Larry W. Smith/NBAE/Getty Images
BOX SCORE
All together now: Deep breath in, deep breath out.
Remind me again what we were all worried about? In maybe the most important game (to date), Oklahoma City never trailed, plowing over the Houston Rockets 122-104 and it really wasn’t that close. That ends a 13-game losing streak to the Rockets, puts the Thunder’s Magic Number over Houston to six and best of all, restores a bundle of confidence and builds momentum. Phew. Phew, phew, phew.
Oh, and did anyone miss James Harden? Let me put it this way: Kyle Weaver in five games of replacing Harden: 16 total points. Harden tonight: 23 points on 6-10 shooting including 3-4 from deep. He walked on the floor, the Ford Center exploded and immediately injected life into the Thunder offensively. He drilled his first three 3-pointers, attacked the basket and gave OKC everything it missed in his brief absence. How important is he? Pretty darn important. Plus, I thought his beard was looking especially fantastic as well this evening. I missed that plush ball of face fur mess more than I knew. Read more…
Recap
Houston Rockets
vs. 
Houston Rockets (36-33, 16-18 road) vs. Ok. City Thunder (42-27, 22-12 home)
TV: KSBI (Cox 15, HD 715)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 107.1 (16th), Rockets – 107.1 (15th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.6 (7th), Rockets – 106.9 (14th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.0 (14th), Rockets – 93.8 (8th)
View from the enemy: Red 94
When you’re in a late season playoff push, it’s not really cliche to say every game, “THIS is the most important game of the season.” Because in a way it is. It’s not more important than the last, or the next or the next because when there’s just 13 games left, they’re all pretty big, but this one against Houston is certainly important. OKC’s magic number stands at eight right now over the Rockets. A win tonight moves that to six and also rights the ship for the “slumping” Thunder. So it’s big. Very big. Read more…
Preview
Houston Rockets
BOX SCORE
Oklahoma City lost to a good Houston Rocket team 95-90 on the road tonight to drop to 13-13. At one point the Thunder was down 17, but they fought and clawed back to get it to one at one point. Honestly, it was a pretty good game. Especially coming off a a tough game the night before.
But I felt serious frustration in the third quarter. Like the kind of frustration where you’re moving things out of arms reach because one more missed jumper, one more defensive breakdown and something is getting thrown. Missed shots, lazy defense, bad rebounding. I don’t care if you’re tired and flat, there’s no excuse to forgo effort. I was planning on writing a scathing, upset recap just blasting the lack of effort. No excuse for it. You may get beat, but don’t give up. Play with some pride.
And they did exactly that. The last three minutes of the third were going to be the most important of the game. If the Thunder could get it to single-digits, they might have a chance. They did exactly that, cutting the Rocket lead to nine heading into the money period. They came out in the fourth with good energy. They fought. They clawed. They played the way they should have the first 34 minutes. It all culminated to Oklahoma City having a legitimate shot to win this game. Really, a game they didn’t have any business being in.
Regardless, I was still frustrated by the final buzzer. Here are 10 things about this game that made me want to pile drive an infant: Read more…
Recap
Houston Rockets
vs. 
OKC Thunder (13-12, 6-5 road) vs. Houston Rockets (15-11, 6-4 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 753)
Stream: Click Here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:30 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 105.4 (21st), Rockets – 107.6 (15th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.9 (7th), Rockets – 105.9 (15th)
Pace: Thunder – 91.9 (21tst), Rockets – 93.6 (10th)
View from the enemy: Red 94
And so it begins. The tough three-game roadie I’ve been talking about far too much over the last week is finally here. It starts with a trip to Houston, less than 24 hours after winning a big game at home against Detroit.
Honestly, I’d be entirely shocked to see the Thunder come out with good energy and effort tonight. Last night’s win against the Pistons was a little emotional because it was important. The team knew it. The crowd knew it. And with a big fourth quarter, OKC surged (more like SERGED amirite?) to a big win. Read more…
Preview
Houston Rockets
BOX SCORE
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Some losses are frustrating because of who you lost to. Some are frustrating because of how you lost. And some are frustrating because of why you lost.
And tonight’s 100-91 to the Rockets is definitely the latter.
How does this sound? Twenty-three offensive rebounds and 19 more shot attempts. That’s what Houston had in their favor Sunday night. That’s the reason the Rockets won. The. Reason. Toss 19 Oklahoma City turnovers and 1-13 from 3 on top of that and you’ve got quite a recipe for a loss. The fact the Thunder only fell by nine is actually kind of impressive. The fact OKC hit almost 50 percent of its 75 shots is really the only reason it stayed close.
Here’s the thing: I’m not terribly upset about the loss. Sure, it’s an opportunity lost. Sure, it’s a game that when you look at the box score, you’ll see a glaring reason why the team lost. Sure, it’s a game that you feel like you should have and could have won. But the Rockets are no pushover team and Oklahoma City was playing with just nine healthy bodies. Key contributors missing: Nenad Krstic, Nick Collison and Kevin Ollie. And I have to think Krstic and Collison would have helped on the boards. Actually I don’t think, I know. Read more…
Recap
Houston Rockets
vs. 
