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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.

You saw the whole formula for how this team is built, even on off nights. With the team struggling, Durant took over and carried his guys until they came around. KD was unreal for a second straight night – 35 points on 12-19 with 11 rebounds and four assists – but when things were bad in the second quarter, Durant ripped off nine points in three minutes before the half to keep OKC close. Then his mates woke up late. Jeff Green had a big time second half, scoring 18 for the game. Westbrook turned in another double-double with 11 points and 10 assists to just two turns. James Harden scored a few big buckets (11 points).

And Eric Maynor. What a spark off the bench to start the fourth. He kicked it off with a steal and a layup, then hit a 3 and for the quarter, scored seven points and dished out three dimes (four total). In just 12 minutes of run, he made a monster impact behind Westbrook. Not to rag, but I don’t think any of OKC’s former backup point men would have made that kind of immediate impact. Maynor was big time tonight.

Notes:

• Serge Ibaka played seven minutes in the first half and didn’t play in the second. The only reason I can figure is because Nick Collison was big off the bench again. In 28 minutes, Collison had eight points and four rebounds, all coming in big moments.

• You just watched Exhibit A as to why Thabo deserves Defensive Player of the Year consideration. He just makes such a huge impact defensively. He absolutely glued himself to Arenas. Gilbert only had (seven) points after halftime. It looked like Arenas might explode for 50. But Thabo put the clamps on and shut him down.

• Seems like any time there is a point blank miss, OKC gives up the offensive rebound. Then another. Then another. Someone has got to take it personal and attack the rim instead of letting the ball come to them. Durant got aggressive on the glass in the fourth, but those type of situations are why people think OKC needs a big man. And I don’t disagree. I just think that big man might already be on the roster.

• I get asked a lot in the Daily Dime chats who I’d compare Jeff Green to or what his ceiling is. To me, Green is a carbon copy of Antwan Jamison. A stretch four that can score inside and out, is a bit undersized but can carry a team when needed. Jamison is obviously a more gifted scorer right now, but remember, Uncle Jeff is just 23.

• Besides Westbrook’s stellar offensive game, he played some really nice second half defense on Randy Foye. After OKC locked in on Arenas and Caron Butler, Foye appeared to be the load-bearer for Washington. But Westbrook tightened up and Foye never really saw another clean look.

• One thing I wasn’t thrilled about though: It looked like Russ pouted a lot in the first quarter. He felt like he was hacked twice and instead of getting back, he complained about it. You don’t get a call, fine. But get back on defense. Complain after a whistle. He picked it up after the first but this is becoming a bit of a habit (granted, Russ doesn’t get a lot of calls…) and one I’m not psyched about.

• Just like in New Jersey: 55 first half points for Washington, 43 in the second. Playing defense when it matters.

• OKC just went completely lazy in the second quarter. The Wizards went on a 14-2 run after the Thunder took a 42-32 lead. It almost looked like the Thunder got up and thought they were going to cruise to another win. You can take your foot off the gas against the Bobcats, but you can’t do that against Washington because Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler can flat score. But again, closing out is what the good teams do, and Oklahoma City is a good team.

• How about this for efficient: Durant scored 40 on 22 shots last night. And he put up 35 on 19 tonight. His PER might explode if he keeps this up.

• Some nights, Nenad Krstic makes you want to pull out your hair. Maybe he makes himself want to pull out his own hair and that’s the reason it looks the way it does. At any rate, he struggled for a bit but got it together to hit a couple big jumpers when the Thunder needed it.

• Something rather unimportant but something I’ve been thinking about. Why does Jeff Green do the jump at the beginning of games? He rarely wins (I wish I had a stat on it) and isn’t a great leaper. Why doesn’t Durant do it? Is it a ploy because Scott Brooks prefers to have the ball to start the second and third quarters? Could it be on purpose? Or is it just something Green really likes to do? I’m curious about this.

• KD has scored 30-plus in five straight, which is the first time in his young career he’s done that.

• OKC is 4-0 since Eric Maynor joined the team. M-V-P.

• The Thunder bench was big again. It outscored the Wiz 28-8 and grabbed 14 rebounds.

