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Thunder should stay in playoff race all season
Most agreed back in October during training camp the Thunder wouldn’t make the playoffs this season but would be serious contenders in 2010-11.
But there have been signs for several weeks the league’s second youngest team might arrive a year ahead of scheule, at worst make monitoring the standings worthwhile into April.
When the NBA released its 2009-10 schedule in early August, knowing the Thunder finished 23-59 last season, I wrote if the Thunder could be around 14-18 or 13-19 after New Year’s Eve they might stay in the playoff race.
Many felt I was too optimistic to suggest the Thunder could compile 13 or 14 wins heading into 2010.
Turns out we were all off target.
The Thunder already has 15 wins a couple days after Christmas. They should be no worse than 16-16 after New Year’s Eve, probably 17-15 or better. It’s not impossible they could be 18-14, riding a five-game winning streak
There are four reasons the Thunder should stay in the playoff race all season.
1) A young team has learned how to win on the road. OKC is 7-7 away from the Ford Center heading into Monday’s game at New Jersey. Even more impressive is the Thunder has won at Phoenix, Utah, San Antonio, Miami and Detroit. Even the road win at Memphis is more noteworthy than most realize.
2) The Thunder has learned how to beat the “bad” teams. Last season OKC was like the other teams that finished with a lot of lottery balls. They won their share but also lost their share against other “bad” teams.
So far this season, the Thunder is 10-2 teams with a losing record. They can’t keep up that pace up but it’s a sign a young team has learned to not play down to its competition level.
3) The schedule gets way easier. It’s been reported on this website a lot the last two weeks that the final 58 games after Christmas are a lot easier than the first 24 before Christmas. (Go back to Point No. 2). Take advantage of the softer schedule and you should stay in the race.
4) It’s uncertain how many wins it will take to qualify in the Western Conference. But it’s not unrealistic to think the Thunder could finish with a win total in the mid-40s — 44, 45 or 46– certainly higher than recent Oklahoma temperatures.
It might take that many to stay in the race, much less qualify for the playoffs. But one thing working in the Thunder’s favor is while the Thunder’s schedule gets easier, a few teams’ schedules get more difficult.
Rookies Serge Ibaka and James Harden have improved the depth more than anyone could have realized. Trading for Eric Maynor only improves the depth.
Combined with a solid returning core of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, Nick Collison, Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic, that’s a pretty darn good nine-man rotation. You have a little depth in D.J. White, Kevin Ollie and Etan Thomas if injuries occur.
Add it all up and the Thunder, barring a major injury or two, should stay in the race all season, possibly even make the playoffs as the No. 6, 7 or 8 seed.
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Thunder Acquires Maynor, Waives Livingston, Wilks
The Oklahoma City Thunder has acquired rookie point guard Eric Maynor in a trade with Utah, The Oklahoman has learned.
In exchange, the Thunder will send the draft rights to Peter Fehse, a 2002 second-round pick, to Utah. The deal, which is expected to be announced Tuesday night, will also bring Matt Harpring’s expiring $6.5 million contract to Oklahoma City, but the 33-year-old Harpring is out for the season after numerous ailments and surgeries deteriorated his performance.
To make room for Maynor and Harpring, the Thunder will release reserve guards Shaun Livingston and Mike Wilks.
Maynor, the 20th overall pick out of Virginia Commonwealth, is averaging 5.2 points, 3.1 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 14 minutes per game.
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Rockets 95, Thunder 90
Observations, news and notes from Saturday night’s game:
- Scott Brooks thought he played it right in the final minute when he didn’t foul Trevor Ariza to put him on the foul line, where he had made only 4-for-10 and two of seven in the fourth quarter.
- Brooks’ philosophy was that if the Thunder got a stop it’d have roughly 18 seconds to get a quick shot and make it a one possession game before resorting to fouls late.
- The problem was that the Thunder couldn’t get a stop because they couldn’t get a defensive rebound. Houston had eight offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and 17 for the game.
- That’s an amazing turnaround for a team that watched the Thunder take a a 17-7 advantage (5-0 on the offensive end) on the boards after the first period.
- Those first quarter numbers led to an 8-0 differential in second-chance points, but the Rockets lost that battle only 20-18 by the final buzzer.
- The final 4:22 of the first half is when you saw what all the fuss is about when it comes to Houston’s physical play. That’s when the Rockets woke up and the Thunder dug itself a hole too big to recover from. The Rockets had nine of their 12 second-quarter rebounds over that span and pulled down four of their five offensive boards in the stretch.
- Ariza absolutely annihilated the Thunder in the first half. He had 10 points in the first quarter, 13 points in the second quarter and was 9-for-13 from the field. Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden must have both been worn out from what Rodney Stuckey did to them a night earlier. Ariza finished with a game-high 31 points.
- The Thunder had no answer for Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola. Hayes had a game-high 15 rebounds with 13 points. Scola had 16 points and eight rebounds.
- Strangely, both teams’ leading scorers couldn’t throw it in the ocean. Aaron Brooks was 2-for-15. Kevin Durant was 6-for-18.
- Shane Battier and Ariza’s length was a big-time problem for Durant. Durant couldn’t simply rise and shoot over top like he does against so many other defenders. And he was as big of a non-factor tonight as he’s been all season — 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two turnovers.
- The Thunder’s bench was solid yet again, largely because of rookies Serge Ibaka and James Harden. Harden had 15 points and three rebounds. Ibaka had 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Harden played all of the fourth quarter. Ibaka played 10 minutes, 20 seconds of the final period.
