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).
Thunder Takes Down Denver, Advances To Round Two
Notes and observations from Wednesday’s series-clinching 100-97 Game 5 win over the Denver Nuggets.
- The Thunder won the series 4-1 against Denver to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals…I just thought I’d write that because it still seems sort of surreal. And it sounds pretty sweet.
- How fortunate is this city? Five years ago, nobody outside of Oklahoma City thought NBA basketball belonged in Oklahoma City. Yet here we are, getting ready for the second round of the NBA Playoffs. It all seems like a fairy tale when you really think about it.
- I can’t settle on which team I’d rather see next or which team would be best for the Thunder in the next round. Both the Spurs and the Grizzlies have their strengths and weaknesses. But you have to think playing the Grizzlies would be best for OKC. Against the Grizzlies, the Thunder would have the two best players in the series and home court advantage. But once you think about that wing tandem of Tony Allen and Shane Battier, and that low-post duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, Memphis might not sound so good.
- Maybe this game will put to rest any and all talk of who the real Batman is on this team. I doubt it will, but it should. Kevin Durant was deadly tonight. He had 41 points on 14 of 27 shooting. He scored 16 in the fourth quarter. He had 14 of those 16 in the final 3 1/2 minutes. Said Denver guard J.R. Smith: “I think he’s hands down the best player in the league when he plays like that.”
- In a word, this performance by KD was scary. Scary because he’s still only 22. Scary because he made it look easy. Scary because you could see it coming and still no one could do anything about it. Scary because it made you think what’s next? What are we going to see when Durant gets stronger? When his body fills out? When he gets stronger with the ball? When he can get to his spot whenever he wants? When he can take over on a nightly basis like he did tonight? This was a scary good performance by KD because he’s only scratched the surface of his dominance and already he’s able to make you leave absolutely amazed.
- Durant averaged 32.4 points on 47.1 percent shooting in this series. And those kinds of numbers, that kind of production, is exactly what he needed. With every great performance, whether it comes in a closeout game in Oklahoma City or a World Championship in Turkey, Durant is becoming more confident. More sure of himself. More understanding of his ability to dominant any and every defender that steps in front of him. For all the talk about how an Allen/Battier tag team might bottle him up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Durant absolutely abuse both of them.
Thunder Protects Its Home Court, Goes Up 2-0 Against Denver
News, notes and observations from Wednesday’s 106-89 Game 2 win over the Denver Nuggets.
- The Thunder did what it had to do. It protected its home court. But to me, that shouldn’t be overlooked tonight. Everyone says the team with home-court advantage is supposed to win on its home floor. But the Thunder has never been here. OKC came in with a pressure unlike anything it’s ever faced, the reality of absolutely having to protect its home court. After this 17-point thrashing, the Thunder took another step forward in its process toward growing as an elite franchise.
- A total team effort tonight. We knew Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook weren’t going to average a combined 72 points in this series. And the role players did a much better job of stepping up tonight. Three players scored in double figures Sunday. Five did so tonight.
- James Harden was the biggest contributor outside of Durant and Westbrook. Harden had 18 points off the bench, 14 of those coming in the first half as the Thunder put the game away. Harden worked his way to the foul line and knocked down shots from the perimeter when it was swung his way. Nights like this need to be more common for Harden. He simply can’t have five-point outings.
- The big men deserve major credit for this one, perhaps the game ball. Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison controlled the glass, defended the paint and chipped in some much-needed offense. Those three alone matched the Nuggets rebounding total at 31 while helping the Thunder out-rebound Denver by 23.
- The Thunder had a 17-5 advantage in offensive boards, which led to a 24-10 victory in second-chance points.
- The defense in this one was just all-around dominant. The Thunder held the Nuggets to 39 percent shooting and hounded Denver’s starting five into a combined 14 of 41 shooting. You could argue that the opening quarter tonight was the Thunder’s best of the season. The Nuggets’ 15 first-quarter points beat the Thunder’s regular season opponent low for the opening quarter by one point. With a minute left in the period, the Nuggets were stuck on 10 points. It was a complete reversal of what we saw Sunday.
- Perk credited the defensive turnaround to an attitude adjustment more than an Xs and Os adjustment.
Is This a Must Win For Denver?
George Karl stopped short of calling tonight a must-win.
But the Denver Nuggets coach labeled it close to it.
With the Thunder up 1-0 heading into Game 2, the Nuggets’ main goal is evening the series with a win tonight before the series shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4.
