Scott Brooks will coach the Western Conference All-Stars.

Observations from the Thunder’s 101-87 victory at Utah on Friday night. Forgive the delay in posting. Massive wireless issues for me in the Great Salt Lake:

• The Thunder’s victory clinched Scott Brooks becoming the Western Conference coach at the Feb. 26 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando, but director of team operations Marc St. Yves was the only person to shake Brooks’ hand on the court afterward. Why? Russell Westbrook didn’t know the win sealed the deal. Nick Collison knew, but forgot, same goes for Kevin Durant and Nazr Mohammed. It wasn’t that no one cared. It’s just their minds didn’t refocus immediately after the game.
• Durant playfully suggested Brooks’ first duty as All-Star coach might be to start Westbrook, even though fans voted for Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant as the starting guards. “Yeah, yeah,” a smiling Durant said when asked if Brooks should wield his power. “He might tell CP to sit down for a little bit to start.”
• Brooks’ effectiveness as the Thunder’s coach was clearly evident Friday. Based on answers given by several players that day, Brooks is dealing with the team’s turnover issue the right way – not with humiliation and threats but rather with calm concern. In addition, roughly three hours before the game at Utah, Brooks and Durant sat and chatted one-on-one for 20 minutes in the front row along the baseline. Judging from Brooks’ hand gestures, he appeared to be sharing advice on options Durant might have coming off the dribble and how a play could develop. The 46-year-old Brooks has the perfect temperament to handle a young and extremely competitive group like the Thunder. Brooks doesn’t get near enough credit. Perhaps his appearance at the All-Star Game will change that.
• Westbrook said Brooks becoming an All-Star coach is far-reaching. “It’s great for the organization, the city, the community. It’s truly a blessing to see what’s going on around here (OKC),” Westbrook said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on this team, but at the same time, we’ve got to be coached. He’s a guy who keeps us steady and keeps our head above water.”
• You must check out Nick Collison’s appearance with Dan LeBatard in “Highly Questionable.” With seven minutes left Friday against the Jazz, Collison drove hard to the basket and converted an acrobatic scoop layup with the shot clock winding down. At that exact moment, I thought, “Shooter!” Listen to the interview and you’ll understand.
• EnergySolutions Arena was another tough venue for the Thunder, just like the four previous stops during the road trip at San Antonio, Portland, Golden State and Sacramento. However, I’ve never heard the Jazz’ building so quiet. The Thunder did a superb job of not allowing the sellout crowd of 19,911 to take control. Winning helps, of course, but other than going on a scoring spurt, what’s the best way to take the home crowd out of a game? “Get fouls called, get some steals, get to the free-throw line,” Westbrook explained. By the way, all five arenas were sold out for the Thunder’s visits.
• Westbrook isn’t crazy about doing interviews, but one of his favorite subjects is discussing the Thunder’s ability to bounce back after a loss. “Oh, definitely,” Westbrook said after OKC upped its bounce-back record to 25-7 the past two seasons. “In this league, you can’t afford to lose three or four in a row and be an elite team. We know that and we’re getting better each and every season, and in every game. When we lose one, we take it personal coming back the next day to be ready to play.”
• The Thunder is now 34-10 in the regular season since center Kendrick Perkins joined the starting lineup last March. “Pretty impressive,” Perkins said, eyebrows raised. “I’ll take 24 games over .500 any day.”
• Perkins won the 2008 world championship with the Boston Celtics, who went 66-16 (.805) that season. The Thunder is 21-6 and has a similar winning percentage (.778). Perkins said even great teams still lose games. The trick is letting the losses go while not forgetting what happened. “Obviously, we’ve let a few slip away this year that we still think about, but we know what to do about it now,” Perkins said.
• An .800 winning percentage is truly impressive. Look at it this way: For every game that team loses, it must immediately go on a four-game winning streak to make up lost ground. The Thunder would have to finish 53-13 this season to reach .800 or higher.
• On Thursday, OKC had 23 turnovers. On Friday, it had 17, which is still about four or five too many, but it’s far better than 23. Pointing out the obvious, the Thunder sure looks much prettier when it’s collecting steals and not handing over the ball. “Oh, gosh,” reserve guard James Harden said with a smile. “It’s always such a relief when you get easy buckets on the road. It calms the crowd down. They’re game-changers.”
• Rookie guard Reggie Jackson missed his first five shots Friday and attacked the basket with 10 seconds left in the third quarter rather than playing for one last shot. He’s a rookie and has a long ways to go. Better decisions and less hesitation running the half-court offense are Jackson’s biggest challenges.
• I miss watching Eric Maynor play. Then again, I knew I would.

