Clippers 92, Thunder 77
Observations from the Thunder’s 92-77 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at Staples Center:
- The Thunder (44-17) is entitled to have a stinker from time to time, but what transpired in the second half Monday night will require some serious fumigation. The second half stunk so bad it completely overwhelmed a rather sweet-smelling first half for OKC, which led 52-43 at intermission.
- Had Monday’s second half transpired at Chesapeake Energy Arena, not even the forgiving Thunder fan base could have resisted booing at least a little bit. Seriously, it was that bad.
- By the numbers: The Thunder scored 25 points in 24 minutes and shot 29.0 percent in the second half; Clippers guard Nick Young scored 19 points in 21 minutes for the game and had eight points in a span of 90 seconds late in the third quarter; the Thunder would have scored just two points the entire third quarter if not for Serge Ibaka, who scored all 12 of his points (5 for 6 shooting) and grabbed seven of his eight rebounds in that period alone; James Harden went 0 for 3 in the third period and still shot better than Russell Westbrook (0 for 4) and Kevin Durant (0 for 5).
- Westbrook made his first three shots and four of his first six attempts, then went 0 for 10 the rest of the game and looked completely out of sorts.
- What’s particularly odd is the Thunder’s poor shooting in the second half seemed far more noticeable than anything unique the Clippers did defensively. OKC helped make the Clippers look darn good.
- Nobody looks good when they miss open shots. On Monday, that included the entire Thunder roster at various moments. “If you go back and watch this game, man, we got great looks,” Durant said. “We’re missing lay-ins. They did a good job sometimes, but we got good shots, man. Russell missed a few. I missed a lot. Serge missed a few lay-ins. Perk. It’s not like they just completely locked us down. I’m not going to say that.”
- You know something’s amiss when the Thunder shoots 62.1 percent (18 for 29) from the free-throw line. Can’t blame Westbrook because he never got to the line, which further proves OKC’s lack of attack mode.
- The refs certainly didn’t cost the Thunder the game, but veteran official Joe Crawford seemed particularly grumpy tonight. He slapped a double-technical on Durant and Mo Williams, then hit Harden with a ‘T’ while jogging down court, and still had time to miss three blatant calls involving Nick Collison. For whatever reason, Crawford still seems to think sellout crowds show up to watch him. Again, these had nothing to do with the outcome of the game, but it was still horrible officiating. Ahhh, feel better now. OK, moving on.
- Young alleged afterward that Durant talked smack all game long, an accusation that genuinely stunned Durant when asked about it. “I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say a word to Nick. I was talking to Mo Williams,” said Durant, for which he received a technical. Young alleged to LA reporters that Durant said to Young, “You think you can guard me?” Durant smiled in disbelief and said, “Nah, I didn’t say that. I guess he’s hearing things.”
- Collison has always been a voice of reason for the Thunder. After Monday’s loss, he shot down the theory that on rare occasions, things are so bad – such as Monday’s second half – that sometimes the best thing to do is pretend it never happened. Just turn the page, burn the game film and move on. “Nah, I don’t think so,” Collison said. “I think you always have to take inventory of where you’re at as a team and what you can do better. There’s going to be a lot of things we’re going to watch the tape and feel like we need to do better at. The good thing is it doesn’t mean we can’t (figure it out) by next game. That’s what our outlook is. You have to look at it and make changes and change how we play because it obviously wasn’t good enough tonight. First half was solid, and then in the second half we didn’t do anything well.”
- Even Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro was shocked at the Thunder’s shooting. “I thought our defense in the second half held the Thunder down,” Del Negro said. “(Oklahoma City players) missed some shots that they usually make, but we were scrambling and contesting shots. Overall, it was just a solid team win for us. … If you give Oklahoma a steady diet, guys like Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and even James Harden are going to make you pay for it. They missed some shots, but I think that we did a good job defending.”
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on what he wanted his team to do in the second half: “We would have liked to see a combination of shots and drives to the bucket. We need to mix it up and get to the line. We are an attack team and an aggressive team. We usually are a high field-goal percentage team and tonight we just didn’t make shots. They got better looks, but we missed shots that we normally make.”
- Next up is a game at Phoenix on Wednesday at 9 p.m.
Thunder a popular distraction at Final Four
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook dunks over Chicago center Omer Asik during Sunday's 92-78 home victory over the Bulls.