- With 10:18 remaining in the second quarter, Serge Ibaka blocked Chase Budinger’s shot to the ground. Surprisingly, the jumbotron inside the Toyota Center showed the replay.
- The play of the game was Harden’s dunk on David Andersen in the third quarter. He got Andersen with a poster dunk so nice that it should end all talk of how Harden’s athleticism is only average.
- Amazingly, the Rockets bench was just 7-for-24 from the field and Houston still had no trouble putting away the Thunder.
- It was cool to see Tracy McGrady finally back on the court. He got a big ovation from the Toyota Center crowd when he checked in for the first time tonight.
- Houston had eight assists on their nine first-quarter baskets.
- Russell Westbrook drove hard to the rim twice in the first quarter and drew all the contact a player can get without getting the foul call. He could only throw up his hands and look at the refs in disbelief. Westbrook has another bad shooting night but the bright side is he’s getting to the free throw line when his shot is off. Another 10 foul shots tonight.
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Thunder 109, Pistons 98
Observations, news and notes from Friday night’s 109-98 win over Detroit:
- The Pistons played without Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince.
- Rodney Stuckey tried to replace their scoring by himself. And for a moment, it looked like he would. Stuckey had 20 points in the first half, hitting seven of 14 shots and six of six free throws. He got to the basket whenever he wanted to, routinely beating Thabo Sefolosha off the dribble. But his big first half was the biggest blessing in disguise for the Thunder. Dude was completely out of control in the third quarter, forcing shots and hurting his team. He was 4-for-10 the rest of the way but finished with a season-high 31.
- For a moment, it looked like the Thunder could really lose this game. The Pistons thoroughly outplayed the Thunder in the first quarter, shooting 57 percent and controlling the game by controlling the glass.
- Oklahoma City outscored the Pistons in each of the final three quarters.
- The 11-4 run that the Thunder closed the second quarter on was huge. It gave the Thunder a 52-51 lead at halftime and OKC extended it to six 4 1/2 minutes into the third period.
- Consider James Harden the player of the game. Without his fourth quarter the Thunder don’t win this game. The rookie is quickly establishing himself as the team’s best playmaker. It seems Scott Brooks should start putting the ball in his hands at the top of the key more often and just let him get the team into something. He had a game-high eight assists tonight, five in the fourth quarter.
- Before anyone declares that previous statement a knock on Russell Westbrook, it’s not. Westbrook had a bad night tonight but he still needs to have the ball in his hands to improve. But maybe, just maybe, it’s time for Brooks to insert the more natural playmaker and let Westbrook see how it’s done when he’s having a bad night. Or at the very least leave Westbrook on the floor but let Harden be the playmaker.
- Serge Ibaka is coming along, folks. He had 12 points and and five rebounds in 23 minutes. Six of those points came in the decisive fourth quarter.
- The Pistons had 31 fouls. The Thunder had 16. The Thunder had 36 free throws. the Pistons had 16.
- Kevin Durant bounced back tonight. Not a great shooting performance (7-for-17) but much better than 4-for-18.
- Nenad Krstic had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots — in just 16 minutes, 26 seconds.
- I was hoping Will Bynum gave me a highlight dunk tonight. It didn’t have to be over someone. I just wanted to see the little guy get up. Everyone knows he can get up.
- As Mike Baldwin wrote about for Saturday, the bench was big tonight. Nick Collison and Shaun Livingston, to an extend, joined Ibaka and Harden to turn the tide.
- Jonas Jerebko is a player.
- Thunder fans were wondering all last season why Chris Wilcox wasn’t playing. Well, he barely gets minutes on the Pistons behind Jason Maxiell and Ben Wallace. Speaks volumes.
- The Thunder is now 11-3 when leading after three quarters and 11-0 when scoring 100 points or more.
THEY SAID IT
- Scott Brooks on the game: “I thought our bench came in and gave us a big lift in the first quarter. I thought some of our starters were not ready to play. They didn’t come out with the intensity for what it takes to play in this league.
- Brooks on Serge Ibaka: “Serge was very good tonight. That is two games in a row…He is still learning what we are doing. But you saw it tonight, he is getting it. He is focused. We try and keep it simple with him.”
- Brooks on James Harden: “James had eight assists in Detroit and had eight assists tonight. He is a very, very good playmaker. We drafted him to be a playmaker. He can score the ball or find the open man…I just like the way he plays. He plays hard and he plays for his teammates and he is not just looking to score the basketball.”
- Harden on his performance: “I was just aggressive. My teammates helped me out and I looked for them as well. They knocked down some open shots and key plays.
- Nick Collison on the team’s bench: “We got some talented guys off the bench. We do have a pretty good feel of how to play with each other. We know our offense is going to come, starting with James in that second group…We’re pretty deep and it’s definitely and advantage that we have.”
- Collison on Houston: “Houston’s a team we’ve had a lot of trouble with in the past. Just a really good team top to bottom. Real solid. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. Defensively, they’re real solid so we’re going to have to move the ball. It’s not a game where we can just play one-on-one because the help’s going to be there. We’ll have to be ready to play. It’s a physical team. We’ll have to do a lot of things well to win.”
BY THE NUMBERS
10: Blocked shots by the Thunder.
13: Biggest lead by OKC.
16: Offensive rebounds by Detroit.
24: Assists by the Thunder.
50: Percent shooting by the Thunder.
53.3: 3-point percentage by OKC.
109: Points by the Thunder, the third highest of the season.
17,774: Announced attendance inside the Ford Center.
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