Daily Thunder.com

So another playoff game, another Russell Westbrook ordeal. He’s quickly became the most polarizing player on the roster, especially among more casual fans. People are talking about him and his behavior nonstop.

Seems like most of the conversations go the same way. New story, same debate, different day. And through it all, the Thunder keep winning and refusing to let anyone have control over a playoff series. Let’s debate Westbrook one final time before Game 3 … when he’ll probably show up and prove why he was on the All-Star team until he has another game that renews the debate again, anyway.

Commentary, Video Dallas Mavericks, Playoffs, Russell Westbrook

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This is a series of first times and last times for the Thunder.

It’s the first time, obviously, in Thunder history that the team has made it this far in the playoffs. The “Playoffs” decal on the floor of the arena will read “Western Conference Finals” the next time OKC takes the court. There will be a bigger throng of national media then ever before. There will be no other game that might bleed over into the Thunder’s start time and push the tipoff to TBS or ESPN2. All NBA eyes will be on Thunder-Mavs each time they play.

This is also likely the last time the Thunder will be playing in the West finals as this big of an underdog. The pressure will be there, but it will almost certainly be heavier in future seasons. OKC is playing a team with far more experience in the starting lineup, on the bench and on the coaching staff, and it doesn’t have home court. The Thunder had never won a playoff series before, much less been a contender for the conference title. The team in this era will never again be able to advance to this stage with the special hop in the step of a team with nothing to lose. Read more…

Commentary Dallas Mavericks, Playoffs

Did you know “Top Gun” was released 25 years ago Monday? Seems like only yesterday that I wore out my VHS copy of that movie when I dreamed about being a Navy aviator. Alas … I’m not.

Anyway, the occasion allows me to unapologetically rip off Bill Simmons and use one of my favorite column themes of recent years: giving out “awards” based on quotes from a movie or television series.

As it turns out, there are plenty of famous “Top Gun” lines that apply to the Thunder’s postseason run so far. (And for the record, the kindergarten-ish version of myself disagrees with the IMDb average rating for “Top Gun” of 6.6 out of 10 stars. To this day, I stick with my original rating of about 14 out of 10.) Read more…

Commentary Playoffs

Ronald Martinez/NBAE/Getty Images – (That blurry guy in the bottom left is handsome – ed)

Between Games 2 and 3 of the Thunder’s Western Conference semifinal series against the Grizzlies, the Bulls, Hawks, Lakers and Mavericks all play twice. The Heat and Celtics share the same three-day layoff as Oklahoma City and Memphis. Three excruciatingly long days without Thunder basketball, and one day without any NBA basketball at all, is too much. And ridiculous.

The Oklahoman offered the NBA’s reasoning for the three-day layoff in its notebook Thursday, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. There was no game Thursday because the Spurs-Grizzlies series might have gone the full seven games? Well, what’s the excuse for Heat-Celtics then? In the NHL, where men are men and hockey players, like honey badgers, just don’t give a snot, the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins played Games 6 and 7 of their first-round series on back-to-back nights in different cities. That may be a little much, but the point remains the same. There’s no need for such a long layoff.

So seriously, NBA decision-makers: Enough is enough. This is all the more ridiculous when you consider that there’s only one day off in between games during the rest of the series. Sure, Thunder fans are a little bit more OK with this in light of Serge Ibaka’s ankle injury, but still. In any case, the layoff got me thinking about what else can take place in the 91 1/2 hours between the start of Games 2 and 3 of this series. Read more…

Commentary Memphis Grizzlies, Playoffs

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Seeing Chicago and the Lakers lose their first games at home had to make you feel at least a little better, didn’t it? No way the Bulls, Lakers and Thunder ALL lose their second-round series, right?

But it seems likely that at least one of the three will go down. Let’s just hope the Thunder isn’t that team.

In the first round, only the Lakers won their series after losing the first game at home while the Spurs and Magic couldn’t recover. That’s not a great recent sign for Oklahoma City, especially because it was Memphis that did in San Antonio. But it shows, as if you didn’t know already, that an opening loss at home is not necessarily a death knell.

If the Thunder has shown us anything this year, it’s that the team is resilient. The few back-to-back losses on the year provide some evidence, as does the stellar record in close games, the ability to go on a tear following a trade that sent away a popular teammate, late-season road wins in Miami and Los Angeles and particularly the Game 5 comeback. With the proper mindset, the Game 1 loss in this series could simply be viewed as an opportunity to rise (together … couldn’t help myself) to another challenge. Read more…

Commentary Memphis Grizzlies, Playoffs

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1. The Thunder is the better team. If anyone would like to argue that point, the prosecution presents five wins in six games as State’s Exhibit A. The prosecution rests.