Darnell Mayberry returns in this slot on Tuesday. Commence cheering.

- JOHN ROHDE

The Thunder's game at Sacramento on Thursday essentially was "Chris Webber Night" on TNT and the Kings responded with a 106-101 victory over OKC. Reggie Miller looks on as Webber receives a commemorative Kings "black" jersey.

Some thoughts on the Thunder’s 106-101 loss at Sacramento on Thursday night at Power Balance Pavilion:

• I’m almost certain the answer to this question is “no,” but here it goes: Has any team ever won an NBA title leading the league in turnovers? My guess is no, and the answer will remain no because the OKC Thunder will not win an NBA title committing this many turnovers. The Thunder might win the Northwest Division again. It might be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Heck, it might even finish with the best record in the NBA. But OKC will NOT survive a playoff series against a quality opponent by handing out free possessions at the rate of 17.0 per game.
• The OKC locker room was interesting after the Sacramento loss. Players were quiet, but not sulking. They weren’t angry, there was no sense of panic, nor did they seem helpless. The overwhelming feeling I got was disgust.  It was as if every OKC player under his breath was saying, “All right, enough of this (hooey). We have to take care of the ball.” True dat, but thinking about it is one thing. Doing something about it is another.
• Nick Collison on all the turnovers: “It’s been a common problem for us. We’re able to get by a lot of teams because we’re really talented. We’re more talented than most of the teams in terms of having guys that can bail us out, but we’ve got to play better. We learned that last year in the playoffs. We weren’t able to win a tough series because we weren’t able to execute. Defensively, we need to be better, too. They are things that can be corrected, but we have to actually do it. It’s been a problem for a long time now.”
• Russell Westbrook was having such a good day. He was named a reserve for the NBA All-Star Game for the second straight year. He had 27 points through three quarters and scored 16 points in the third quarter alone. He finished with 33 points, shot 15 of 26 from the field and also had six rebounds and three assists. But all these numbers consistently lose their luster up when you include the habitual kicker — turnovers. Turnovers routinely turn Westbrook into “Pig-Pen.” It’s his own dirty cloud. He had seven turnovers against the Kings.
• A commendable day for James Harden. He missed the cut as an All-Star reserve, yet still went out and scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds. Didn’t sulk and granted interviews afterward. Commendable.
• The Thunder shot 48.1 percent from the field compared to 40.4 percent for Sacramento. The Thunder NEVER loses when the numbers are like this. The more OKC players and coaches break down this game, the angrier they’re going to get.
• OKC was 11-0 this season when Serge Ibaka had three or more blocks. Tonight, Ibaka tied a career-high with 10 blocks, and the Thunder still lost to a last-place team on the verge of leaving town because it needs a new arena. Good grief (speaking of Pig-Pen). OKC also set a Seattle franchise record with 17 blocks … and still lost to a last-place team on the verge of leaving town because it needs a new arena.
• Kevin Durant has become an outstanding page-turner. “We’ve got to move on. We’ve got a game tomorrow (in Utah). We can’t harp on this one,” said the three-time All-Star. “This was just one of those games, man. Those guys played hard, scrappy. It was a tough game.”
• The Kings aren’t horrible, but they’re not nearly as good as OKC. Not even close.
• Thunder center Kendrick Perkins scowls. Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins sulks. There’s a huge difference. Cousins is an ungodly talent. If he ever learns to shut up and play, he’ll be an All-Star. Repeatedly.
• Kings point guard Tyreke Evans is a load at 6-foot-6, 220 pounds. He’s much larger in person than on TV. He dwarfs Westbrook.
• Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson came over to press row to say hello between the third and fourth quarters and granted an interview on the spot with Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. The topic discussed? Relocation. What else?
• I asked Condotta if everyone in Seattle still hated Oklahoma City. Condotta didn’t think so, but thought Thunder ownership chairman Clay Bennett likely remained one of the three most hated men in the history of the city. Didn’t ask who the other two were, but figured previous owner Howard Schultz was one of them. I told Condotta that Seattle only had itself to blame because if the city truly wanted to get back at Bennett, it should have built a new arena and made him keep the franchise in Seattle.
• Look for the NHL Phoenix Coyotes to move to Seattle before an NBA franchise does.
• Gotta admit, as the last three Thunder games were unfolding, I incorrectly predicted the outcome each time. I predicted losses at Portland and at Golden State — figuring LaMarcus Aldridge (39 points) and Monta Ellis (48) would simply be too much for OKC to overcome in the end, but the Thunder gallantly won both games. Tonight, I figured OKC would hang on to win despite its relentless generosity toward Sacramento. The Thunder ended up being far too kind with 23 turnovers, which resulted in 28 points for the Kings.
• At Utah on Friday night at 9:30, then it’s back home to OKC. Finally.

