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I’m a John Kasich supporter, not a Bernie Sanders supporter, but this might be the best political ad I’ve ever seen. Such a nice escape from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Sarah Palin. So much anger with those three.

Seven game winning streak. I could use a song. I’m whipped. Feel like I played tonight.

OKC Thunder 109 — Dallas Mavs 106

In retrospect the tone was set when Steven Adams became a pregame scratch due to an elbow injury. Enter Nick Collison from OKC’s bench to set the tone early and often as every Thunder player not named Durant and Westbrook pulled their link on the proverbial chain as OKC won a hard fought 109-106 thriller over the Mavs in Dallas on Friday night.

These two teams usually play hard fought games with runs coming and going both ways thru the course of their games. This one was no different. Dallas led 56-48 while making eight threes in the first half. But OKC roared back winning the third period 37-18 and led 85-74 entering the fourth period.

Game on–because you knew Dallas would have another run in them, which they did.

Deron Williams hit a three with just over a minute left. 107-106, OKC still leading. Timeout, Billy Donovan. On the ensuing possession Kevin Durant hit a two to pad the lead to 109-106.

Dallas missed and OKC had the ball with a chance to make it a two possession game. But Serge Ibaka was called for a moving screen with 17 seconds left trying to create space for Kevin Durant on the right wing.

Ball… Dallas with a chance to tie the game. Ibaka blocked a three attempt by Williams. Dirk then missed an open three from the right elbow. But the ball found Chandler Parsons for a left corner three which missed at the horn propelling OKC to their 7th straight win and a record of 22-4 in their last twenty-six games.

I’ll start with Nick Collison. He was excellent. In 21 minutes, Collison scored 6 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, six of which were offensive boards. On a night when OKC could have used Steven Adams not playing as an excuse, it didn’t matter because Nick Collison set the tone early, and for that reason I’m picking Nick Collison as my No. 1 Star of the Game.

Next the OKC bench, they were superb. On the night, OKC’s bench outscored the Dallas bench by a 47-27 count, and it wasn’t just one or two guys. It was the entire group.

Enes Kanter with 16 efficient points. Kyle Singler with 10 points and a slew of multiple hustle things which should have him receiving a post game text from Coach K. Cam Payne with 8 points, 3 assists and poised decision making from the point. Dion Waiters breaking out of his two game shooting funk with 13 valuable points and multiple hustle things himself. As a group they were excellent and each could have been my No. 1 Star as well as Nick Collison.

But here’s the thing I take from this one ultimately. On a night when Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka were good, but not great, it was Nick Collison and the four other bench players who literally led OKC to a hard fought  win over a good team on the road.

The win extends OKC’s win streak to a season best seven games. OKC improves to 33-12 overall and 30-8 when No. 35 plays.

It’s not about what the Warriors and Spurs do right now. It’s about Thunder players not named Durant and Westbrook pulling their weight and carrying their load. Mission accomplished in Dallas, Texas tonight.

 

Mike Jackson

 

OKC’s Thunder in Dallas tonight to begin a four game road swing which will take them to play the Knicks, Nets, and Timberwolves in the coming days as well. On paper, the Mavs and Knicks look like challenging games in which OKC will need to be ready to play with some energy and focus. OKC will be a solid to prohibitive Vegas favorite in all four games. Tonight, OKC is a six point road favorite against the Mavs.

Dallas has been a pleasant to mild surprise this season standing at 25-19 and is the current No. 6 seed in the West. Which means this could very well be a preview of a first round No. 3 vs. No. 6 series.

Dirk is questionable for tonight last I checked. Which means Matthews and Parsons will have to light it up tonight if Dallas is to score with the Thunder.

Russell Westbrook should have something to prove after being suckered by pesky J.J. Barea into a second period ejection last time these two teams met back in OKC. Westbrook went scoreless for the only the second time in his NBA career. Putting that aside–Westbrook should be able to get to the rim and his mate Kevin Durant should have space and time whenever he really wants it tonight.