To say Sunday’s game between the Thunder and Chicago created a buzz at the Final Four in New Orleans would be vastly overstating it, but there was at least a murmur.
Fans who attend the Final Four have such tunnel vision toward college hoops that the rest of the sports world pretty much ceases to exist until their champion is crowned. Nothing is more important than the event they’re at. Major league baseball’s opening day doesn’t register. The Masters will have to wait until later in the week. As for the NBA, that championship won’t be determined until June.
But several fans opened their minds on Sunday. Around 5 p.m., a bar called “The Beach” on Bourbon Street was packed with college hoop fans. The music was loud. The drinks were flowing. Didn’t matter it was an off day before Monday night’s title game between Kentucky and Kansas. In addition to Final Four supporters from UK, KU, Ohio State and Louisville, there were fans from various participants in this year’s bracket — North Carolina, Duke, Indiana, Florida, Florida State, even Ohio.
Everything in sight and everything within ear shot was about college hoops. Then flat-screen televisions above the bar area started showing a recap of the Thunder’s 92-78 victory over the Bulls at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Five Louisville students decked out in Final Four gear suddenly stopped sipping their drinks and bouncing to the beat as they watched a package of Thunder highlights. First came Kevin Durant raining in jumpers. Then came Russell Westbrook scoring inside and out. That was followed by Westbrook’s perfectly thrown two-hand flick pass from halfcourt on an ally-oop to Durant.
The Louisville Five shook their heads on the ally-oop, but when Westbrook threw down a dunk over 7-foot, 280-pound Chicago center Omer Asik, those fans simultaneously turned and looked at each other while screaming their delight. Two guys got so excited, their lost their hats. High-fives quickly ensued. Others watching the highlights pretty much had the same reaction, as did the bartender when he stopped serving, looked over shoulder and saw several slow-motion replays of Westbrook’s dunk.
New Orleans is a town filled with, shall we say, distractions. Sunday afternoon on Bourbon Street, one of the bigger distrations were Thunder highlights.
Thunder 103, Nuggets 90
Observations from the Thunder’s 103-90 victory Thursday night at Denver:
- Tuesday’s 104-103 setback to Houston unquestionably was the Thunder’s worst loss of the season. OKC blew an 11-point lead in the final 2½ minutes, and blew it at home. The manner in which the Thunder lost and the place it lost, it couldn’t have been much worse. That being said, not only was it imperative that OKC beat Denver on Thursday night, it was important how the Thunder looked doing it. OKC’s 103-90 victory indeed was impressive. Tuesday night’s loss is not forgotten, but at least it’s in the rearview window and could become a fleeting memory if OKC can sweep San Antonio and Portland in The Peake on Friday and Sunday night.
- Ignore Thabo Sefolosha’s stat line Thursday night (three points and one assist in 12 minutes, 27 seconds). His presence was undeniably huge. The Thunder had its identity back. Remember, OKC is 17-2 with Sefolosha in the starting lineup and 16-8 without him. “The chemistry is going to get back to what it was before,” Kevin Durant said.
- Daequan Cook isn’t going to say anything about preferring to not start, but he immediately seemed at ease coming off the bench and getting into the flow, scoring 11 points in 16 minutes.
- At 11:15 a.m., Denver coach George Karl spoke of how much better his team would match up defensively with Danilo Gallinari and Nene’ Hilario back in the lineup after missing the season’s previous meeting against OKC. Less than two hours later, Nene’ had been dealt to the Washington Wizards before the NBA trade deadline. Why would Karl bring up Nene’ if he knew he wouldn’t be playing? Maybe Karl didn’t think the trade would go through. Denver media expressed shock at the trade.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he doesn’t believe a shortened season and limited practice time necessarily led to fewer trades. “There’s not a lot of practices, you can say that, but you can blend it in,” Brooks said. “NBA players and coaches, they figure it out and teach on the fly. … You have to deal with it and integrate it as quickly as possible. It’s tough, but there’s enough time to work it out.”
- The best thing about Nick Collison, and there are many things, is he’s a straight shooter. When the Thunder stinks, Collison will tell it to you straight. And when OKC excels, Collison will do the same. Keeping that in mind, here is what Collison thought of Russell Westbrook’s performance against Denver: “Russell deserves a lot of credit. He defended really well. He got over every screen. I thought he was great tonight. He set the tone. So much of it was at the point of the ball. If we can avoid having to help so much (defensively) and avoid breakdowns at the point of the ball, we’re a lot better, especially against a team like Denver. He’s still playing on a sore ankle and he showed a lot tonight. He was great, and (Nuggets point guard Ty) Lawson is tough, man. He’s one of the toughest to keep out of the lane. I was impressed with Russell.”