- John Rohde

Thunder coach Scott Brooks (left) is one win away from coaching the Western Conference All-Star team. Will James Harden be selected as one of his reserves?

With the Los Angeles Clippers laying an egg at Cleveland last night, Thunder coach Scott Brooks moved one step closer to being named the coach of the Western Conference All-Star team, our man John Rohde notes.

    With the Los Angeles Clippers losing 99-92 at Cleveland on Wednesday night, Scott Brooks’ magic number to become the Western Conference All-Star coach is down to one.

One more victory by the Thunder between Thursday and next Wednesday clinches the best record by the league’s Feb. 15 cutoff date. The coach with the best winning percentage in each conference at that time gets to coach his conference at the NBA All-Star Game in Orlando on Feb. 26.

The best record Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro can have is 19-8. (.704). The best record San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich can have is 21-9 (.700). With one more victory, the worst record Brooks can have is 21-8 (.724).

Nothing is guaranteed, of course. But this is as close to a sure thing as you’ll find. The Thunder has three cracks at notching one more win before Feb.1 5, starting with tonight’s game at Sacramento. And Oklahoma City has had only one three-game losing streak in its past 107 games. Additionally, the Kings, at 9-16, are the second worst team in the Western Conference. Sacramento has given up 100.6 points per game, the third most in the league, and has been outscored by an average margin of 8.8 points, the NBA’s fourth worst discrepancy.

The next two games will be a home-and-home set against Utah, with the Thunder playing in Salt Lake City on Friday before hosting the Jazz on Tuesday. In that second meeting, the Thunder will be on three days rest, while the Utah will be playing its third game in three nights, all of them on the road.

While it’d be premature to pop the champagne and congratulate Brooks at this point, the mere fact that he’s on the brink of earning this honor is a testament to the job he’s done in OKC. He took a team that was 1-12 and headed nowhere fast and helped to turn it into a perennial 50-win club. He’s helped develop two All-Stars (and maybe three if James Harden joins Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Orlando as a reserve) . He’s won a Coach of the Year award. And he’s led his team to the Western Conference Finals.

Now, Oklahoma City has the best record in the league at 20-5. With that, central Florida is officially under a Thunderstorm watch for All-Star Weekend.

-DM-

The NBA has released a statement saying that Kevin Durant’s basket with six seconds remaining in regulation of last night’s 111-107 Thunder win at Portland should not have counted. Durant was awarded two points when an official ruled that a blocked shot by LaMarcus Aldridge was goaltending.

Here’s a better look.

With six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge was called for goaltending on a shot attempted by the Thunder’s Kevin Durant. With the benefit of slow motion replay following the game, it has been determined that Aldridge made contact with the ball just before the ball hit the backboard. Therefore, this should have been ruled a good block and goaltending was the incorrect call. (As determined by the NBA’s Competition Committee, referees may not use instant replay on goaltending calls.)”

