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Great game yesterday in Cleveland. The truth of the matter is most NBA fans, myself included, would prefer it were already June and these two teams were already battling in the NBA Finals. Although I’d love to see the Thunder play the Rockets in a playoff series, other than that the rest of the season holds no great potential drama. I said this the instant Durant announced he was joining the Warriors and nothing has changed my mind to date. Even though both Durant and Curry appear to shrink (choke) from the moment against LeBron—there’s no other team in the West who should be able to beat the Warriors four times in two weeks.

What we witnessed yesterday has to have Steve Kerr concerned just a little. Golden State was clearly the better team yesterday. Vegas agreed and had Golden State as a two point road favorite. They led for all the game except for something like 42 seconds. But when it came down to ‘winning time’ Kevin Durant was nowhere to be found. Otherwise, Durant had a great game with 36 points, but in the fourth period—three points on 2-9 shooting from the field. In the final nine minutes of the game, Kevin Durant scored three points and those came on free throws. Curry was basically subpar the entirety of the game.

It’s no big deal losing on Christmas Day because the last three NBA champions have all lost on Christmas day, but what should be somewhat of a concern to Steve Kerr is that this is exactly what Kevin Durant has done his entire career versus LeBron James. That being, shrinking from the moment, or to be more kind, just not being the whole player LeBron is. Couple that with the fact Kyrie Irving is now a bona fide clutch time superstar finisher and it’s not such a done deal that Durant puts the Warriors over the top against the Cavs in June.

So here we sit on the day after Christmas wishing Game 2 of the Cavs-Warriors series was on Tuesday instead of having to wait until June to see if Kevin Durant even with all these All-Stars surrounding him can finally cross his own emotional bridge and finally beat LeBron James.

Why do we have to wait five months?

In closing, why in the world would Steve Kerr draw a play where with 3.4 seconds remaining Kevin Durant is playing off a screen and moving full speed away from the basket on the potential game winner? My answer is he’d rather have Durant taking a shot moving away from the basket being guarded by thirty-six year old Richard Jefferson than in anyway being guarded by LeBron James when it mattered.

Why do that?

Because to date LeBron James owns Kevin Durant.

If you’re a passionate OKC Thunder fan it couldn’t have gone much better than it did on NBA’s Christmas Sunday.

In the early afternoon national marquee game, Kevin Durant’s Warriors blew a fourth period 14 point lead and clinched the choke with Kevin Durant falling down on what could have been the game winning buzzer beater if he’d gotten a shot off. Seen that, been there….. goodbye darkness, my old friend Game 6.

If you’re an eternally optimistic obsessive Thunder fan like me, then you realize that if Durant were still with the Thunder it would have been OKC-Cleveland in the marquee game today and we’d be emotionally down right now trying to figure out if Durant is ever going to discover his inner man and beat LeBron in a game which means anything. But’s that’s Jerry West’s issue now, so let’s move on to the best player in the NBA currently and his trending Thunder mates.

While Durant was stumbling and bumbling when it mattered, Russell Westbrook and Co. were quietly going about their business of winning their third straight game which turned out to be a surprisingly easy romp over the talented, yet still disappointing T Wolves by a 112-100 count. Vegas had this game pegged at OKC -4, so if you took the Thunder you cruised to winning your bet by a +8 margin. All things considered a great day of hoops in OKC, an epic Durant Super Team choke, the Thunder’s third straight win, and some extra cash if you took OKC -4 on Christmas Day.

I’m getting bored writing this, kind of, but Westbrook was just basically Westbrook. 31 points, 7 rebounds, 15 assists. Lots of smiling. Plenty of great plays, ect., ect.

For me the two keys were OKC’s bigs and their bench. OKC’s bigs just basically punished the young Wolves over and over and over. Steven Adams scored 22 points and added 6 rebounds. Enes Kanter was a highlight reel in and of himself scoring 20 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing 4 assists. I thought it was Kanter’s best game of the year and I’m guessing he did as well. OKC scored 65 points in the paint and it was there anytime Kanter or Adams wanted to patiently back their man down. Another thing, the interior passing from Adams, Kanter, and Lauvergne continued to be impressive.

OKC’s bench was again excellent scoring 50 points and in reality making it a very easy night for Russell Westbrook. Jerami Grant scored 9 points and did his usual array of athletic things. Joffrey Lauvernge went 8 and 4 while continuing to make us wonder wtf Billy Donovan was doing with Kyle Singler on Monday night. Andre Roberson didn’t have to shoot a free throw by my count and Alex Abrines continued his upward trend with a ten point night.

OKC was once again without Oladipo and Payne, yet won easily and looked very mature in doing so. Give Billy Donovan some credit, after the Atlanta loss he’s changed some things, altered some nuance tweaks and the Thunder have found a way to play solid ball without Victor Oladipo.

In closing, I would ask what more could you ask for as a Thunder fan other than maybe Kawhi Leonard to come to play with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City? Think about those two together, seriously.

Anyway, great win, great choke by the Oakland Super Team and we’re supposed to have some really nice weather in Oklahoma this week. Life is good. Enjoy the win streak. Kick back and enjoy the ride.

Thunder at the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. We could probably use beach drinking music on here to set the mood.

Equally bad closing moment for Durant and Nike as he stumbled around and didn’t even get a shot off. Scott Brooks didn’t call the play. Russell Westbrook was in Oklahoma City widening his lead in the MVP race. LeBron is to Durant what the U.S. Open Golf Championship was to Dustin Johnson before he won the crown this past June. It is what it is. I hope his mother wasn’t watching today.

