Author: Mike

Serge Ibaka got a warm twenty-five second ovation from his former home crowd, then turned in a career high 31 point night which included a mid-baseline jumper from the right against Steven Adams which splashed with only half a second left.

OKC used a timeout, moved the ball up court, but came up short on a desperation pass at the rim from Nick Collison to Russell Westbrook.

Orlando Magic 119 — Oklahoma City Thunder 117.

This begins a week of Thunder reunions with some of its former star players. The Detroit Pistons with Reggie Jackson in Detroit tonight. James Harden returns on Wednesday with his Houston Rockets. We’ve already seen the first version of Kevin Durant in Oakland while last night we saw Serge Ibaka at his very best with a sprinkle of former Thunder forward Jeff Green added for good measure. Maybe those five should just assemble their own team and see how far they could go with a starting five of Durant, Green, Ibaka, Jackson, and Harden. You could almost make the argument that stating five would be almost as potent as the Warriors since the Warriors would be without Durant and probably still with Harrison Barnes.

Russell Westbrook was outstanding offensively scoring 41 points on 14-21 from the field. Westbrook triple doubled with a line of 41-13-18.

The Thunder came out with little energy and scored but 13 points in the first period. Westbrook had but five points in the first period, but scored in double figures in the remaining three periods. At one point the Thunder trailed by as many as 21 points before gradually chipping away and had several single digit leads coming down the stretch.

But the Magic always responded with Ibaka, Elfrid Payton, and Evan Fournier all having big offensive nights. With the game tied at 117 and the shot clock off, Serge Ibaka delievered a clutch game winner he never would gotten to attempt when he played alongside of Durant, Harden, and Westbrook.

In the end, it was a bittersweet night at Chesapeake Energy Arena as the Thunder dropped to 6-4 while Serge Ibaka had the greatest moment of his professional career.

Oklahoma City in Detroit tonight for the second night of a back to back.

This was an exit interview in the literal sense in that Serge was traded to the Orlando Magic not long after for Victor Oladipo, Domas Sabonis, and Ersan Ilyasova– who is now Jerami Grant if you’ve paid attention to Sam Presti’s transactions. So, yeah, Sam Presti did pretty good on this trade.

Serge will always be one of my favorite Thunder players. Good player, good human. Always had a smile on his face and something nice to say. I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t get a standing ovation tonight during intros.

I’ve always admired Gregg Popovich. Before becoming an iconic NBA head coach, he attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and later became an intelligence officer. Popovich nails it and if you’re a white person in America who voted for Donald Trump, I don’t honestly know what to say to you. Don’t just say you didn’t like Hillary Clinton. It never should have to come that. Donald Trump never should have emerged as the nominee from either major party in America. If white America had felt so inclined they could have chosen Jeb Bush, John Kasich, or even Marco Rubio as its nominee. All three would have made conservative Supreme Court nominations. All three would have at the least retweaked Obamacare. Don’t use either of those excuses for just electing the same canidate the KKK and David Duke endorsed. Don’t do it, because you had seventeen choices in all from the GOP primaries and pulled the trigger for Donald Trump.

In what turned out to be a very good basketball game on Friday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Los Angeles Clippers held on at the buzzer as a Russell Westbrook 25 footer was a little strong. Not the best shot given the situation, but we’ve seen far worse over the years. Plus, keep in mind, Andre Roberson botched two previous late possessions by not handling Westbrook passes cutting to the basket. So I don’t think anybody should be railing on Westbrook for the shot.

OKC has now dropped its last two at home is coming back down to earth as what we thought they’d probably be. That being, a fun entertaining team, but not a serious contender as currently constructed. Westbrook needs another offensive option he can lean on night in and night out.

Westbrook almost tripled doubled going 29-14-9. Domas Sabonis had an excellent game with a double/double and four made threes.

On a whole, OKC set a team mark by going 16-28 from three point land. So while the loss was discouraging, there were some nice things to cling onto from this game from a team standpoint.

Young guards Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson, Semaj Christon all had some good moments in the game. Enes Kanter had a double/double of his own. Jerami Grant continues to show flashes. The only real negative in this game was Steven Adams only had five shots and six points.

But the real bright spot was obviously Sabonis as he’s getting better and obviously more comfortable with NBA play every time he steps on the floor.

But again, if OKC wants to jump into that tier of West teams which includes the Warriors, Spurs, and Clippers–Russell Westbrook is going to need another offensive piece whether it be Rudy Gay or someone we’re not thinking of presently. Cam Payne simply coming back from injury doesn’t propel OKC into that grouping of teams.