-DM-

• First thing’s first. Here it is.
• There’s really not much I can add, except that it was the most vicious dunk I’ve ever seen in person, and I’ve been there to witness some pretty wicked dunks from Blake Griffin the past few years – a baseline slam soaring in from the left wing in Norman comes to mind when he scrapped his head on the backboard, which thankfully was padded. I was seated behind the basket where Griffin threw down the dunk of the year in the NBA on Monday night against the Thunder. Truly scary. I can’t imagine what it looked like from Kendrick Perkins’ point of view. Glad I was lucky enough to see it. A truly amazing athlete, Griffin.
• Griffin’s dunk easily beat what LeBron James did Sunday as the NBA’s top dunk this season. James jumped over a crouching, 5-foot-somethin’ John Lucas III. Griffin threw it down over the 6-foot-9, 267-pound, get-outta-my-face Perkins. Any questions? Heck, even James himself chose Griffin with this tweet – @KingJames (LeBron James): “Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I’m #2 now. Move over #6“
• OK, one more look. Post-game reactions on the dunk:
• Griffin: “When they play the replay over the Jumbotron, you hear the crowd. DJ’s reaction is always my gauge on what the dunk was like. I think that time he screamed, grabbed me and bear-hugged me. I figure he thought it was cool.”
• Clippers point guard Chris Paul: “That’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, just like the dunk (Griffin had) against the Knicks (last season). You’re watching the game, and I’m playing the game. So I can get excited for a split second, but I have to keep everyone locked in and let that one go.”
• Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro: “He’s going to do that when he gets moving. I thought it was a great pass and obviously a great finish. He’s such a tremendous athlete, you’re going to see things like that once in a while just because of his aggressiveness and the way he attacks the basket.”
• Perkins: “It happens. At the end of the day, if you’re a shot blocker, you’re going to get dunked on. It was a great play that he made. Obviously, I wish I wasn’t in it, but it was a great play that he made.”
• Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant: “Man, I don’t care about that dunk.”
• Back to the game. The Thunder took a 4-0 lead and then stunk. If Durant and Russell Westbrook hadn’t shown up offensively, we’re looking at a 50-point loss. Seriously. Hey, bad games happen, and this was one of them. However comma, the Clippers are starting to figure things out, which is trouble for the rest of the West. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said it was the best team OKC has played thus far and he’s right. Now the fun begins for the Clippers, who play seven of their next eight on the road, just like the stretch the Thunder currently is experiencing right now. Keep an eye on the Clippers. They were wicked good on Monday. 
• Brooks said his team is at its best when it defends, and he’s right, but OKC also has the ability to score. They’ve got the two-time scoring champ, fercryinoutloud, and a sidekick scoring 20-something. There’s no polite way to put this, but imagine how good the Thunder could be if it shared the ball like the Clippers? LA had 28 assists on 45 field goals. OKC had 15 assists on 38 field goals. Look, I know Durant and Westbrook have the ability to score off the dribble and not off the pass and James Harden is like a knife through butter, but there’s nothing prettier to watch in basketball than good ball movement. Nothing. You’re telling me whipping the ball around and finding Durant or Westbrook or Harden or anybody for an open shot would be a bad thing?
• When Brooks shows his team footage of this loss, I hope he doesn’t do it for defensive purposes. I hope he tells his players to watch how the Clippers did it offensively. LA had six players score in double-digits and three had 20 or more points. Three guys took 16 shots each, and the other three took 11, nine and seven. Good luck defending that. 
• Clippers guard Chauncey Billups has played a lot of basketball. He’s in his 15^th NBA season and also has played internationally. At no time does Billups recall any team going on a 12-0 run in a span of 51 seconds by hitting four straight 3-pointers, which is precisely what LA did to deflate OKC at the end of the first half Monday. “I don’t believe I have,” Billups said. Not even during Team USA’s 121-66 victory over Angola at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, or four days earlier in a 35-point win over Tunisia? “Maybe. Maybe,” Billups said with a smile.
• With the acquisitions of the three C’s (Chris, Chauncey and Caron), the Clippers instantaneously have transformed themselves from three-plus decades of being a punch line to being a potential powerhouse.
• Brooks: “They are good team. They are the best team we’ve played all year. They have everything – a talented team, their bench is really good and they played well. Give them credit. They took it to us and we have work to do.”
• Nick Collison: “They’re good. Man, they’re a really good basketball team. I was impressed with them. They have a lot of guys that can play. We can play much better, but they do a good job of moving the ball and finding open players.”
• Bad news arrived 90 minutes before tipoff when Brook announced Thabo Sefolosha would not play because of a sore right foot. He remains day-to-day. OKC’s rhythm and substitution rotation was completely out of whack all night. Would the Thunder have won had Sefolosha played? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The entire dynamic of the game likely would have been different. Sefolosha has now missed two starts and OKC has lost both games (at home against Portland being the other). Games like Monday’s are why Sefolosha starts, why he must start. This is not to pin the loss on Harden, but if Harden starts and he’s off the mark, you get what you got on Monday — the Thunder hanging on for dear life.
• Collison on the importance of Sefolosha: “We definitely missed him out there. Defensively, he’s as good as there is. Offensively, he does a lot of things, too. He’s kind of like the motor oil out there offensively where he does a lot of small things that make things go smoothly. He makes a good hard cut to get somebody else open. Obviously, defensively he’s great, too. We gave up a lot on the perimeter and he would have helped. He allows our second unit to play with James. It’s a big loss. Hopefully he can get healthy. We need him back.”
• Brooks said the Thunder has played one bad game. Ever the realist, Collison smiled and clicked off all four losses: “We didn’t great in D.C. In Dallas, um … against Portland …”
• Larry King walked by roughly 5 feet in front of me. Dude looked old. Then again, he is 78 if my math is right (did I carry the one?). King’s seventh wife (eight marriages), Shawn, looked half his age – and she’s 52. 
• At Dallas on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