“We want to win this game,” Karl said. “I don’t think it’s a 100 percent must-win game, but I think it makes the series more the way we want it. Home court is something that we’d like to take from them and there’s no question that we’re anxious for that opportunity.”
Karl said his team has a “youthful anger” that he thinks will allow it to overcome Sunday’s defeat. And he added that he’s watched the film of Game 1 game roughly three times and has come away more impressed with his team’s performance after each viewing.
“Yesterday’s practice was very, very mean and ugly a little bit,” Karl said. “Some guys were pissed off and they decided to show it against on other. Hopefully, they show it tonight against Oklahoma City.”
As he had in the previous two days, Karl stressed that now is not a time for his Nuggets to panic, or even overreact to the Thunder taking the first game. His main reason for optimism was the scorching hot shooting by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The tandem scored a combined 72 points on 25 of 45 shooting. And according to Karl, the Thunder’s All-Star duo combined to make 18 of 25 jumpers, many of them, Karl said, were contested.
“If they shoot 18-for-40 I’d probably be a lot happier than 18-for-25 on jump shots,” Karl said. “They shot an incredibly high percentage, which I think is what you see in playoff games. The great players make tough shots. But I think they went a little above board on that.”
It appears Denver’s biggest hope is that Durant and Westbrook simply can’t possibly put together a repeat performance from Game 1.
“I think the guys saw that we did some things in a positive way,” Karl said. “And it was a tough loss.”
DENVER DEPTH
Karl said something very interesting prior to tonight’s game. When asked whether the possibility of Thunder coach Scott Brooks extending minutes to his stars would play into the hands of Denver’s depth, Karl said that particular asset of his team might not manifest itself until later in the series.
“Our depth isn’t going to show up in Game 1,” Karl said. “Our depth hopefully is going to show up in Game 6 or 7. Hopefully we can figure out how to get it to Game 6 or 7.”
RANKING DURANT
Karl said before the game that he thinks Durant is in the top five or 10 players in the game in terms of jump-shooting ability.
“The thing is when he gets in a rhythm he has a mental toughness where what he does in the first three quarters doesn’t matter (when it comes) to what he does in the last five minutes,” Karl said. “That’s where he’s (improved).”
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What Happens When George Karl Goes Down 0-1
This is George Karl’s 20th appearance as a coach in the NBA playoffs.
He’s taken five teams this far.
But the Denver skipper isn’t so successful when staring at an 0-1 hole.
Karl-coached teams are 2-13 when losing the first game of a series.
The Thunder currently has a 1-0 lead on Karl’s Denver Nuggets. Game 2 is Wednesday night inside Oklahoma City Arena.
Karl hasn’t coached a team out of an 0-1 hole since the 1997 playoffs, when his Seattle SuperSonics defeated Phoenix in three of the next four games to take the best-of-five series. Karl’s only other climb out of an 0-1 deficit came in 1987, when his Golden State squad staved off elimination against Utah by winning three straight after falling down 0-2.
Karl teams are 0-4 in their attempts to recover from an 0-1 deficit since the NBA went to a best-of-seven series in the first round in 2003.
What does this all mean? Nothing if you aren’t a believer in history repeating itself. But there are some who believe Karl simply isn’t a great playoff coach. And the numbers appear to certainly back their claims.
GEORGE KARL’S FIRST-ROUND PERFORMANCE WHEN LOSING GAME 1
SEASON TEAM OPPONENT ROUND RESULT
1984-85 Cleveland Boston First round Lost, 3-1
1986-87 Golden State Utah First round Won, 3-2
1986-87 Golden State L.A. Lakers Conference Semis Lost, 4-1
1991-92 Seattle Utah Conference Semis Lost, 4-1
1992-93 Seattle Phoenix Conference Finals Lost, 4-3
1995-96 Seattle Chicago NBA Finals Lost, 4-2
1996-97 Seattle Phoenix First round Won, 3-2
1996-97 Seattle Houston Conference Semis Lost, 4-3
1998-99 Milwaukee Indiana First round Lost, 0-3
1999-00 Milwaukee Indiana First round Lost, 3-2
2000-01 Milwaukee Philadelphia Conference Finals Lost, 4-3
2002-03 Milwaukee New Jersey First round Lost, 4-2
2005-06 Denver L.A. Clippers First round Lost, 4-1
2007-08 Denver L.A. Lakers First round Lost, 4-0
2008-09 Denver L.A. Lakers Conference Finals Lost, 4-2
2010-11 Denver Oklahoma City First round ??????????
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