- Speaking of Westbrook, he is starting to suffer the consequences for constantly whining for fouls and flashing his six-shooters when making 3-pointers. Denver fans started booing Westbrook the first time he touched the ball. Those boos quickly turned to groans as Westbrook buried his first three jump shots, but he made just 4 of his final 14 attempts to finish 7 for 17. With 7½ minutes left in the game, Westbrook was booed loudly when he did a double-clutch reverse dunk well after a whistle had stopped play. One section in the stands started chanting “over-rated,” which quickly fizzled out. Fans even booed when Westbrook was shaken up after being fouled with 2:41 remaining. With 2:25 left in the contest, Westbrook had a breakaway, but laid in the ball and placed it on the floor, drawing more boos.
- I’ve never heard fans boo more than in Denver. They spend much more energy booing than they do cheering for the Nuggets.
- The Thunder had a lengthy film session prior to the Thursday morning’s shoot-around, during which the normally mild-mannered Brooks wasn’t particularly kind. “We watched a lot of film and saw how bad we were,” Collison said. “Defensively, we’ve been really bad. We were a different team tonight. So now the key for us is that needs to become a habit. It can’t be just because we got embarrassed. Hopefully guys will see how fun it is to play like that and hopefully we’ll keep it up.”
- Speaking of the mild-mannered Brooks, he was slapped for a technical foul with 1:45 left in the second quarter when Ibaka was whistled for his third foul. Brooks was right. It was an atrocious call. Two trips before that was a delayed foul called on James Harden after the Thunder had gotten the ball back and was headed the other direction. It was Brooks’ second technical of the season.
- Brooks understandably had been frustrated with his team’s lackluster play as of late. He was particularly dejected after Tuesday night’s loss. “Didn’t get much sleep that night,” Brooks admitted during Thursday morning’s shoot-around.
- Man, there’s a lot of ice being used inside the OKC locker room. Lots of aches and pains. These truly are the dog days of the season.
- Thunder rookie Reggie Jackson never became a fan of the Denver Nuggets after moving to Colorado Springs in the sixth grade – he liked the Chicago Bulls and Portland TrailBlazers – but he performed extremely well in his home state, finishing with five points, a career-high five rebounds and four assists. “Reggie played phenomenal basketball tonight,” Durant said.
- The biggest individual stat difference from the first meeting between OKC and Denver to the second meeting obviously involved Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka. Durant scored 51, Westbrook scored 40 and Ibaka had a triple-double in a 124-118 victory in OKC. Playfully asked if he had the same plan for Thursday, Brooks said during the morning shoot-around: “That was a good game plan. It worked last game. It’s going to be tough to pull that one out again. That was a spectacular game. One of those games no one deserved to lose.”
- The biggest team stat difference from the first meeting to the second meeting was the Nuggets scored 20 fewer points in the paint thanks to the Thunder taking better care of the ball (13 turnovers; just five in the second half) and not allowing Denver to get easy baskets off OKC’s carelessness. The Nuggets also had 15 second-chance points, 10 fewer than the previous meeting.
- The sequence of the game came with 3:41 left in the third quarter: An Ibaka block into the waiting hands of Durant, who fed Westbrook, who fed Harden for an ally-oop to make the score 70-57. Breathtaking.
- The Thunder might have struggled a bit lately, but there has hardly been a significant demise in its stature. Despite being just 4-3 in its last seven starts, OKC still has the best record in Western Conference at 33-10 (second-best in the NBA to Chicago’s 36-9) and leads second-place San Antonio by four games heading into Friday night’s game at The Peake. The Thunder is 15-7 on the road (easily the best record in the West) and is 18-3 at home (second-best to the 18-2 Los Angeles Lakers).
Special matchups for Brooks and Presti
Thunder coach Scott Brooks leads the Houston Rockets out of the tunnel in the mid-1990s. Over his left shoulder is former Rockets teammate Matt Bullard.
Sam Presti in 2007, his first season as general manager for the Seattle SuperSonics.
