There’s a certain business-like mode really good teams can turn on. And the Thunder activated that Saturday against the Suns.
No slow start, no letting up, no lapses or lack of focus. Oklahoma City was ready and waiting for Phoenix and handled its business 107-97 on New Year’s Eve to improve to 5-0.
I want to break this thing down, but what’s there really to say. The Thunder rolled the Suns with KD only scoring 12 points and no starter playing more than 30 minutes. It was an efficient takedown of a team OKC should completely outclass at home, with the Suns coming off a game the night before.
OKC started the game on a quick 7-0 run and then the bench took over, piling up 33 of the Thunder’s 60 first half points. James Harden was terrific, dishing out eight assists with six in the first half. Daequan Cook went 4-5 from 3. Nazr Mohammed scored nine and made a number of nice plays, including a sweet fake pass and-1 layup. This game really was just a clinical performance from a Thunder team that should do exactly what it did. Read more…
These are the type of games that kind of show you who you are. The buzzer-beaters and the big wins over contenders go a long way, but the Thunder face an average Suns team that’s coming off a game the night before. At home. There’s really no excuse to lose, or even have be that much of a headache. Problem is, Phoenix has that Steve Nash guy that tends to make things difficult. Read more…
There’s a simple principle to any last second shot: It’s always a good shot when it goes in. Well, sort of. It can be a very bad shot — like KD’s game-winner last night against Dallas — but also be a great shot. Because look at what happened:
1) The Thunder got the ball to their best player with 1.4 seconds left
2) Durant got a pretty free, clean look at the basket
3) He made it
Considering the circumstances, I’d say Scott Brooks and his staff drew up a sufficient shot. Again, mainly because it went in. Had it not, the Thunder would be 3-1 and there would be a lot of griping about Brooks’ ability to dial up a good last second look. Read more…
Kevin Durant’s game-winner was a beautiful thing. One of those moments whether you were at home or fortunate enough to be in the arena, you want to relive over and over again.
Nothing will capture that moment of instant jubilation like being there, but videos from inside the arena do a pretty good job I think. Here are a few good ones. Read more…
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com writes Westbrook doesn’t fit with OKC: “If the Thunder do want Westbrook, it’s not a given that he wants to be there. He’s told friends he feels Thunder coach Scott Brooks blames him for losses, while the credit for victories goes to Durant. You also don’t hear Westbrook constantly profess his love of playing in a small market the way Durant does. Culture is a big part of the Thunder program. They value fit over talent. One of the reasons they took James Harden over, say, eventual rookie of the year Tyreke Evans in the 2009 draft was because they thought Harden could tolerate a secondary role.”
Perk called out Chris Webber. Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Considering that Perkins, more than anything else in his repertoire, is thought of as a superior post defender? That’s a strange, if not inarguable, statement coming from C-Webb. And though we watched NBA TV’s postgame show a time and a half as Wednesday night bled into Thursday morning, we missed the part where Outside the NBA’s James Herbert apparently caught Webber once again criticizing Perkins’ post defense, calling him “overrated.” It seems an odd, forceful bit of analysis from Webber on what is a genuinely well-respected player in Perkins. We always appreciate analysis that goes against the tide, assuming it’s not created just for effect, but to these eyes Webber might be a little off, here.” Read more…
Russell Westbrook had the arena chanting his name. Had everyone inside Chesapeake Arena behind him, believing in him, supporting him.
And then Durant went all Durant and hit a game-winning shot. Such is the life of a second banana, I guess.
Westbrook appeared to have re-discovered what makes him such a major part of the Thunder though, which isn’t to be overlooked. Westbrook carried the Thunder to the finish line, but Durant pushed Oklahoma City over. That’s a team.
Vince Carter looked to have ripped the Thunder’s heart out with a go-ahead 3 with 1.4 seconds left during an emotional game against the team that eliminated the Thunder in last season’s playoffs. It had the feeling of another devastating, heartbreaking Mavs loss. With OKC up five, Jason Terry drills a 3. Then Serge Ibaka had a critical double-miss that left the door open for Carter and the Mavs.
But in came Durant to save the day, drilling a gorgeous 3 at the buzzer. Was it a perfect play drawn up by Scott Brooks? Not much different than the ones we saw all of last season, which is to say, no. This one just happened to go in.