• Two key stats: Even though it seemed like they got whooped, OKC won the rebound war 44-37 and that’s with giving up 13 offensive rebounds. Washington took 13 more shots, but only hits 40 percent from the field to the Thunder’s 54 percent.

In a long 82-game season and on the second night of a back-to-back, you pace yourself I guess. And if pacing yourself is winning by 12 and outscoring your opponent 34-22 on their floor, then I’ll take it. I’ll admit, I was ready to set the world on fire. I thought this might be a trap game for OKC, but I didn’t want them to lose because a lack of effort. And halfway through the third, I thought that’s what would happen. But these guys are good. They really are. They sense the moment, they understand how to win when they should and they know how to take care of business. I’m coming around on the fearing every game as a loss. Last season is becoming a distant memory. These guys are new, improved and maturing rapidly. Of course they’re going to lose a few they shouldn’t along the way, that’s life, but I think it’s time I stop worrying so much about it.

Next up: The Thunder returns home for a New Year’s Eve game against the Jazz Thursday night.

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.

Because after earning the first three-game win streak, Oklahoma City has a real shot at four straight. But this game feels like a trap. Washington is talented, and their 10-19 record is a horrible indication of the talent on the roster. That said, they don’t play hard every night. They don’t max out effort. And coming off an overtime loss in Memphis, we might be fortunate to see the flat Wizards this evening. Because when they really, really want to, they can be good.

The Wizards coming in: As mentioned, Washington is coming off an overtime loss against Memphis last night. In their last five, the Wiz are 2-3 with wins against Milwaukee and Philly.

THE MATCHUPS
The Wizards’ starting five is pretty good. Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and Randy Foye make a nice unit. But that bench. It’s bad. Major advantage for the Thunder there. James Harden will certainly play better than his 0-10 night last night and with Serge Ibaka back to playing well and Nick Collison’s steady contributions, that’s where OKC can likely take over this game.

The thing I like about the matchup overall is the Wizards don’t defend. And we know about OKC’s success when scoring 100. I would assume the Thunder will get there tonight. Butler can’t guard Durant. Arenas probably won’t try to guard Westbrook. Jamison is a pretty hard worker so he’ll give a good show on Jeff Green, but up and down the list, the Thunder have opportunity to score.

The first meeting, OKC blasted Washington 127-108 as Durant notched 35 and Westbrook 26. Again, I fear this game because the Wiz are decent at home, but with the way OKC defends and the way Washington doesn’t, I’d expect the Thunder to have some success offensively. It’s about shutting down the weapons for the Wiz, or just hoping they don’t show up.

Tip at 6:00 CST. Go Focus.

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.

And let me tell you, I like riding the teeter-totter around .500. It’s fun. Sure beats the heck out of staring at 1-16 and knowing there is absolutely zero prayer to come anywhere close to it. But this is a big game for the Thunder. They’re still mired in this crappy stretch where most games are on the road and they get tossed a bone at home. But with two toughies ahead in L.A. and Utah, getting to 7-6 heading into that trip is big. Especially when you SHOULD beat your opponent AT HOME.

THE MATCHUPS
It’s Zero versus Zero. Gilbert Arenas is such a fun player to watch that I’m really looking forward to how Russell Westbrook does in his first matchup with him. Arenas is a scoring point guard, built a lot in the same mold Westbrook is. Except Arenas has a consistent shot.

The dangerous matchup here is Antwan Jamison against Jeff Green. Green hasn’t played very well the past week and Jamison can tear it up. He did exactly that last year against OKC, scoring 29 in both games. Right now, he’s averaging the quietest 31 and 10 I’ve ever seen. Jamison is a guy I always assume is hurt, but he never really is. This guy should get an underrated card. I think he deserves it.

Mike Miller already has one gamewinner against OKC under his belt, but he did it last season with Minnesota. I like Thabo matching with him and both Caron Butler tonight. Brendan Haywood is a rebound first center, and nobody knows him better than Etan Thomas, who played in D.C. for the bulk of his career.

This game is about hitting shots. Open ones will be there as the Wiz aren’t that great of a defensive team. But they have scorers so the Thunder D will be tested. And coming off a poo poo effort in Orlando Wednesday, the defense better get some of that mojo back or we could be looking at riding that teeter-totter down to the low end. Which isn’t nearly as fun.

