I’m choosing to believe Kevin Durant went glass on purpose. Not just because that means he made the shot he intended to, but because he did it as a little nod to his old buddy Jeff Green.
It was on the opposite elbow, but much like Uncle Jeff’s game-winner against in Oracle Arena three years ago, KD iced the Warriors by banking home a jumper in the closing seconds. Said Durant after the game, “It looked terrible leaving my hands but I’m glad it hit the backboard and went in.” Even when KD misses, he makes it. He’s THAT good.
But if you thought last night’s game was cray, this one took it up another level. Monta Ellis scored 30 points in the first half and finished with 48. The two teams traded like 15 3-pointers in the third quarter. Oklahoma City trailed by 12, and then seven late in the fourth but clawed back to somehow pull out a win. About 10 different times, this looked like a loss. I don’t know what it is about the Thunder, but if they’re within striking distance after that final TV timeout, they’ve got a real good shot at winning. Read more…
The shame of what otherwise would certainly go down as one of this season’s classics is that will be the discussion. With the Thunder trailing by two, Kevin Durant got to the rim and put the ball off the glass and LaMarcus Aldridge swatted it away. Or Aldridge swatted it to the glass. It didn’t matter what we thought though. Referee Scott Foster saw it as a goaltend. Two points. Overtime.
I think KD’s little grin while he was watching the replay says it all. It appeared to be a block. At least that’s the side I’m going to take after watching it with my face two inches from the screen about 60 times. I think the point is, that’s not a good call to make either way in that situation. Because full speed, it’s nearly impossible to tell. I think if we were being honest here, Thunder fans would be a tad upset if they were on the other end of that. Read more…
It’s hard to be surprised at Saturday’s outcome. Doesn’t mean it’s any less frustrating though.
The excuses are there and they are good ones. Second night of a back-to-back (after some guys played 40+ minutes) and on the road against the best home team in the league. Still, knowing how good the Thunder can be and are, watching them run mindlessly around the perimeter searching for open San Antonio shooters was a bit upsetting.
The Thunder did two things really poor against the Spurs: offense and defense. Other than that, they were pretty good. I guess there’s a reason San Antonio is tough to beat in their own building — they don’t miss much. Especially when left wide the eff open. The great fear when playing the Spurs is that their whole pick-and-roll, drive-and-kick game gets cooking and it did in the first quarter erasing a hot Thunder start with a 13-2 run. After that, it was pretty much all over. Mainly because Tony Parker wasn’t about to let Oklahoma City really get back in the game. Read more…
After hitting a stupidly tough off balance jumper over Rudy Gay as the shot clock expired to essential ice Memphis, Durant backpedaled down the floor shaking his head and smiling. Maybe he thought it was a little lucky or something. But he’s like Harvey Dent. He makes his own luck. He’s just good.
Durant scored the Thunder’s final 10 points, including seven in the last 50 seconds. A 3 right over the top of Rudy Gay with 53 seconds left put the Thunder up 97-94. Next trip down, KD hit the tough free throw line jumper around Gay. Then some free throws to seal the deal. The crowd chanting “M-V-P” as he sank them and really for the first time, I thought, “It fits.”
Some nights, that guy is goes from disgustingly nasty good to swine flu worldwide epidemic filthy sick good. You’re sitting there watching him and have to stop and say, “Is this dude real life?” Read more…
A win on the road against Dallas is probably cathartic enough for this Thunder team, no matter how it comes. And that’s good, because OKC’s 95-86 win Wednesday over the Mavericks was pretty ugly for long stretches.
But chalk up some of that to some fantastic interior defense by the Thunder, who used a record-setting performance from Serge Ibaka to bring the kind of intimidating defending that can lead to some discombobulated, ragged offense. Ibaka had 10 blocks, the most by a Thunder player since the franchise arrived in Oklahoma City, and OKC harassed Dallas into 36 percent shooting on the night.
The power forward position dominated the night for the Thunder. Ibaka had an off shooting night, but paired 11 rebounds with his blocks for a double-double and was a force all night. Nick Collison was his usual active self in relief. Kevin Durant played a lot of four when the Thunder went small, and he’s Kevin Durant. But both Ibaka and Collison made the difference for Oklahoma City by playing Dirk Nowtizki tough. Dirk shot a miserable 2-15 and got to the line only four times for eight points on the night. Read more…
Contrary to reports, Monday’s game in Los Angeles actually contained more than a single dunk by Blake Griffin. But maybe it shouldn’t have. Because really, that said it all.