- JOHN ROHDE

• Thunder All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are starting to have fun with their allegedly poor working relationship. As media waited inside the locker room after Friday’s game, a row of smiling OKC teammates started dogging each other about their wardrobes. They were kidding, or perhaps they weren’t. It doesn’t really matter. When the good-natured ribbing increased in volume, Durant spoke to Westbrook just loud enough for reporters to hear. “Look, Durant and Westbrook are arguing again. They’re arguing and arguing,” Durant whispered. Westbrook pointed at one reporter and said, “Look, he’s writing that down.” (Actually, I did write that down and you just read it – in its entire context.)
• Speaking of Durant vs. Westbrook, you have to read this account of what transpired between Durant and a local television commentator during pre-game warmups. This is vintage Durant and, no, there probably isn’t a better guy in the NBA, although a handful of his teammates aren’t far off – Nick Collison, Nazr Mohammed, Kendrick Perkins, Thabo Sefolosha, Royal Ivey and Daequan Cook head the list of runners-up.
• Serge Ibaka, who is always the last Thunder player to finish showering and dressing, seemed surprised when I waited him out after all other players had departed. Ibaka had a look that said (in broken English, of course) “You want to talk to me?” With a shrug, Ibaka said, “I try to do my best to be there for us.” Ibaka was an absolute monster against Golden State with season highs in points (20) and rebounds (12). Warriors coach Mark Jackson mentioned Durant, Westbrook and James Harden as three guys who can “take over a basketball game.” But when you throw Ibaka into the mix, well, good luck with that. “Serge Ibaka did what we’ve been asking our big guys to do,” Jackson said.
•  The only downer about Ibaka’s night: His streak of 31 straight games with at least one blocked shot ended. It was the longest active streak in the NBA, according to STATS, Inc.
•  Durant had a season-high 37 points and 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Which stat did he like more? “Man, I was past due with the big scoring night, so it felt good to score some points,” Durant said. “With the rebounds, it’s not every night I can go get 14, so that feels good to help my team out in that aspect.”
•  Miami’s LeBron James might be having his best all-around season so far, but Durant is right there with him for league MVP. In fact, Durant might be slightly ahead.
• Perkins is the anti-Westbrook. How so? Unlike Perkins, Westbrook fills up a stat sheet – 28 points, 11 assists, seven steals, seven turnovers and six rebounds against Golden State. Meanwhile, Perkins had two points, five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. Make no mistake, however. Perk is a huge reason the Thunder is doing so well. “He brings it every night,” OKC coach Scott Brooks said. “I never look at his stat sheet. I always skip his name when I look at it. It’s not about stats. He does so many things for us that looking at a stat sheet does an injustice to his game.”
• I saw footage of Harden’s penetrating moves as a player at Arizona State. He makes it look even easier now that he is in the NBA. How can that possibly be?
• Sefolosha left the game with a sore right foot in the first quarter, got it re-taped and returned in the second quarter, only to be scorched by rookie guard Klay Thompson, who had 10 first-half points. “I tried to come back, but I couldn’t chase anybody. I couldn’t do anything, so I called it a night,” said Sefolosha, who officially is listed as day-to-day. By the way, “day-to-day” might as well be added to the official list of “The Thunder Way.” Everybody is listed as day-to-day. If only it were true with reserve guard Eric Maynor.
• Speaking of Maynor, he did not make the trip, but as a tribute the team posts his name plate and hangs his game jersey in a locker for every game.
• Cook didn’t miss a shot from 3-point range on Wednesday night against New Orleans (3 for 3) and didn’t make a shot from 3-point range on Friday (0 for 4). Ahh, the life of a shooter.
• Golden State’s scouting report on the Thunder included several items. Among the many things scribbled on the whiteboard inside the Warriors’ locker room: “OKC 27^th in turnovers;” a warning about Westbrook “laying in the weeds for steals on outlet passes;” and also “Durant: Make him play defense.”
• The Thunder made just 4 of 17 (.235) 3-pointers compared to 12 of 28 (.429) for the Warriors. OKC was outscored by 24 from 3-point range, but Golden State was outscored by 17 at the free-throw line. The Thunder regained its touch from the line (32 of 37 for .865). The Warriors made 15 of 19 (.789).
• A whole lot of turnovers (42 total) weren’t turned into a whole lot of points (30 total).
• Pointing out the obvious, when the Warriors make 3-pointers, they’re really good. When they don’t, they’re really not.
• At LA Clippers on Monday night.