2. OKC is one boxout, and one Russell Westbrook desperation jumper that hit the rim, from being unbeaten at home in the playoffs. I don’t know if that record will survive this postseason, but it will survive this series.

3. Kendrick Perkins is probably super pissed right now. Westbrook too.

4. Nene’s hairstyle is not postseason material. He looks like a Cabbage Patch Kid.

5. Tattoos, or at least getting them here or working here as a tattoo artist, was illegal in Oklahoma so recently that there has to be some carry-over effect. Bad karma for Denver in OKC. Especially Chris Andersen, who prompted my brother’s basketball-novice girlfriend to blurt out, “Whoa. Eewww. What the hell is that all about? That’s gross. What’s his problem? Why does that guy do that?” Read more…

Commentary Denver Nuggets, Playoffs

Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE/Getty Images

The Denver crowd lustily booed Serge Ibaka when he pounded his chest Saturday after big plays in the Pepsi Center. Russell Westbrook received a similar reaction after a demonstrative display. Comment sections and message boards on Denver sports websites and blogs are aflame — as comment sections and message boards tend to be anyway — with criticism of Thunder players’ emotional outbursts.

Maybe they have a point.

First, I must state that in no way do I want the Thunder players to stop being demonstrative during emotional moments. Because I love it. I love Kevin Durant’s primal scream after dunks. I love when Westbrook or anyone else does the same. I love when Ibaka beats his chest or does Air Congo. I love it when Westbrook does his six-shooters routine or James Harden puts three fingers toward the floor when they hit a three. I love Nate Robinson’s wild gyrations and choreographed celebrations following just about anything positive that happens for Oklahoma City.

But I also recognize that if I make a list of NBA players in my head towards whom I have the most negative feelings, they tend to be the demonstrative types. Joakim Noah. Chris Andersen. Kevin Garnett. Jason Terry. And not only to those guys tend to be demonstrative, but that’s also the main reason I tend to dislike them. I don’t even really know why that matters. Read more…

Commentary Denver Nuggets, Playoffs

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As the Thunder cut their collective playoff teeth, there are still plenty of new situations for the team to confront mentally and physically. Having a chance to really stomp on the throat of a wounded postseason opponent is one of them, and it comes tonight in Denver.

There aren’t many other playoff challenges that can present themselves for a first time for the Thunder. A close-out game and a Game 7 are two, but what else is there? Game 1 marked the first time Oklahoma City opened at home as a playoff favorite, and the Thunder responded to that test with a pair of wins.

Another challenge OKC encounters, but not for the first time, is to win a playoff game on the road. That’s on a list of problems that the Thunder have yet to solve despite previous attempts, including winning as a playoff underdog. Certainly OKC has only had a few chances to address these issues. But there would be no better time for the Thunder to get its first playoff win than tonight, and maybe it will have the chance to be a playoff series underdog again soon enough. Read more…

Commentary Denver Nuggets, Playoffs

AP Photo

Denver’s Raymond Felton had five attempted field goals and a trip to the free throw line in the fourth quarter Sunday before the 11 second mark, when the game devolved into fouling and Thunder free throws. J.R. Smith had three shots, Nene had two shots and a trip to the free throw line, and the other Nuggets had fewer looks than that.

By contrast, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had six field goal attempts each in that same time period, and other than Eric Maynor’s two shots, no other Thunder player had more than one shot in the quarter.

That’s what happens when one team has two established stars and the other has an offense-by-committee mentality. And at least through one game, having the two stars worked out in Oklahoma City’s favor. It gives credence to the long-established belief that it takes a star or two to advance in the NBA playoffs. Read more…

Commentary Denver Nuggets, Playoffs

Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

As amazing as it was to experience Game 3 and then marvel at the stunning woodshed performance of Game 4, one thought has still remained in the back of my mind, hanging thick and stifling in the air like a dense fog refusing to lift in the face of morning’s light.

They have to win in Los Angeles. The Thunder must steal a game in the Staples Center to win the series.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still celebrating the Thunder holding serve at home just as hard as anyone else, especially with all of the love that the team is receiving nationally, the hype and marvel that the deafening fans and the rocking Thunderdome have sparked across the NBA landscape, and the reality that after four games with the defending champs, this series is all tied up and we’re now looking at a best of three matchup where anything can happen.