Admittedly, I’m having trouble completely focusing on the games right now as our country is going thru a truly historic transition, but in the wrong way. Like in the Richard Nixon getting on the heliocopter and going back to California way in 1973. Think eight years back and the thought the United States had just elected the first black man to the presidency. Think back to Obama’s acceptance speech on a crystal still November night in Chicago. Think back to an inauguration with so much hope and possibilities attached for future generations of young Americans. Now back to the future where white America just elected a canidate who was endorsed by David Duke, the KKK, and Vladamir Putin. While young protestors in Amercian cities of every color know they just witnessed a really bad episode of Jerry Springer Live.

Consider this, several years ago, NBA commish Adams Silver and his league governors banned Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling from the league for life for racist comments, and rightly so. That’s why you see Steve Ballmer sitting courtside now. In direct contrast, white America just elected an openly racist canidate to not only the highest office in the land, but in the world. White Republican America just got it’s country back, I guess. But at what cost, rolling back history a hundred and fifty years?

I haven’t to date read any comments on who Thunder owner Clay Bennett voted for on Tuesday. He’s a Republican obviously, and was an early supporter of Jeb Bush which isn’t a bad thing because Jeb Bush is a decent man. But I’d be curious to know if he voted for Trump or left that slot on his ballot blank. I’d be curious to know how all thirty NBA owners voted given the fact the league is predominantly a black league. Might be an interesting piece to read in the NY Times or Washington Post.

The Dow started out today almost 1,000 points up from last week despite the fact Donald Trump won the election. Most predicted a cataclysmic reaction from the U.S. markets ala Brexit. But for the most part, Brexit II in the U.S. primarily took place in Ohio, Michigan, Pennslyvania, and Wisconsin where angry white voters went for Donald Trump in this election. Otherwise, the rest of the Electoral College map was pretty much the same as in 2012.

I hate to tell these white people the truth, but here it is. Donald Trump could care less about you. He’s basically a New York Democrat who teeters in the middle on many issues. I find it hilarious some of these people view Paul Ryan as a ‘squish’, yet now somehow envision Trump as the visionary of the hard right.

Here’s Trump in January of 2016 talking about his ability to work with Pelosi, Reid, and/or Chuck Schumer. I’d pay far more attention to this dynamic than the protests which are currently going on this country regarding Trump’s win in the Electoral College. Again, there was no mandate. He lost the popular vote.

Here’s Trump on Morning Joe back in January. I love the parting shots he takes at Lyin’ Ted Cruz. That should be Trump’s starting statement with Schumer and Pelosi– “It could be worse, it could be Lyin’ Ted Cruz standing here instead.”

A thirty minute interview with Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich on Trump being elected would be priceless. I love this.

Kudos to Coach Kerr. Even if Billy Donovan feels the same he can’t say it in Oklahoma. But still, glad to hear this from a prominent NBA coach. Amen, Coach Kerr. Amen.

How awkward. Donald Trump is the originator of the Birther Movement and kept at that nonsense for almost five years pandering to the dumbasses in the alt right movement. Then there’s Barack Obama who’s called Donald Trump completely unqualified to be POTUS. So…I’m wondering what Rudy Giuliani has the over/under for Trump actually calling Obama for counsel once he assumes office. Trump has yet to assume office and he’s already made the complete transition to being a professional politician. Namely saying into a camera saying something he doesn’t whatsoever believe, but still saying it with a straight face. The effort for calming the markets by both is appreciated.

I watched the game, but my mind drifted throughout the game with all which was going on in our country the past two days so this will be brief.

Toronto beat the Thunder on Wednesday night by a count of 112-102 behind Demar DeRozan’s 37 point performance. The game featured the NBA’s two leading scorers in DeRozan and Russell Westbrook. Russell Westbrook scored 36 points on a 9-26 shooting night, but had eight turnovers.

OKC came out beautifully leading 12-0 at one point, but once DeRozan got going, the Thunder really never could come up with an answer to stop him. Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams had nice nights, but beyond OKC’s core three there wasn’t enough ball movement or distribution on the night to outscore the Raptors.

OKC did pull within four points late in the fourth period, but then faltered on four straight offensive possessions which ultimately led to their first home loss of the season.

OKC drops to 6-2 for the season and this is one of those close games against a quality team which OKC will need to win later on in the season if they aspire to stay a top four team in the West heading into post season.

Orlando up next on Friday for the Thunder.