 - John Rohde

Thunder reserve forward Nick Collison will be writing blogs for GQ.com throughout the 2011-12 season. He has posted two entries so far. The second appeared four days ago. Much like on the basketball court, Collison’s work for GQ has been superb.

You can find Collison’s work at “Balls Out” here. Here is the opening paragraph for his Jan. 20 entry. As you can see, Collison did not “bury the lead.” Great stuff.

I’m writing this while sitting on a plane after a game. I just finished eating some delicious teriyaki chicken wings and drinking an Arnold Palmer. My seat is comfortable and covered in leather. I have about four feet of legroom between my seat and our shooting guard James Harden, who is sitting at a hardwood table playing cards with three other guys. I have wi-fi, and I’m listening to the new Roots album. The previous ninety minutes were spent finishing off a win, sitting for ten minutes in a portable cold tub (think: inflatable kiddie pool with 50 degree water), then a shower, a quick security screening, a short bus ride, and a walk onto one of the chartered Delta Planes we always fly on. A U-Haul truck filled with the bags of personal stuff and equipment of our 42-person traveling party has already been loaded into the belly of the Airbus 319 that comfortably takes us to the next city. (Our travel party includes fifteen players, seven bench coaches, one video guy, and a training staff consisting of two strength coaches, a trainer, a physical therapist, plus two PR guys, an equipment manager and his assistant. The rest of the group includes our general manager and a couple other front office guys, as well as our local TV and radio crew.) When we land we will hop on a bus and head to a beautiful Four Seasons Hotel. Our bags will be delivered to our rooms, which we do not have to share with a roommate.

This is how NBA teams travel, and it is awesome.”

NBA on TNT crew of Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

On Monday night on TNT, the Thunder beat the Boston Celtics for the third straight year inside TD Garden. For more than two hours, the telecast crew of Kevin Harlan, Mike Fratello, Chris Webber and David Aldridge heaped praise upon the Thunder, which has the NBA’s best record at 12-2 after its 97-88 victory at Boston. But when TNT joined its studio crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal outside Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Thunder quickly played second fiddle again.

Johnson asked the panel to pick a series winner between the Los Angeles Lakers and Thunder right now and all three without hesitation picked LA. The Lakers are too big and Kobe Bryant is simply too good for OKC to win.

LA then went out and nipped Dallas 73-70 on a 3-pointer from Derek Fisher with 3.1 seconds left. The Lakers scored seven total points in the third quarter, shot 38.2 percent from the field, shot 10 percent from 3-point range (1 for 10) and Bryant went 7 for 22 from the field and finished with 14 points.

Some excerpts from the TNT experts:

Webber on Thunder forward Serge Ibaka: “He is athletic, smart defensively. He’s a great shot blocker and a great inside presence.”

Fratello on Thunder head coach Scott Brooks: “He really knows his players and he knows which guys to let grow and develop and which ones he can get on a little bit harder.  He wants players to grow and experience this learning process and by the way, they’re winning a lot of games in this process.”

Webber on Thunder sixth man James Harden: “The best teams that I played against had role players that were superstars.  They took their role seriously and they knew the importance of their role to the team.  (Harden) has embraced his role (as sixth man) and has made sure that the bench is better for that.”

Smith on point guards Rajon Rondo of the Celtics and OKC’s Russell Westbrook: ”They are the only two teams that have guards, besides (Chicago’s) Derrick Rose, that consistently get into the paint.”