“I just tried to shoot a good one,” Durant said. “I’m just glad I made it, man. I’m glad I made it.” Read more…
The Thunder have seen the bad guys from Big D twice already, but those didn’t count. This one does, so here’s the real chance at a little payback for the Western Conference Finals. The Mavs are spinning a bit so far, looking a tad complacent after winning their title. But that’s a team that will get it together at any time, and it could start tonight with a statement over the 3-0 Thunder. Read more…
Lost in all this Russell Westbrook noise was that the Thunder did just enough in the last four minutes against Memphis to hold on for a really nice win. Which if you recall, was something of a chore during the playoffs last season.
In both the Dallas and Memphis series, Oklahoma City’s halfcourt sets basically devolved into Westbrook trying to force a pass to Kevin Durant while KD held off Shawn Marion for 18 seconds and then after that inevitably failed, Westbrook trying to create something on his own.
In the past, the Thunder have primarily run two sets: 1) Westbrook and Durant in a screen-and-roll/slip play on the wing and 2) KD isolating at the top of the key with Westbrook trying to feed the ball so KD can go one-on-one with his man.
In conclusion, didn’t work so great. The has been a lot of pressure on Scott Brooks and his staff to get more creative with his two stars and figure out what to do in those later stages. You want KD with the ball and taking the shot, but it’s complicated. There’s a reason Westbrook was forced to go rogue so much. You don’t think Brooks wanted KD taking those shots? Thing is, he’s got to get it in an area he can score and he’s got to get it somewhere we he doesn’t have to dribble a lot to get his own shot. Read more…
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook yelled at each other last night. And now everyone is yelling about that.
But one thing that I think is very important to note is what this whole thing originated from: Thabo Sefolosha.
Westbrook, as he often gets, was hot and emotional about Thabo passing on a shot. So during the timeout, the team tried to calm him down. The leader of the team, Kevin Durant, was mainly charged with this. Westbrook didn’t like it and freaked out more. If you really think about the situation, you’ll realize it’s not as big a deal as a lot of people think. It’s not as if KD had taken too many shots and Westbrook wanted his. Or that Westbrook was ball-hogging and Durant was frustrated his teammate wasn’t driving between the lines. This was about Thabo Sefolosha for crying out loud. Read more…
John Hollinger names James Harden to his All-Breakout team: “This one feels like stealing because the breakout already mostly happened. Harden before the All-Star break a year ago: 10.3 points, 43 percent shooting; Harden after the All-Star break: 15.8 points, 46.5 percent shooting. A third-year pro who is only 22 years old, Harden could still play more minutes, too; he averaged only 28.6 even in his second-half blow-up a year ago. If he keeps coming off the bench he’s a good bet to win the Sixth Man Award; if he starts his minutes will increase enough that he could win Most Improved.”
Via ESPN Stats and Info on Westbrook’s 0-13 game: “A check of Basketball-Reference.com showed this to be only the fourth time since the 1985-86 season that a team won a game in which it had a player shoot 0-for-13 or worse from the field, the first since David Wesley for the Hornets against the New Jersey Nets in 2001.” Read more…
Hold on to your butts. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook got mad at each other Wednesday.
Westbrook labored through maybe the worst game of his career Wednesday night in Memphis going 0-13 from the floor for just four points. But maybe there was a reason for it.
Put that one on file for Kevin Durant. Because if you want a game to help build an MVP resume, KD just turned one in.
With his All-Star teammate going 0-13 from the floor for just four points, Durant nailed big shot after big shot to put away the always pesky Grizzlies, 98-95.
This was quite the test for the Thunder. If you wanted to replicate the issues of last season’s playoff run in a real-game environment, this was it. The Thunder had to execute down the stretch after building and promptly blowing a 12-point lead. They had to overcome adversity and finish out a game against a good team. And they had to do it without Russell Westbrook being much of a factor. Read more…
Kevin Pelton at Deadspin projects 42-24 for the Thunder: “James Harden is capable of doing everything an NBA team needs from its shooting guard. His potential is immense. Harden compares best to a player who does not show up in his comparables because he was playing in Europe at the same age: Manu Ginobili.”
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images
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