Of course the Thunder lost their seventh game in a row with a 106-96 loss to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City. No surprise there as the tanking Thunder fell to 20-34 and into the seventh slot for the upcoming NBA draft this summer.
As I’ve written on here before—I don’t cover tanking teams on my sports-life blog. I only cover people who are trying to win championships. That’s why I don’t cover professional wrestling, Oklahoma State football, or the Dallas Cowboys either.
Life is short and I don’t know how much time I have left on this sphere of being. The Cupcakes at the Daily Thunder cover the Thunder ad nauseum as if the reader is four years old…so that market niche has already been filled.
But last night while I didn’t watch the game per se…I did keep track of Lu Dort’s 42 point night against the team in the West with the best regular season record….the Utah Jazz.
As I’ve written on here earlier both Lu and Kenrich Williams are my two favorite players the Thunder still have left on their roster who still play in games. SGA, Big Al Horford, and Mikey Muscala don’t play in Thunder games any longer…but the Daily Thunder have per Sam Presti’s permission let it be known these three may actually appear in a game sometime in 2023.
Lu Dort’s 42 point game puts him in an elite club per Thunder Era trivia. He becomes the sixth player in the Thunder Era to score 40 or more points in a game.
Lu joins Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and SGA in this regard.
Super rookie phenom Kid Poku didn’t play against the Jazz because of some arm soreness….sigh. My seventeen month-old grandson Little Robert has more toughness than Kid Poku. Good lord.
Glass half full approach is the Thunder only have eighteen more games they have to fulfill per the NBA bylaws to bring this season to a close in Oklahoma City.
If you’re going to lose then lose big is what I say. Lose the last eighteen to close on a 25-game losing streak and see if you can land Cade, Evan Mobley, or Jalen Suggs with your own pick. Maybe see if you can steal Jared Butler or Devion Mitchell with a late first round pick via the Heat as well.
I’m now going to adopt my two teams I’ll be rooting for the rest of the NBA season since we don’t have legit NBA hoops in Oklahoma City this season.
I’ll take Portland with Terry Stotts because I love Coach Stotts. I’ll also take Tyler Herro with that smirk of his as the Miami Heat try to get back to the NBA Finals.
Lu Dort…I love you, kid. Keep playing hard on both ends, buddy. Same with you, Kenrich. Don’t become NBA pretty boys.
Sam Presti, dude…I know you tried to acquire Tyler last season, but you need a white boy with a smirk to go along with Lu, SGA, Kenrich, Mikey Muscala and whoever else you draft or acquire this summer. First time I saw Tyler I knew he was John Marshall all the way in a previous life. Just saying.