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…
OK, that’s probably way too early of a judgment, but considering the way the Thunder, and more importantly the second unit, performed sans Eric Maynor for the first time definitely should make Thunder fans feel a tad bit better.
Powered by 53 bench points, Oklahoma City used a 37-21 third quarter to run the Spurs out of The Peake 108-96 and become the first team to sweep its back-to-back-to-back. Three nights, three wins.
Scott Brooks though wasn’t about to get too excited about handling the Spurs. He was happy to win, but wanted to keep it in perspective.
“You have to put things in proper perspective. Ginobili is a big part of their team and he didn’t play,” Brooks said. “A few other guys only played a few minutes and this was their fourth game in five nights.” Read more…
You just really can’t ever doubt Kevin Durant. Even on nights where he looks off and has lost his touch, he always possesses the ability to come back. It’s like his superpower — he can summon his powers at any moment.
With Oklahoma City a bit on the brink, Durant scored the Thunder’s last 13 points including a jumper with 22 seconds left to put Oklahoma City up a point to survive a difficult game in Houston, 98-95.
The Thunder played maybe the worst eight minutes of basketball I’ve seen from them since the P.J. Carlesimo era to open the third quarter, watching an undermanned Rockets team go on a 17-6 run to start the period and extend out to a 12-point lead. There were massive defensive lapses, failings to get back in transition and just sloppy, ugly offense. Read more…
A couple days off can make anyone feel a whole lot better about going to work. The Thunder didn’t play all that well in consecutive losses to Dallas and Portland, but washed that taste out of their mouth a bit with a 109-94 dismantling of the Rockets Friday night at The Peake.
The Thunder started taking care of an overmatched Rockets early, who were playing without Kyle Lowry. Easy transition baskets, active defense, good energy and Kevin Durant taking over the third quarter made this one simple for the Thunder. Which of course is very nice because this is the first game of OKC’s back-to-back-to-back that includes another matchup with the Rockets tomorrow night in Houston.
The Thunder finished with 54 points in the paint, shot 52.5 percent from the floor, went 6-14 from deep, limited turnovers (just 11) and handed out 20 assists. It was almost a mechanical win for the Thunder, which is exactly what you’d hope to see considering they finally got a little rest and had just dropped two straight. Read more…
In terms of just the box score, the wasn’t much separation between the Thunder and Blazers Tuesday night. The Blazers shot 44.7 percent from the field, Oklahoma City 43.9. Portland made 34 baskets, OKC 36. Portland six 3-pointers, OKC five. Turnovers, nine for the Blazers, 10 for the Thunder.
And yet the Thunder lost 103-93. That difference came directly from one place: the free throw line. Portland, 29-36; OKC 16-21.
There’s no way around it. The Blazers got the extra points from the charity stripe and the Thunder struggled, finding empty possessions in the second half, scoring just 40 points the last 24 minutes.
The good 5-0 start hid some deficiencies within the team that are now fairly glaring. KD can’t always bail out the Thunder offense. The Thunder need Westbrook’s scoring. The defense hasn’t been all that great. The transition game comes and goes. It’s tough to beat good teams on back-to-back nights and on these two, the Mavericks and Blazers beat OKC down in the second half. While both of those teams had answers in their halfcourt set, the Thunder had to hope Durant could explode and start dropping big shots. The Thunder aren’t winning many games where KD goes 8-26 and only shoots four free throws. Really, I have a hard time believing they’d win any. His scoring is simply too important not to get. Read more…
The Thunder picked a pretty good night to drop a stinker.
With a good number of the fanbase watching football, Oklahoma City played easily its lousiest game of the season in Dallas, picking up the first loss, 100-87 to the Mavs.
A couple things the Thunder have struggled with early in this season but gotten away with finally bit them against the Mavs. Rebounding, halfcourt offense and complete defense.
The Mavs put up 11 offensive boards (nine in the first half though) on the Thunder, OKC shot just 40.3 percent from the floor and Dallas hit 48.8 of their shots. It was a pretty bad game for the Thunder in a lot of ways and while the Mavs aren’t as good as last season’s championship squad, mess around with Dirk and company and you’re going to get burned. Read more…
Kevin Durant, SF 10-21 FG | 4-7 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 27 PTS | -5
KD did his job for the most part against the Mavs. He wasn’t terrific by any stretch, but after a sluggish start of 1-5 from the floor, he got going. The main bummer for Durant is that he didn’t finish with an assist on the night. He hadn’t had less than three in any game yet this season.
Westbrook set Ibaka up for an open jumper five or six times tonight. And Ibaka turned most of them down without even really looking at the rim. Ibaka needs to take a more aggressive mindset in being an actual factor in OKC’s offense rather than just fitting in entirely.
Kendrick Perkins, C 1-3 FG | 5-6 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS | +5
Perk got worked in the pick-and-roll a couple times, but did work to the finish. He had a terrific block on Ian Mahinmi and did a decent job on Dirk.
Russell Westbrook, PG 8-20 FG | 2-4 FT | 8 REB | 3 AST | 18 PTS | -4
Westbrook attacked like he’s supposed to. It looks like he’s getting back to form. But the lack of assists is becoming a thing now. He had just three and with the Thunder offense stalling in every way, he’s got to take the responsibility as point guard to get things going.
James Harden, G 5-11 FG | 5-5 FT | 7 REB | 3 AST | 16 PTS | -11
You can’t expect Harden to bail out the Thunder every night. He had 16, which is solid, but OKC’s bench got worked by the Mavs second unit. Harden had moments, but he hasn’t shot the ball well from outside at all this season. He’s taking good looks, but just isn’t dropping them.
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…
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…
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…
