensive efficiency, in the bottom 10 in opponent points per game and dead last in opponent field goal percentage.
And those numbers are sure to only get worse after the Thunder’s 117-104 loss to San Antonio Sunday night.
It wasn’t just the numbers in this one where the Thunder failed defensively. The Spurs actually shot just 40.9 percent compared to OKC’s 45.2 percent. It was more that OKC failed the eye test for me. A large part of San Antonio’s field goal percentage was because they missed multiple looks on tip-ins and layups. Most of the night, the Thunder defense was absolutely shredded. OKC overplayed everything and never stopped the ball. I remember Tony Parker weaving through three and four defenders en route to an easy layup multiple times. Read more…
vs. 
