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BOX SCORE – ADVANCED BOX SCORE
This team is starting to prove something to me. Don’t worry, we know we’re playing a little bad right now, but we got this. Going in, every game feels like a toss-up. I haven’t felt genuinely confident yet this year.
But wins like this are starting to make me come around.
At the half, Oklahoma City trailed 55-53, looked uninspired and lazy defensively. It had bad loss written all over it. But they knew they had it. I don’t want to say they were coasting and just playing for the fourth quarter, but they knew they had it. When it got to winning time, the Thunder turned it on. With six minutes left and the Thunder leading 91-90, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook checked back in and Oklahoma City went on a 19-8 run to close the game. The closers came in and shut the door. It was a pleasure to see.
One of the major problems with this group last season was they didn’t know how to win. They didn’t know how to close. They lost some 15 or 16 games by six points or less. But they’re figuring it out. Nick Collison said they’d learn how to win, but I don’t think anyone saw this kind of maturity this soon. This was taking care of business at its finest. For three quarters these guys had me upset and ready to throw things because they were going to give a game away. But they had it all along. They were just waiting to slam the door. Read more…
Recap
Washington Wizards
vs. 
OKC Thunder (16-14, 8-7 road) at Washington Wizards (10-19, 5-7 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 – 106.4 (17th), Wizards – 104.6 (22nd)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 104.5 (8th), Wizards – 108.0 (20th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.1 (20th), Wizards – 94.3 (9th)
View from the enemy: Truth About It
I always like it when players get to go home and play. Tonight, Jeff Green and Kevin Durant are both back in their hometown to play professional basketball. It has to be a nice feeling. But it often worries me too. A lot of times, you see guys press and try too hard because they feel just that little tinge of pressure to perform in front of friends and family. Hopefully, we don’t see that tonight. Read more…
Preview
Washington Wizards
vs. 
Washington Wizards (3-7, 1-4 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (6-6, 2-3 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: 7:00 CST
View from the enemy: Truth About It
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 102.3 (25th), Wizards – 103.7 (22nd)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 100.4 (7th), Wizards – 106.4 (18th)
Pace: Thunder – 91.2 (24th), Wizards– 92.2 (18th)
This one doesn’t feel as good as it did three nights ago. At that time, the Wizards were hurt again and limped out to a 2-7 record. But Wednesday, Washington put a beating on the Cavs and actually looked as good as their roster indicates. Now, of course that was at home and they’re 1-4 on the road, but still. I think we learned last week nothing is a gimme right now. Read more…
Preview
Washington Wizards
Yesterday we won a game. If we win today that’s two in a row. If we win tomorrow that’s called a winning streak. It has happened before. – Major League II
So what happens when you when three in a row? Do you 
get anything special, like a prize?
Can you believe after only having three wins TOTAL on Dec. 31, that the team has now won three straight? That’s totally awesome. My how far they’ve come.
Here’s a key stat from tonight’s 88-83 win over Washington to keep in mind: The last seven minutes of the game, the Thunder held Washington to 1 of 12 from the floor.
That’s what OKC did for a third straight game – defense. Just great, total team defense. And you know, total team basketball is a beautiful thing. Every OKC starter was in double-figures tonight with lines of 12, 12, 15, 12 and 18. That’s pretty unbelievable. Nenad Krstic led the way with his 18, but talk about doing it together.
We’ve talked about how this was a big opportunity for this team to become a full functioning unit instead of a couple studs and some scraps. And Kevin Durant and Jeff Green are the type of guys character-wise that should be able to jump right back into it but now will be playing with Kyle Weaver that’s playing with confidence and a Nenad Krstic that’s got confidence and is playing how we hoped and a Thabo Sefolosha that is an absolute defensive stopper and a bench that feels like it can contribute. These are big, big things going forward into next season.
Two guys really stand out with big performances (and that’s with nine guys playing pretty well): Nick Collison and Thabo. Collison did a the little things – got on the floor, tipped balls and finished plays. He scored 12 points (5-5) from the field and grabbed 10 boards, but had two major plays down the stretch. The first was when he got on the floor and dug the ball out giving OKC possession. The next was grabbing an airball in traffic that resulted in the game-sealing bucket. Read more…
Recap
Washington Wizards