On Sunday, when the Thunder faces the San Antonio Spurs at 6 p.m. inisde Chesapeake Energy Arena, it will be Sam Presti’s turn to face an old friend.
The Thunder general manager got his NBA start as a summer intern with the Spurs in 2000. He was promoted to special assistant in the summer of 2001 after leaving Emerson College in Concord, Mass., as that school’s first-ever Rhodes Scholar nominee. He served as the Spurs’ assistant general manager from 2005-07.
Presti then became general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007 at the age of 32 and already is considered among the league’s premier GMs. He promoted Brooks from assistant coach to interim head coach just 13 games into the franchise’s first season in Oklahoma City after relocatiing from Seattle in 2008.
As Brooks spoke of his days with the Rockets, standing to his left was former Houston forward Matt Bullard, now a television analyst with the Rockets. Brooks and Bullard were teammates in Houston from 1992-94.
Brooks still looks back on those days fondly, as you might expect given the Rockets’ tremendous success. “We were the first team to ever win a championship in a major sport in Houston,” Brooks said. “The fans were terrific. They supported us and those were great times playing games in The Summit (which is now Lakewood Church).”
One of Brooks’ teammates in Houston was Hall of Fame center Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, whom Brooks frequently refers to when discussing the best who ever played.
Center Hakeem Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to two world titles.
Hakeem was the best on both ends (offense and defense) for five straight years,” Brooks said. “Olajuwon at that time, those two or three years I played there, he was at a level that we didn’t see and you might not ever see again. The guy never missed a shot in the fourth quarter. He made free throws, he made the right plays. He blocked everybody’s shot and he made guys like Bullard and myself lucky to play in the NBA.”
“And that’s the truth,” Bullard said. “We were just living with ‘The Dream.’ ”
Bullard playfully suggested it was he and Brooks who helped Olajuwon block all those shots by “funneling” the players they were guarding toward the basket.
New rules will directly affect Kevin Durant
Because of new rules interpretations that will be a point of emphasis in the 2011-12 season, it will now be a little tougher for Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant to get to the free-throw line with the same frequency. Durant has attempted 2,487 free throws his first four seasons in the NBA — the third highest total in history for a player his age, trailing only LeBron James and Dwight Howard.
More than a few of Durant’s free-throw attempts have come off the so-called “rip” move, when the shooter swings the ball into a defender’s outstretched arm and attempts to shoot once contact is made. Durant excelled at the move, much to the delight of OKC fans and to the disdain of opponents. These will now be considered non-shooting fouls if contact begins before a player starts his shooting motion.
Here is a story on Durant’s “rip” move published last season in The Oklahoman.
Durant and others also draw multiple free throws while driving to the basket. Shooting fouls will now be called only if contact occurs after the player has begun his shooting motion and not after he has initiated his leap.
Several other rules changes will be introduced this season, as reported by Ric Bucher of ESPN The Magazine:
- Traveling in the post and on the perimeter will be a point of emphasis, with a player hopping off of and landing on the same foot viewed as an automatic violation. Referees will also consider locking or clamping an opponent’s arm or hand under the basket while battling for a rebound and discontinued or hesitation dribbles as automatic violations.
- Substitutions will only be allowed before the final free throw of any trip to the line that is not for a technical or flagrant foul.
- Two horns will be sounded 15 seconds apart after every timeout. Teams whose players are not moving toward the court as soon as the second horn sounds will receive a delay-of-game warning.
- Instant replay will be utilized only during full timeouts, not 20-second timeouts, when necessary.
- Whether a player’s foot is on the 3-point line or midcourt line will be determined by where it last touched the floor, meaning a player could have a toe on the three-point line but if he leans back on his heels before he releases the ball a successful shot would be deemed a three-pointer.
- The eight-second backcourt violation will occur when the shot clock reaches 15 seconds, rather than 16. This is necessary because the 24-second shot clock will now be equipped to show 10ths for the final five seconds and work as a “true” clock. From a technical standpoint, the old shot clock began with 24.9 seconds and expired with .9 left. Now the clock will switch from 24 to 23 seconds after .1 second has expired.
- Referees will be vigilant about defenders making contact with offensive players when they’re in the air and fully extended attempting to score. In most cases, expect this kind of foul to draw a Flagrant Level 2, which is two free throws, possession of the ball and the defender being ejected. “That type of contact was a trend last season and it’s really dangerous,” said NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson.