Tip at 7:00 CST. Go home crowd.

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.

And Thabo. Boy howdy, Thabo. I really just think he needed a new situation and everything has just come together for him. It’s awesome to see a guy so visibly take pride in his defense. He wants to own you on the defensive end. And call me crazy, but Thabo may be the starting two guard of the future. Now hear me out – he’s obviously an outstanding defender (how about that block on Antwan Jamison late? Holy crap), but his offensive game is really solid. His shot selection is smart. He makes really sharp and crisp cuts. He creates lanes and open jumpers for teammates. He makes the extra pass. Add that with his rebounding ability and defense and the fact he’s just 24, he could easily be a solid starting two. What a steal he’s been and I’m really excited about what he can potentially contribute in the future.

The game was close down the stretch but OKC made the winning plays when it had to. The Thunder stretched out to a 10-point lead late in the third, but the Wizards went on a 12-2 run to tie the game up. Then it was a back and forth affair with the largest margin separating the teams being four.

With OKC up two, Russell Westbrook checked in with about eight minutes left and took a bad shot and then turned the ball over. The Wizards went up four and Scott Brooks sent Kyle Weaver back in and sat Westbrook. Earl Watson took the point and settled the team getting OKC back into its sets and the Thunder went back up two. It was one of those big moments where you could see Russell pressing and not executing. But he checked back in with three minutes left and quickly led a 3 on 2 fast break for a bucket and then with OKC clinging to a one-point, 84-83 lead with about 30 seconds left in the game, Westbrook tried to run a pick-and-pop with Krstic but the play didn’t work. But Westbrook repgrouped and gathered himself knocked down a huge jumper with three on the 24. Just a monster play. So when it was all said an done, Westbrook got the big minutes in the big moments he needed.

Things are really starting to come together. You win three straight without Kevin Durant with two of them without Jeff Green. OKC shot 50 percent and held Washington to 40 percent. The Thunder outrebounded the Wiz 41-30. The defense picked up and the team picked each other up. It’s a beautiful thing.

A couple quick bullets:

• Nice work by Brent Weber tonight playing injured. He didn’t miss a beat with the broken wrist and even made up a few nice stories about how it happened (getting hung in the rim is a good one).

• Not only is Nenad Krstic finding his deadly pick-and-pop jumper, but his post game is developing too. He had three nice back-to-the-bucket scores and is becoming a sweet bailout guy late in the shot clock.

• Westbrook played within himself again and despite a rough stretch there in the middle of the fourth, he was great again. Twelve points, eight assists, two rebounds and just three turnovers. Again he made everyone on the floor better and he created a ton of scoring opportunities for Krstic and Sefolosha.

• Anyone else notice Kyle Weaver’s sick little pony? I’m not a huge fan of braids as is, but pulling them into a tiny rat-tail isn’t helping matters.

• During this three game win streak, OKC is giving up just over 87 points a game. That’s quite an improvement over its usual surrendering of 98 a game. There’s been a real commitment to that end of the floor recently and it’s something that needs to carry on.

• Anyone see Jeff Green tonight? They cut over and show Kevin Durant like he’s one of Blake Griffin’s parents, but I didn’t see Uncle Jeff a single time. Is he just getting the typical second-fiddle treatment or was he just not on the bench?

• Nice bench production tonight. Damien Wilkins had eight points and seven rebounds (but did airball once and missed a fast break layup). Robert Swift had six points and three rebounds and played solid defense. Earl had seven assists and Malik Rose contributed in more ways than by getting in the box score.

• Did I mention that I’m loving Thabo Sefolosha? Man that guy is awesome. He’s tied his season high three straight games and is averaging 15.0 points, 8.6 rpg and 3.0 apg during this three-game stretch. And what a complete line tonight: 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks. Thanks John Paxson! Enjoy your late first-round pick!

Maybe Kevin Durant and Jeff Green are back this weekend to take on the Hornets Saturday night in New Orleans, but there’s no major rush. These guys got your back. They’ll play hard regardless but having those two would just be the icing on the cake. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of four in a row.