The fallout noise from the Thunder’s 112-100 loss to the Clippers will largely come from the THUNK leveled by Griffin’s posterization/destruction/murder of Kendrick Perkins, but it really was about 50 seconds at the end of the second quarter. The Thunder had dug themselves in a hole early on, but kept plugging eventually trimming the Clippers’ lead to six with 1:24 left in the half. It appeared that Oklahoma City had weathered the storm and found its way back into the game, setting up a competitive second half.
Then Mo Williams hit one. Then Caron Butler. Then Williams again. Then Chauncey Billups. Boom, bang, bing, blam. One, two, three, four. Four consecutive 3-pointers took a six-point lead to 18 faster than you can say “Holy crap Blake Griffin.” Read more…
Entering the fourth quarter, the Thunder led by eight, but it felt like a small eight. Any time you play the Warriors, especially at their place, you flirt with their offensive-minded players pouring in points in bunches.
Instead, the Thunder went on a big 13-1 run late in the fourth that put Golden State away, 120-109. It started with a Kevin Durant 3, had a gorgeous two pass fast break as the body with the conclusion being an and-1 layup by Russell Westbrook. Just like that, in the span of less than a minute the Thunder had opened the game up and put some much needed distance between them and the Warriors.
Stop right here though and have a look at the box score. It’s worth it. Westbrook: 28 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and seven steals. Durant: 37 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. Serge Ibaka: 20 points, 12 rebounds with eight coming on the offensive glass. James Harden: 19 points, four rebounds and two assists. Between those four, the Thunder got 94 points, 36 rebounds and 16 assists. Read more…
For the first time in four home games, the Thunder starters weren’t spectators for a fourth quarter. And actually had to really work to secure Oklahoma City’s third straight win.
The New Orleans Hornets never would give in, keeping the score within 10 points before the Thunder finally just kind of quietly finished them off 101-91 with a couple Russell Westbrook baskets, a fast break oop to Kevin Durant, a big bucket from James Harden and a couple deep balls from Daequan Cook.
The difference between the first and second half was pretty striking. The first half might’ve had the best ball movement and offensive execution of the season. The Thunder had 13 assists at the half, scored 60 points and shot better than 50 percent. Oklahoma City wasn’t relying on just easy transition baskets (only 19 fast break points total) but were moving the ball, cutting and hitting shots. For a stretch in the second quarter, there were multiple possessions where all five guys were getting touches in rapid succession. Read more…
It’s hard for a game to be over with a score of just 8-2 and nine minutes left in the first quarter, but Monday’s game against Detroit was done pretty much right then and there. The next 45 minutes were just window dressing.
Two plays in the first five minutes sealed the Pistons’ fate. First, Russell Westbrook blew past rookie Brandon Knight for a vicious Westbrook-style one-hand hammer. Second, Westbrook made maybe the pass of his young career, a left-handed behind-the-back fastbreak fish to Kevin Durant for an and-1.
“I’m naturally left handed you know,” Westbrook said. “[KD] was running with me and he was he was going to get the pass. He just didn’t know how.”
After that, it was really just a matter of what the final score would be and what everybody’s stats would look like. Read more…
Most of the time when the Thunder win ugly, it’s just because they didn’t play a great game, didn’t shoot well or played bad defense but found a way to win. It doesn’t normally mean that the game was pretty much unwatchable.
We’re not used to the Thunder playing a game where you genuinely start thinking about how you could be better using your time. Really, what it was, was the Thunder should’ve been blowing the doors of the Nets and had things in cruise control for the fourth quarter but instead was in game where they had it under control, but never had it entirely put away for good.
Russell Westbrook was solid, Kevin Durant the same and everyone else fine, but nothing really stood out about this game. (Except for Serge Ibaka’s ridiculous block on Deron Williams.) The Thunder handled their business and beat a bad Nets team, as they should, but I think we all expected a bit more of a takedown considering the bad taste Oklahoma City had to deal with the past couple days from the Wizards loss. Read more…
Sometimes, you really do need to lose. You start seeing your name at the top of the standings, you name at the top of everyone’s power rankings, your name on every shortlist for championship contenders.
And you think you’re good enough to just show up.