Tough ending this afternoon for Kevin Durant in the Christmas game against his perennial nemesis LeBron James. The Warriors blew a 14 point fourth quarter lead as Durant kind of ‘choked’ on two pivotal plays down the stretch. Karma can be this way at times. Cry me a river. Maybe Charlie, Richie, and Nike can get KD moved to the Cavs before the deadline.

If you get a chance this holiday break, pick up a copy of Writings on the Wall by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Given the year we’ve all experienced as Americans I would deem it as must read. Kareem is an extremely talented writer and his unique takes on America circa 2016 are those which shouldn’t be ignored by anyone in this country regardless of your background.

If you don’t get a chance to read the book, here’s an excellent interview.

As I watched this game being played in Boston on Friday night, the sight of Celtic GM Danny Ainge’s face on the screen brought back emotions of this summer with the subsequent drama which followed Durant’s treasonous departure to Oakland. Many, myself included, figured Westbrook’s agent and Presti would cut a deal with a team like Boston with assets to start the Thunder’s massive rebuild to respectability.

There was talk of Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart attached with two first round picks for Russell Westbrook. But in hindsight that was just crazy talk as Westbrook signed an extension to finally captain his own ship in little Mystery, Oklahoma where the arena the Thunder play in originally housed a Double AA minor league hockey team named the Oklahoma City Blazers.

None of us were really sure what to expect with what Westbrook could be without Durant, but now thirty games into the season we know. Russell Westbrook is the best player in the NBA this season on Christmas Eve morning.

Tonight in Boston, Danny Ainge must have suffered mightily as he saw Westbrook in perhaps his grandest showing of the season to date. Another triple double. His 14th and 51st respectively.

46 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. He wasn’t just grand, he was Michael Jordan is what he was. There was an airness surrounding Westbrook tonight. He reeked of regalness (word?). He smiled knowingly. He teased and laughed with teammates. If the Denver mascot had been there—Westbrook would have stolen his lunch money and hopped away with that little devilish smile of his. He turned it on and off as he chose, but more than anything when he finally decided it was time–he scored the Thunder’s last 15 points and willed the Thunder over a decent Boston team by a 117-112 count. And he did it because he knew he was the best player on the floor and he could. That’s why.

This is the Russell Westbrook we live with in Mystery, Oklahoma, and the thing is, we never would have seen this Westbrook if not for Charlie Bell and Nike moving Kevin Durant over to Oakland to boost west coast Nike sales. Granted, it defrocked OKC’s title hopes, but then again we wouldn’t before our very eyes have seen Russell turn into Michael.

So here the Thunder sit on Christmas Eve at 18-12 tied with the Utah Jazz for the Northwest Division lead and in wait of Victor Oladipo and Cameron Payne’s return to make this a much more interesting basketball team.

But this isn’t a season like most during the Durant Era. This is the Westbrook Era and it has a different feel, a different ambience as fans try to figure how far Michael can take the Thunder without Durant if Sam Presti adds another piece before the trade deadline.

Minnesota Timberwolves in Oklahoma City on Christmas.

Lots of stress right now. Segments of our country seems bent on turning into Germany pre WWII, and simultaneously the University of Oklahoma football program seems bent on immulating Art Briles’ template in Waco. It would be easy for a guy in Deer Creek, Oklahoma to become discouraged, but sometimes you have to fight through things. Some Christmas music might help even though Oklahoma City is going to be under a tornado watch on Christmas day.

Here’s the thing, this story won’t be going away from a national standpoint as we head into the major bowls and the college football playoff. If anything, it will intensify. Even more chilling than the actual assault is the fact other OU football players were both outside and inside the restaurant and did nothing to stop this incident from escalating. Rather, it appears Michiah Quick could have had a part in encouraging all of this. A cheerleader, so to speak. Plus, other OU football players were both inside and outside of the restaurant and not one of them did a single thing to prevent Joe Mixon from assaulting Amelia Molitor or helping her in the aftermath. Not one.

On Wednesday, Bob Stoops made himself available to the press for the first time since the release of the Joe Mixon videos. In essence, he said if this had happened recently the penalty would have been more severe and Mixon would probably have been kicked off the team. My response would be, “No you wouldn’t have” because you didn’t do that with DeDe Westbrook, you didn’t do that with Dorial Green-Beckham, and you didn’t do it with Frank Shannon. The only reason Rhett Bomar was dismissed in 2006 was because of the potential NCAA ramifications which could have negatively impacted the cash flow considerations of the football program.

The only reason Joe Mixon was allowed to stay was because he could help OU win football games and possibly become nationally relevant again. That is the only reason as it was with Westbrook, Green Beckham, and Frank Shannon.

The only reason Bob Stoops did the presser yesterday was because the national response to the video has been complete and total disdain for Stoops, Mixon, and the University of Oklahoma. This story has become the No. 1 story in college football. National writers aren’t contemplating an Ohio State–Alabama matchup–they’re talking about the Mixon coverup in Norman, Oklahoma.

Bob Stoops kept Joe Mixon for one reason–to help his football program win games. That’s it. If he were genuinely concerned about Mixon’s development as a young man he would have suspended Mixon for the remainder of this season after Mixon had an incident with an OU campus parking attendant. Stoops did suspend Mixon for one game against lowly Iowa State, but reinstated Mixon for important late season conference games against West Virginia and Oklahoma State. So…no, nothing is really different.

I’m pretty sure this story hasn’t played itself out just yet because it’s not just what Joe Mixon did, but rather the disturbing systemic manner in which Stoops and OU have handled a sequence of abuse cases involving football players. I’m not saying OU is on a par with what happened at Baylor, but I’m also guessing this story at OU hasn’t totally reached its conclusion just yet.