Fratello on Thunder forward Kevin Durant: “He is a very unselfish player.  He has the God-given ability to score the basketball whenever he wants to. He understands the team aspect of the game and is a willing passer.”

Barkley’s predictions on the best teams in the Western Conference: “The Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets are the two best teams I have seen in the West.”

O’Neal on the Thunder being 12-2: “They’ve had an easy schedule.”

As you can see from ESPNstats, the Thunder ranks No. 1 in the NBA in RPI and No. 8 in strength of schedule. O’Neal is partically right in that OKC often has played teams not at full strength such as San Antonio (no Manu Ginobili), New York (Carmelo Anthony), Memphis (Zach Randolph, Darrell Arthur) and New Orleans (Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza), but other teams also have enjoyed the same benefit. In addition, the Thunder also swept its back-to-back-to-back, won five games in six days and is on a seven-game winning streak.

•     Tonight was a microcosm of what makes OKC point guard Russell Westbrook so great, and what makes him his own worst enemy. As far as I’m concerned, although he shot 60 percent from the free-throw line, this was Westbrook’s best game of the young season with 30 points, 12-for-20 shooting from the field, six rebounds, four assists, one game-clinching block and two turnovers. Particularly impressive was Westbrook doing this while battling unlucky number 13. He shot 0 for 13 from the field when he last stepped inside the building 13 days earlier.
      So focused was Westbrook, he reportedly told teammates not to talk to him during the 11 a.m. shoot-around session inside the arena earlier in the day. Westbrook evidently wasn’t kidding, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, shooting 4 for 4 from the field and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line and having zero turnovers.
      Westbrook’s first miss was at the 5:50 mark of the second quarter when he was fouled on a layup (no call). By halftime, he had 18 points, went 7 for 8 from the field in the first half and still had no turnovers. Westbrook’s first bad shot was a 26-footer with 9:15 left in the third quarter, which started a stretch of three straight misses and two turnovers. Westbrook’s entire mood changed. He begged for fouls, nothing was ever his fault, but no anger was directed at teammates.
      After the second turnover with 3:36 left in the quarter, Westbrook started cussing himself while running back down court. Thunder coach Scott Brooks stood up, clapped his hands several times fast and screamed, “Let it go, Russell. Let it go. Come on.”
      This is where Westbrook could have gone in the tank. There have been several times he has. Westbrook will start out great and finish lousy. On this night, however, Westbrook stabilized and came up big. To Brooks’ credit, he yanked Westbrook with 1:18 left in the third and let him cool off until reinserting him for good with 9:17 remaining.
      Westbrook came up clutch, burying a 19-footer with 2:22 left to give OKC a 93-87 lead and then converted a reverse layup off a sweet Kevin Durant pass underneath. The finishing touch came when Mike Conley blew past Westbrook for an easy layup, which Westbrook partially blocked from behind with 21.9 seconds left that essentially sealed the win when Perkins came down with the rebound and converted both free throws for a 99-92 lead at 19.7 seconds.
      In the span of one game, Westbrook went from being virtually unstoppable, to being careless, to being self-destructive, to be clutch. Westbrook is outrageously athletic. He also is outrageously emotional. If Westbrook is ever able to properly channel that emotion while continuing to improve his game, there’s no telling how great he could be someday. But it’s all up to him, and that’s what makes this entire journey so nerve-wracking.
      “Russell was really good,” Brooks said, seemingly with a sigh of relief. “He controlled the game, he controlled the tempo, he did a good job of picking his spots and running the plays. His mid-range game was really effective tonight and his layup game was good.”
• Twenty minutes before tip, while the Thunder was in its pre-game layup line, Perkins stood underneath the basket and slammed an ally-oop bounce pass straight up for James Harden and Westbrook. Harden politely dunked his ally-oop. Westbrook, however, cupped the ball, cocked it back and threw it down. As Westbrook nonchalantly walked to the back of the line, several teammates stood frozen with mouths and eyes wide open. Westbrook flashed a smile and teammates shook their heads.
•  As is always the case, Westbrook is a much better interview when discussing his teammates than when talking about himself. Westbrook couldn’t wait to share his thoughts on Perkins (13 rebounds; two blocks) and guard Thabo Sefolosha, who had 12 points, shot 3 for 3 from 3-point range and played superb defense on Memphis forward Rudy Gay (7 for 21). “Thabo did a great job,” Westbrook said. “He does this all year. Perk does what he does. In my opinion, he’s the best post defender in the league and he showed that tonight.”