NBA already blew it with 2011-12 schedule
Thunder All-Star forward Kevin Durant had 44 points on Christmas Day in a 114-106 victory last year over the Denver Nuggets inside the Ford Center. (Photo by Steve Sisney)
The 66-game regular-season schedule presumably is still on the drawing board, but already the NBA has made a huge mistake.
Opening day for the abbreviated 2011-12 season will be Dec. 25. The league got this part right. Christmas Day was a wise decision and an obvious choice. It’s important to get off on the right foot following a 149-day lockout which, based on the tentative agreement, appears as though it could have easily been settled in 49 days.
Where the league got it wrong was scheduling only three games on opening day — the Celtics at the Knicks; the Heat at the Mavericks; the Bulls at the Lakers.
Rather than cater solely to the major markets, the league should have included everybody. Why in the name of David Stern weren’t 15 games slated for Christmas Day? Schedule these games in the right arenas and there might have been nothing but sellouts on opening day.
Including all 30 teams would have been the proper sign of goodwill in celebration of the new collective bargaining agreement. Show fans every team is created equal (even though they aren’t). Allow every team to share the stage. Small-market teams like the Thunder certainly would have appreciated the gesture.
Stern and Co. are a sharp bunch, but they whiffed on this one.
I have no idea when the revised schedule will be determined. Maybe it’s already complete. If not, then make the change and schedule 15 games. Make it a Merry Christmas for every team and its fans, not just the Big Six.
The State Of The Oklahoma City Thunder
Kendrick Perkins (left) and Serge Ibaka must step up tonight if the Oklahoma City Thunder wants to even this series
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kevin Durant scoffed at the suggestion. Really, it wasn’t even a suggestion. It was a question. Clearly, though, Durant was stunned and perhaps even annoyed that it was even being asked.
Has the Oklahoma City Thunder’s confidence, swagger or belief been shaken?
That’s right. That was a point-blank question posed to Durant, the Thunder’s co-captain, at Sunday’s practice. It seemed a little premature. But this has become the reality for the Thunder after blowing a 16-point, second-half lead and dropping a 101-93 overtime decision to Memphis in Game 3 on Saturday. This is where such a mighty meltdown has left Oklahoma City, facing questions of whether its fortitude to compete with the cagey Grizzlies has been zapped away.
“Nah!” Durant said. “No. If that’s been shaken, that’s bad business right there. If they took our swag away from us and our confidence then we’re in trouble. But I don’t think they did that. We still have that edge. You have bad games. You have mishaps. You have breakdowns. But confidence can’t be taken away if we’re down 2-1. This is a great team we’re playing against. They play well at home. But we have confidence that we can come in here and get one. We can’t let anybody take our confidence.”
Saying it is one thing. Showing it is another.
After a much more reasonable one-day layoff, the Thunder and the Grizzlies will meet Monday night inside the FedExForum for Game 4 of this see-saw series. Only after the final buzzer, however, will the Thunder have provided its best and most authoritative answer.
The stage is set, and this is where we are. Oklahoma City has entered must-win territory. Lose and homecourt advantage forever rests with Memphis. Lose and Game 5 in Oklahoma City becomes the ultimate must-win. Yet, the energy at Sunday’s session was one of a positive team that appeared equipped to embrace the added pressure.
“We’ve played some good stretches of basketball, but we’re down 2-1,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “Going into the series, we knew that they are a good team. They beat us three out of four in the regular season. We never looked at it as we would sweep them or they would sweep us. We have a chance to win (Monday) and make it a three-game series with two on our home floor. We gave one away by not playing well in Game 1, and they won one on our home floor. We have to do the same. It’s an opportunity for us to regroup.”
Brooks was initially concerned with how his young guys would respond. For as talented as the Thunder is, these experiences are still new to the majority of the roster. And dropping Game 3 in the manner in which Oklahoma City did was nothing short of disheartening. But Brooks quickly realized the spirit of his team had not been shaken.
“Meeting with them (Sunday) morning, going over the film and talking to them individually, we’re fine,” Brooks said. “We understand that we had a great opportunity. We let it slip away because we did not play well down the stretch. But we have an opportunity to bounce back tomorrow, and this team has done that all year long. I anticipate them coming back with the same type of fight that we had last game. Just hopefully we do a better job of executing down the stretch.”