After winning seven straight and rising to the top of the NBA’s standings, the Thunder walked in to Washington where the league’s worst team resides and expected to win. And instead, completely pooped the bed losing to the Wizards 105-102 after Kevin Durant missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer from about 200 feet away.
What’s sick is that the Thunder actually shot the ball well. Oklahoma City went 48.1 percent from the floor while the Wizards hit just 38.4. Why the Thunder lost this game was because Washington got 40 free possessions. Nineteen offensive rebounds to go with 21 Thunder turnovers. You give Edmond North’s middle school team that many extra looks at the basket and you play with fire. Read more…
Go ahead and gripe about Russell Westbrook. Gripe about his shot selection, gripe about the chip on his shoulder, gripe that he’s not a point guard, gripe that he doesn’t fit, gripe that he doesn’t play well with others.
And then go ahead and cheer him for what he did Monday night in Boston.
Carried by Westbrook, Kevin Durant and a strange man wearing No. 2, the Thunder found a way to beat the Celtics 97-88 in Boston Monday.
This was one of those games you file away under the category of “Don’t Expect That Again.” Westbrook hit 3-4 from downtown, including two big-time shots late. And those 3s had every bit of Russell Westbrook in them they could possibly have. The irrational confidence to step up and take shots he probably shouldn’t be, but the will and desire to take them. If he clangs those shots and the Thunder lose, with that game being on national TV, he takes quite the beating over the next day. But he’s willing to put his feet to the fire. It’s why I love Russell Westbrook to death and will take him to battle over just about anyone. He is always going to be himself, no matter what the outside influences may say. Read more…
There are the ho-hum variety like the way the Thunder handled the Suns or Rockets. And then there are the kind like the Thunder put on the Knicks Saturday night in The Peake.
This one, a 104-92 whipping, had highlights, fun box score lines and really, really fun basketball. Russell Westbrook dished out eight first half assists, KD absolutely abused Carmelo Anthony’s replacement, James Harden had 19 in the first half and the Thunder played a loose, clean and confident first half.
Really, OKC looked like a team playing at home coming in on two days rest against a group missing their best player. How it should be, but there was a little extra something to it. Like I said, in some blowouts, it’s just a case of the other team playing completely terrible basketball and OKC overwhelming them with talent. And then others, like this one, it’s more just about a complete hammering where everything seems to be working. Read more…
The Thunder played like a team in its fifth game in six nights. Lucky for them, they were playing an overmatched Hornets squad that was without its best player and was playing guys named Squeaky Johnson and Gustavo Ayon in their second unit.
Oklahoma City started the game in a 19-9 hole and looked flat and lethargic but woke up enough to work its way to a 95-85 win. There wasn’t a whole lot that was pretty or interesting about it quite honestly. It was just the Thunder handling business against a team that they should. Kevin Durant was outstanding, notching his third straight double-double with 29 points (11-17 shooting) and 10 rebounds. Russell Westbrook continued his good stretch of games with 22 points and seven assists to just two turnovers.
Scott Brooks, as he likes to do, went small in the fourth with Durant on Emeka Okafor who was pretty much killing Serge Ibaka. Durant did great work, blocking Okafor twice (KD had four total) while not allowing him to score. Basically the Hornets were entirely limited to either chucking a jumper late in the shot clock or hoping to clean up a miss inside with Okafor or Carl Landry. The Thunder didn’t rebound the ball well at all giving up 14 offensive board while being a minus-six on the glass overall. But that was the trade-off, I suppose with going with just one big at a time. Read more…
The last time Russell Westbrook visited Memphis, he took 13 shots. And didn’t make a single one. He called it the worst game of his career and left the arena with a firestorm following him back to Oklahoma City.
This time around, there was none of that. Westbrook made his first four shots and 12 of 20 after that for a game-high 30 points to go with six rebounds and four assists leading the Thunder to a 100-95 win over the Grizzlies.
Westbrook had his jumper going, was getting to the rim and played pretty much under control the entire game, save one little spurt in the third quarter. (Out of nowhere, Westbrook chucked a 30-foot 3-pointer with 11 on the shot clock for no reason. After that he took two other dumb shots but then got it back under control. It’s like he has to have those little outbursts just to get them out of his system.)
But you saw the Westbrook tonight that won a lot of games for the Thunder last season. He hit tough, contested pull-up jumpers in critical situations. He made good decisions, finished open looks and really took control of the game offensively when in reality, the Thunder offense kind of stunk. Read more…
