Daily Thunder.com

@MartzMimic
How could I jump, Darko went off

MartzMimic :@Cpt
C Note
“We don’t need no scoring champion
We don’t need no hurt J-G
No scoring in the final quarter
Thank God that Ivey hit that three.”

Sums up this game perfectly.

Let's see. OKC wins and the Lakers manhandle the Timberwolves. I wonder if @Anonymous has jumped yet?

@Joshua G
Hollinger's is daily, but I'm guessing it's overnight. Never figured out when.

@MartzMimic
That was NICE!
Only the Floyd fans get it, but kudos to you sir.
LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE!!

@Cpt C Note
"We don't need no scoring champion
We don't need no hurt J-G
No scoring in the final quarter
Thank God that Ivey hit that three."

great win!!!!!!!!! westbrook top five pg

MartzMimic :
Was that Ibaka’s first game without a block? Wow.

Blocks: Krstic, White and Ivey. That's the last time that will ever be typed.

@justin
When is the hollinger ranking system updated? After each game or at the beginning of the week?

Was that Ibaka's first game without a block? Wow.

OT but I'm going to Dallas this weekend to see Roger Water perform: The Wall. Waited all my life to see anything from Floyd. I'll be wearing a DT-shirt in American Airlines BLahh Blahh center. GO THUNDER! Pray for your bros behind enemy lines.

I bet our Hollinger ranking skyrockets after this win.

@Sammy

He also missed a couple defensive rebounds down the stretch, one on the tap out by Collison and another one later on.

@justin
That second Celtics possession was fantastic, when Rondo had the ball up top and all the C's were running around and no one could get open forcing Rondo to chuck up a 3.

Wow, what a terrible night for Big Baby: 2-10, 6 pts, and two free throws on six huge attempts.

The defense seemed a lot more focus. There were still errors, but this was probably the best defense we saw this year. Celtics are a top offensive team.

@Joshua G
I thought the Thunder perimeter D (excusing a few lapses, like the Delonte 3) was excellent, and our defensive rebounding was amazing. We had issues keeping the ball out of the lane at times, especially in the first half.

@Sammy
Agreed. The problems with the sets just seem that much more glaring when KD is gone.

Speaking of coaching I can't believe the Celtics didn't go back to Shaq at all.

Sammy :@billyadams

KD’s clutch numbers last year were awful. Like really really bad. He shines sometimes, because he’s just that good, but no ball player can succeed in the sets that we run down the stretch.

Over the long term, I mean.

The major pieces of the Celtics all did bad what they normally do really well: Rondo(7 assists), Garnett(2 rebounds), Allen(0/2 3-pointers), Pierce (14 points w/ only 2-pointers made). Shaq is the only Celtic who played well.

The question is: was that a coincidence that their bad nights all happened on the same night, or was the Thunder defense that good?

@billyadams
KD's clutch numbers last year were awful. Like really really bad. He shines sometimes, because he's just that good, but no ball player can succeed in the sets that we run down the stretch.

@justin

But he is able to draw the foul well, and it's another pair of hands that RW seems to dish to while he and the others move to get better positions.

@justin
Whoa. That's surprising.

Sammy :Yeah, no, I thought the first three quarters was the most entertaining basketball I’ve seen from the Thunder all year. I mean just in the fourth quarter. Everyone knows what play I’m talking about. Durant walks the ball up the court and runs down the shot clock to 10-12 seconds 30 feet away from the basketball and no one’s moving and then a screen is set and Durant dribbles around the screen only to be trapped by a double team and still no one is moving off the ball… That offense.

At least it's encouraging to see the team play real offense from time to time? I dunno. Grasping for straws, here. :)

Opp 3p% regression watch: C's shot 1-8 tonight.

Sorry, that last two lines are mine, not @dream catcher's

@billyadams

That's the thing though. KD isn't that great in isolation, especially at the end of games.