The Key To Kendrick Perkins’ Foul Shooting
Since joining the Thunder, center Kendrick Perkins is 12 of 25 from the foul line.
PORTLAND — After going 5-for-6 from the stripe Wednesday at Phoenix, Thunder center Kendrick Perkins might have stumbled upon the key to better free throw shooting.
“I probably just needed to get away from the crib for a minute and get on the road and try a new basket,” Perkins joked a the team’s shootaround Friday morning.
Maybe.
Perkins went 3-for-15 from the line during the Thunder’s six-game home stand. But Perkins was money when Suns coach Alvin Gentry began intentionally fouling him with just under five minutes remaining to make the career 60-percent foul shooter protect the Thunder’s 15-point lead.
Perkins made his first foul shot but missed his second. The first make, though, cleared a mental block and allowed Perkins to calmly make his last four attempts.
“I just needed to see one go in since I’ve been struggling,” Perkins said. “Once I seen one go in I kind of got a little rhythm.”
Perkins laughed at Gentry’s strategy and remembered that other coaches had used the strategy against him during his days in Boston. But Perkins said it’s up to him to make teams pay for putting him on the line.
“It happens, but I just got to keep working,” Perkins said. “Keep stepping up and trying to make the shot and really just go from there.”
When asked about the strategy, Thunder coach Scott Brooks essentially said bring it on.
“I like that strategy because it gives us two free throws. We don’t have to work for it,” Brooks said. “I believe guys are going to step up and make them…(Perkins) hasn’t shot the ball well from the line, but he has good form and he’s working on it.”
Grizzlies 107, Thunder 101
Observations from the Thunder’s 107-101 loss at Memphis on Monday night:
– On Monday, Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the fifth time this season, which is a remarkable feat. So it’s ludicrous to even suggest Westbrook has been pressing since All-Star Weekend, but here it goes:
Westbrook averaged 9.7 assists last week, but that number could have been at least a dozen if Westbrook didn’t call his own number so frequently during sequences late in the shot clock or game clock.
One case-in-point came at the end of the first half of Monday night’s loss at Memphis. With the Grizzlies capping a 21-8 run in the closing seconds before intermission, Westbrook had a wide-open Kevin Durant on the left wing for an open 3-pointer. Rather than make a simple 10-foot pass to Durant for an open trey with 3 seconds left, Westbrook instead drove the lane and threw up a wild 12-footer while trying to draw a foul.
Durant doesn’t get many open looks when going against defensive standouts Tony Allen and Shane Battier, so it’s important to capitalize on such rare opportunities. There have been several other similar scenarios lately, but the Thunder has been winning, so all has been forgiven.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks might have been thinking the same thing Monday, however. While players were on the court warming up for the second half, Brooks chatted with Westbrook, who sat alone on the team bench. It was a calm conversation, during which Westbrook nodded in agreement several times.
Is Westbrook a terrific player? Of course, but when the Thunder roster reaches full strength, the best way to take full advantage of the cast is for Westbrook’s numbers to go up in assists and steals, not in points.
– With each game that passes, you wonder more and more how the Thunder will fare when 6-foot-10, 280-pound Kendrick Perkins joins the lineup.
“We’re definitely excited for him to continue to work and improve his health and he will be back soon,” Brooks said. “I don’t know when, but we’re excited. We need all of our players.”
An exact return date for Perkins has yet to be shared publicly, but Perkins sure seemed to get up and down the court pretty well when spotted late last week. He was wearing sleeves on both knees and there was no noticeable limp.
– Orlando center Dwight Howard was suspended for one game after getting his 16th technical foul of the season. No one one the Thunder is near Howard’s total, but Westbrook does have seven technical fouls, which is tied for 14th most in the league. Serge Ibaka has five.
Westbrook had the most technicals of any OKC player last season with five. In the Thunder’s first season, Desmond Mason led the way with four.
Before this season began, Brooks vowed he was not concerned his players might struggle with the league’s crackdown on technical fouls, and he maintains that stance.
“If it gets close to somebody (a Thunder player) getting suspended, then it would be a concern,” Brooks said. “It’s en emotional game. I believe you need to control it as best you can, but sometimes you can’t. None of us are computers. We can’t turn ourselves off when we need to.”