But just like Kevin Durant said when Ric Bucher commented that he didn’t seem very surprised or enthusiastic at what the team was able to accomplish in Game 4, “This is a seven game series.”

The time for confetti and shouts of joy ended Sunday morning (or more likely Sunday night, after all, that 21 point demolition deserved an extra half day to savor and celebrate on the Sabbath) because despite the euphoria and electricity permeating the OKC area and probably the entire state/country of Thunder fans, those two games are over and they served their purpose. The Thunder protected their house. And now they have to make like a thief in the night and steal a victory away from the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Like Clark noted rather prophetically last week, nothing changes in a playoff series until the home team loses on their own floor. So even though the momentum has shifted and the Thunder are the clear aggressors in this matchup moving forward, everything is realistically as it should be.

But that’s where things get interesting because as daunting as it may seem for the Thunder to pickup a win in LA, recent history shows that it’s not near as formiddable a task as you might think it is. Read more…

Commentary LA Lakers, Playoffs

(Your turn. Any thoughts, comments or stories? Send it in. dailythunder@gmail.com. Today’s insight comes from reader Jay.)

A lot is made of the advantage the Lakers have inside against the Thunder, and its an obvious and valid point to make. There aren’t honestly any teams in the league that can match up with Bynum and Gasol physically, but with the Thunder it does a real number on them because Jeff Green is so important to what they do and he just doesn’t have any chance against Gasol.

This is what led Brooks to try the big lineup in the 4th quarter of the first two games. I honestly thought it was a great idea at the time…get one of your premier players (and possibly your best big-moment guy) on the court in crunch time without having to get mauled every time down the court. I thought it was the kind of thing you have to do in the playoffs…change your rotations to match your opponent and also to acknowledge how different the fourth quarter of playoff games are. But sometimes you try to solve one problem and create another one. Read more…

Friday Fan Playoffs

Here it is (all times CDT):

Game 1: Sunday, April 18, 2 PM – ABC
Game 2: Tuesday, April 20, 9:30 PM – TNT
Game 3: Thursday, April 22, 8:30 PM – TNT
Game 4: Saturday, April 24, 8:30 PM – ESPN

Game 5: Tuesday, April 27, TBD *
Game 6: Friday, April 30, TBD *
Game 7: Sunday, May 2, TBD *

* = when necessary

News Playoffs

I think we can start talking about this stuff now, right? John Hollinger says we’re pretty much a lock.

But seeing as I’ve never had an NBA team that I actively root for in the postseason, I don’t really know exactly what it’s like. But I’ve heard things. It’s about poise. It’s about quality coaching. It’s about matchups. And often times, that last thing is really all that matters. How do you match up with your opponent?

And right now, while I’m going to be thrilled just to be rooting in late April for something other than ping-pong balls, I’d kind of like to see Oklahoma City perform well in the playoffs. A month ago, I thought it would be neat just to get there as the eight-seed and get swept by the Lakers. I would have been fine with that. Now? I’m looking at a top five seed and the potential to get out of the first round and do realistic damage. This team is good enough. The pieces are there. But so much comes down to the matchups.

So who does Oklahoma City have a favorable draw against? Who does the Thunder match up well with? We are starting to get a pretty clear picture of the Western Conference playoff situation and OKC’s got 19 games left in the season to either improve or hurt its current seed. So who do we want to see? I’ve devised a crude little formula to try and figure exactly that out. Read more…

Commentary Playoffs

Clark Matthews already covered this a few weeks back, but a reader mentioned in the comments an incredible website that calculates your playoff chances and tells you who you should be rooting for or against on a night-to-night basis. It’s quite time-wastingly great.

So obviously, let’s look at the Thunder. For this week, Oklahoma City’s playoff chances improve if on Wednesday  the Thunder beats Denver (obviously), the Kings beat the Rockets, the Clippers beat the Suns and the Pacers beat the Blazers. If all that were to happen, OKC’s playoff odds would jump from 98.1 percent to 99.5. Clearly that could drop down or bump up again the following night, but it’s a cool way to follow the season.

It also has the spiffy chart that calculates based on “What If”. For instance, what if OKC goes 14-10 the rest of the way and finishes with 49 wins. That would give the Thunder a 100 percent chance of being in the playoffs. But what if OKC slides and goes 9-15 to finish. That would give the Thunder just a 66 percent chance at the postseason. There’s actually a 33 percent difference (99 to 66) between OKC finishing 12-12 and 9-15. Read more…

Commentary Playoffs