Houston Rockets (8-8, 4-4 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (9-7, 4-3 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 753)
Stream: Click Here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 6:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 104.7 (21st), Rockets – 107.6 (14th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 101.2 (4th), Rockets – 107.3 (19th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.1 (18th), Rockets – 94.4 (9th)
It’s a running theme – with each win, the next game feels bigger. Feels more important. Feels like a loss could be a setback. Especially when it’s at home.
And now at 9-7 and two games over .500 for the first time since 2-0, Oklahoma City has a chance to start a real winning streak and get things really cooking. I said it before the Milwaukee game, but with a five-game homestand, the Thunder could separate themselves from .500 by a decent amount. Read more…
Preview
Houston Rockets
BOX SCORE
Tonight’s game was kind of a sad let down from the first four games. In all four of the previous games we either won nicely or were in a position to win but just didn’t execute. Tonight we really didn’t ever get a good foothold and lost to a scrappy Houston team. How often can you look at a lineup comparison and see that you are at least as talented if not more talented at every position and yet somehow you know you may be the underdog?
Rick Adelmen teams are always very well coached. Dude can put some D-League talent, a beer vendor and the Houston mascot on the floor together and have them competitive. You have to give credit where credit is due. Our team is dripping with top 5 talent and Adelmen has a bunch of 2nd round picks (Landry, Ariza), an undrafted, undersized center (Hayes) and some role players out there making the Thunder wonder what just happened. Truly, the Houston roster is full of very good, effective players, they just don’t have the pedigree. Yet, the box score says it all.
In our first four games we sort of were getting used to the idea of our team keeping us in the game with stout team defense. Tonight….not so much. Granted, this team is much improved defensively from last year’s squad, but tonight’s defensive effort was sub par for the season so far. Read more…
Recap
Houston Rockets
vs. 
Oklahoma City Thunder (2-2, 1-0 road) vs. Houston Rockets (3-2, 1-1 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, Tulsa Cox 27, HD 722; DirectTV 679, AT&T U-Verse 753)
Stream: Click Here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:30 CST
View from the enemy: Rockets Buzz
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 100.3 (24th), Rockets – 110.0 (8th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 97.8 (4th), Rockets – 107.5 (18th)
Pace: Thunder – 88.7 (27th), Rockets – 92.8 (17th)
I think this is where we all thought we’d be. Sitting at 2-2 headed to Houston for a matchup with the enigmatic Rockets. But with the way the last two games went, I think a lot of Thunder fans had dreams of 4-0 in their heads. Some are complaining about their star’s shot selection. Some are blaming the 20-year-old point guard already. Some don’t like the coaching.
What does it mean? That we care now. It’s important enough for us to care. While I don’t agree with basically any of it, just the fact that folks are criticizing means we’ve moved past the “I hope they just play hard” phase and now we care about wins. It’s a good step to take with a team. Of course, expectations can’t swell and get unreasonable, but I think we all see the talent on this team. It can win some games, youth or not. Read more…
Preview
Houston Rockets
Box Score.
The Thunder looked like a much improved team if you just judged the game by the first quarter, or even the first half. Unfortunately the second half was pretty much just yucky preseason ball. The Thunder dropped 33 points on a good Houston defense in the first quarter shooting 54%. They were hitting the boards and hanging on to the ball. They also allowed 33 on the strength of Houston’s 4/5 shooting from the three point line. It looked like a shootout.
Both teams had a tougher time scoring in the second quarter and the Thunder were in the penalty with their sixth foul by three minutes into the quarter. Houston didn’t really make us pay for it though by missing a third of their free throws.
The third quarter was just difficult to watch with the Thunder shooting a very stinky 4/19 (26%) and had 5 turns. Meanwhile Houston re-found it’s stroke and put 26 points on the board. By early in the fourth Coach Brooks began giving Tre Kelley some minutes at the point which seemed to be the ceremonial white flag of surrender.
But again, it’s just preseason and our regular rotations weren’t in use. Coach was definitely trying to force feed Ibaka’s offense, giving Mullens a few touches and Read more…
Recap
Houston Rockets
vs. 
Oklahoma City Thunder (2-2) at Houston Rockets (3-3)
TV: None (But, click here and you can watch it on the Internet. Yay Internet!)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 7:30 CDT
View from the enemy: Rockets Buzz
If there is anything to know about this game, it’s that Nick Collison is going to see his first preseason action tonight. The Thunder has struggled slightly on the glass with him out thus far, so hopefully with him back he can help right that. OKC was one of the better rebounding teams last season and Collison was a big part of that in his time off the bench. Read more…
Preview
Houston Rockets