• OKC finishes 2-0 inside FedExForum during the regular season, which is no small feat. But Durant, as usual, was keeping it real after Tuesday’s game. “Let’s put it in perspective now,” Durant said. “The first time they didn’t have (Mike) Conley (injured ankle 24 seconds into the game) and tonight they didn’t have Zach Randolph (out 6-8 weeks with a knee injury). Of course they’re a much, much better team with those two guys on the floor.”
• Randolph was missing, but the game no doubt was still physical, just like every game last season, which culminated with the Thunder winning the Western Conference semifinal 4-3 to advance in the playoffs. “We’re both competitive teams,” Durant said. “We really don’t enjoy each other. We don’t like each other, to be honest. We didn’t last year in the playoffs. Of course, they thought they had a better team than us. I think we’re building a nice little rivalry between us.”
• OKC outscored Memphis 26-12 at the free-throw line, a sign of the Thunder’s aggressiveness getting to the rim.
• Durant shot only 7 for 20 from the field, but the rest of his game was unaffected with 11 rebounds, five assists and one blocked shot. “I missed a few shots I should have made tonight – a few layups and few wide-open jumpers – but I didn’t let that get me down,” Durant said. “I was still being aggressive, still trying to make good passes to my guys.”
• Sefolosha entered the game fifth in the league in 3-point shooting (.538). After Tuesday night, he is now 10 for 16 on the season (.625). On the flip side, Daequan Cook started the season 14 for 29 (.483) from 3-point range and has since gone 1 for 7.
• In the locker room after the game, forward Serge Ibaka had a spirited conversation with Sefolosha. Ibaka talks slowly in broken English, but he goes 100 mph when speaking French. No clue what they were talking about, but Ibaka vented and Sefolsoha set him straight. Sefolosha’s presence with Ibaka is immeasurable. Ibaka is only 22 years old. It’s hard to imagine the culture shock he would have felt not being able to communicate with anyone on the team.
• There was a nice dinner spread inside the Thunder locker room afterward and rookie Reggie Jackson was reminded of his freshman status. “Hey, rook,” Cook said to Jackson, who was filling his own plate. “Make me a light plate, will ya? Just a little bit of chicken. Appreciate ya. You looked good out there tonight, if I haven’t told you.”
• It’s always good to talk to Nick Collison, about anything and anyone at anytime. The Thunder could win 15 straight games and Collison would still find ways for the team to improve while not minimizing what it had just achieved.
      Collison on Perkins: “He was really good tonight. He made some big plays down the stretch, some big rebounds. He did a good job communicating, which he always does. He was big for us.”
      Collison on Westbrook: “He was taking better shots and he got it going. He was confident tonight. It was good to see. His shot was falling. I thought he played really well. Defensively he controlled the ball too a lot which is huge for us.”
      Collison on why it’s always a fist-fight against Memphis: “I think it’s their style of play. They’re always trying to score in the paint. Statistically, they score more points deep in the paint than anybody in the league, so that’s where they’re trying to go.”
• Perkins’ 13 rebounds were a season high by four. He had one blocked shot in every game this season, but on Tuesday he had two. “Just trying to do what I can to help us keep winning,” Perkins said. “One thing I’ve been wanting to put an emphasis on is picking up my rebounding and my blocked shots, so over the next couple of games you’ll see me putting in more effort to rebound and block shots.”
• This-’n-that: FedExForum is the loudest arena in the league, but not from crowd noise. It’s because of an outrageous sound system with monster speakers pointed straight down onto the court from inside a massive scoreboard. … Piped-in noise is white noise. … Tuesday’s crowd was 13,601, well below the 18,119 capacity. … The crowd’s loudest reactions were with boos, not cheers. Only a tacky crowd spends more time booing the officiating and the opponent rather than cheering for its own team. … The bearded fan who gave the Thunder bench an earful during the last game on Dec. 28 was uncharacteristically quiet on Tuesday. Not sure why. Did he learn a lesson from last game? Did someone from the Grizzlies organization have a chat with him? Was he embarrassed at what transpired last game? Did he not want to anger the Thunder? Who knows?

 - John Rohde

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.