Hope everyone has a great evening! I'm happy with the win, happy for four quarters of better than average defense and three quarters of ball movement and offensive sets with players actually moving without the ball. I'm disappointed with the other quarter of not doing what I just typed. And disappointed at our lack of a close-out offense.

Maybe a few more musings tomorrow. Would love to see some more Royal and DJ. They are fun to watch.

Later.

dream catcher :

justin :
Royal Ivey played more minutes than Eric Maynor tonight.

which I don’t understand. Ivey played solid D, but Maynor was fantastic running the offense I thought.
Maynor ran things pretty well, but for some reason I can't get comfortable with the lineup where Russ is playing the 2 guard...it just feels weird.

justin :
Royal Ivey played more minutes than Eric Maynor tonight.

Surprisingly good ones, too.

Yeah, no, I thought the first three quarters was the most entertaining basketball I've seen from the Thunder all year. I mean just in the fourth quarter. Everyone knows what play I'm talking about. Durant walks the ball up the court and runs down the shot clock to 10-12 seconds 30 feet away from the basketball and no one's moving and then a screen is set and Durant dribbles around the screen only to be trapped by a double team and still no one is moving off the ball... That offense.

justin :
Royal Ivey played more minutes than Eric Maynor tonight.

which I don't understand. Ivey played solid D, but Maynor was fantastic running the offense I thought.

@justin
clearly we went ALL DEFENSE down the stretch

@justin
To be fair to Scotty B, it's easy to get used to having that ability (KD) to soar in the iso. Russ had a great game overall and I thought too that he was the best chance to close until he missed on 4 straight trips.

Russ will be able to learn from this, but as they say, a win is a win is a win.

Royal Ivey played more minutes than Eric Maynor tonight.

Sammy :@billyadamsKD sucks at being the man down the stretch. So does Russ. It’s not because they’re ‘unclutch,’ it’s because the plays that we run are literally setting them up to fail. We just do not move off the basketball.

We did in the first half tonight. I loved watching Maynor / Collison / Thabo curl off those screens into the lane for layups. It was beautiful.

I don't know if it's Boston not showing up or our defense but how bad did they play? Wow. Garnett only two rebounds? Ray Allen? Yikes.

@billyadams
KD sucks at being the man down the stretch. So does Russ. It's not because they're 'unclutch,' it's because the plays that we run are literally setting them up to fail. We just do not move off the basketball.

One thing for Thunder though, it's good to be good at FT shooting... Making sure not to miss out those free points. FT save the game again for the Thunder!!!

billyadams :Ditto ugly but lucky comments. Is it possible RW was trying to make up for KD being gone by trying to be the man those 4-5 trips up the court when no one else touched the ball?

It's by design. We isolate more than any team in the league.

Ugh, I want to feel nice about this win but watching that offense makes me think things will never get better on that end as long as Brooks is around.

@C_Dub
Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled with the unexpected win, the defense and the offense through the first three quarters. But they stopped moving in the fourth, and there's no way to make that look pretty.

Ditto ugly but lucky comments. Is it possible RW was trying to make up for KD being gone by trying to be the man those 4-5 trips up the court when no one else touched the ball?

I guess Royce has to link to other TrueHoop blogs. CelticsHub had 12 comments, most of them prior to the game.

I hope Durant plays tomorrow. And Green too off the bench.

Great/lucky win tonight. See ya'll tomorrow.

MartzMimic :@Sammy

That could go down as the ugliest quarter since the invention of the shot clock.

Absolutely but again, the Thunder found a way to get it done. Just like against Utah and Portland on the road, this team is winning games and getting stops that the last two years they wouldn't have done.

we played like shit in the 4th, so I cant feel to good about this win, but it helps in the standings. We showed heart ill give them that.

@MastrMatt
I got 5 on it! ;)

Sammy :
BTW, I love love love Hubie Brown.

What would it take to bring him on as the Thunder head coach? I'm willing to put up $1,000.

I ll feel better about the clipper loss when we are not their only win:)