“I like our guys to be emotional. I don’t frown upon it, but I don’t endorse it (getting a technical). It doesn’t need to be displayed down court every time or in every game, but every now and then your emotions get the better of you. When you get two (in the same game), that’s a problem because now you affect the game without your services on the floor.”
Brooks has yet to receive a technical. “I talk to the referees in a civilized manner,” Brooks said with a smile.
- The Thunder had steered clear from slow starts lately, but not Monday. OKC’s defensive pressure didn’t show up until midway through the third quarter, which coincided with some shots finally starting to fall (0 for 6 on 3-pointers in the first half).
“I feel like we didn’t have enough early,” reserve Thunder forward Nick Collison said. “We just weren’t doing the things we needed to do. We were letting them break us down way too easily. We just didn’t play well for 2½-3 quarters.”
The Thunder fought back gallantly from a 17-point deficit to pull to within one (93-92). “We just got down too much,” Collsion said. “It was too hard to come back.”
– Durant was not pleased with Monday’s result, but he certainly was calm.
“We got down, then tried to get everything back too quickly,” Durant said. “We weren’t getting stops. You’ve got to give those guys credit. They played hard, They played well and got a good win.
“We bit ourselves in the back,” Durant said of the Thunder’s poor perimeter defense. “It’s not the end of the world. We don’t have to have a team meeting about things. We lost one. We need to go back to playing our defense. I think we got away from it a little bit and coasted too long. They got up and got some easy points on us. We can’t panic and continue to play together. That’s the best thing we’ve got to do.”
- The Thunder appears to have a Memphis problem. The Grizzlies won their last two games against OKC without Rudy Gay. No matter what the standings or lineups show, the Grizzlies and Thunder always seem to end up in a close battle.
Collison: “We definitely have a tough time with them. I think they’re a good team. They deserve a lot of credit for beating us the way they have this year. That being said, we’ve still got to play better. If we’re going to beat good teams like that, we’ve got to bring it more than we did early.”
Brooks: “They have size down low. They have bigs. They have defenders on the wing. There’s a reason why they’ve improved every year. It’s because they’re good and they’re getting better.”
– Former Putnam City High School standout Xavier Henry was inactive Monday and has missed 27 games so far. He continues to rehab his bothersome knee, which is said to be scheduled to be revaluated for possibly surgery.
Getting You Ready For Game Day
Even if Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are unavailable, Kevin Durant and LeBron James are worth the price of today's admission.
You’ve had Jan. 30 circled on your calendars since August.
And the day is finally here.
Thunder vs. Heat. LeBron vs. Durant.
Regular season matchups rarely get any better.
Today’s game is the first ESPN on ABC telecast this season, and it promises to be one of the most exciting dates on the docket for the Thunder.
Thunder forward Kevin Durant was as eager as you. Now, in the first meeting between these two teams, Durant & Co. can send a message to the rest of the league with a statement performance today.
In the end, much will be said and written following the final buzzer. But we suggest you just sit back and enjoy the show.
In the meantime, here are a few links from around the Web to get you ready for the game.
In the Miami Herald, Joseph Goodman wrote about the unique atmosphere inside Oklahoma City Arena. “Welcome to Oklahoma City Arena, a place like no other in the world of the hip-hop cool NBA. The Heat (32-14) makes its only appearance of the season in Oklahoma City at 1 p.m. Sunday. The nationally televised game will showcase this far-flung basketball outpost, an atmosphere unlike anything else on the NBA schedule.”
In the Palm Beach Post, Ethan J. Skolnick laid out the differences between Miami and Oklahoma City, the Thunder and the Heat. “The differences in team approaches? The Heat threw a WWF-style signing celebration for their three stars. In the Thunder’s practice facility, there are no photos of players’ faces, just of “themes,” such as teamwork, with a hand reaching out to pick up a teammate off the floor.”
In the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Ira Winderman reports that Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are progressing from injuries. “The good news for the Miami Heat is that the MRI taken on the bruised right wrist of guard Dwyane Wade came back negative Saturday, leaving the status of Miami Heat guard as day-to-day. The not-so-good news is that the Heat remain hobbled as they head into Sunday’s nationally televised road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wade’s injury was reclassified Saturday from a sprain to a bruise. Both he and power forward Chris Bosh, who has missed the past four games with a sprained left ankle, were on the team flight to Oklahoma City. The Heat nonetheless again could be limited to LeBron James and a bunch of supporting parts.”