Serge Ibaka as OKC’s third option needs to begin a string of solid games. What I mean by a string is I’d like two straight weeks where Ibaka plays assertive, confident basketball. The level of basketball he’ll have to perform at if OKC is to beat Golden State and San Antonio. Draymond Green is Golden State’s third option,  LaMarcus Aldridge is the Spur’s third option. Both All-Star caliber players. To be blunt…Serge Ibaka  needs to either shit or get off the stool with his game from this point forward. Being the third best player on a team with the likes of Durant and Westbrook means you have to show up every night.

Rick Carlisle’s teams swing the ball as good any team in the NBA. OKC’s perimeter defense will be tested tonight and special attention will need to be paid to Wes Matthews and Chandler Parsons. This will give us a read if OKC’s defense has really made any progress of late or if it’s just been a mirage due to the recent inferiority of the opponents.

OKC comes in hot with a six game winning streak and 21-4 in their last twenty-five games.

Kyle Singler and Enes Kanter both come in off solid bench nights. Dion Waiters is in a recent string of two straight poor shooting performances. Rookie Cam Payne has been up and down of late–more like a rookie than a seasoned pro. But since he’s a rookie it’s to be expected.

Vegas has OKC at -6, but I’m more inclined to have OKC at closer to -3.5. Should be an interesting game with runs from both teams at various stages of the game.

Getting the pizza and California red ready. Time to get by the fireplace for what should be an entertaining Friday night game in Dallas.

LET’S GO THUNDER!

 

Congratulations to both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook  for being named starters for the upcoming All-Star Game. As I’ve written on here many times, this isn’t a homer Thunder site. I want this web blog or magazine or whatever to be knowledgeable, informative, on point, tough when needed, yet at the end of the day to be fair to the human condition. Because at the end of the day, despite what the analytic nerds may want to think—humans still play and coach the game.

Durant and Westbrook deservedly are named All-Star starters. I’m happy for both of them. Both are having fabulous seasons. Both have done the little things to make this team better. Congratulations to both players for the accomplishment.

There is a synergy between Durant and Westbrook which never gets old when they’re on top of their game. A beauty to behold on one of those special nights. Every bit if not more dynamic than the Steph Curry-Klay Thompson duo. Yet–still in search of a championship.

I planned putting this on this season’s blog somewhere, maybe today with all the oil price related gloom in OKC this would be the right time for a positive diversion. Listening to KD last night making his mature comments on the team made me think of this. I was very impressed last night listening to Kevin make his honest appraisals of the team from top to bottom post game.

Such a unique young man in today’s world of sports. Makes you appreciate the man as much if not more than the player.

Time for Billy Donovan’s mid term grade.

I consider myself infinitely fair with coaches, almost leaning to the coach’s side whenever possible. Can’t help it–it’s the Libra in me. Scales of justice and all that and some. I actually would have been okay with Scott Brooks coming back for his last season. In fact, all things considered–it’s probably the play I would have made if sitting in Sam Presti’s shoes. See what I mean.

This in no way is a judgement of Billy Donovan one way or another. Just the way I feel. I actually like Donovan and have enjoyed his pressers and some of the nuance moves he’s made with the team. He seems to be a players’ coach and his NBA demeanor so far seems acceptable. But here’s the thing—with Kevin Durant, OKC is 28-9. Without Kevin Durant, OKC is 3-4.

So, I ask the question aloud, has Billy Donovan in any way improved OKC’s won-loss results 44 games into this season? The answer is no, not so far. A healthy Thunder team with Brooks would have done at least this well, or probably better if you objectively evaluate the Brooks years when the Thunder weren’t decimated by injury like last season.

That being said, I do see two viable improvements with Donovan which I never saw with Scott Brooks.

1 Overall team ball movement. It’s obvious from watching the Thunder this is a mantra from Donovan and staff. Move the basketball. Swing the basketball. Touch, touch, touch….finish. I give Donovan credit on this as tangible improvement is obvious.  I’ll go A on the report card.

2 Flexibility with lineups. Brooks drove me crazy in this regard with the ‘He only bought his underwear at K Mart in Cinncinati, Ohio’ approach. Donovan shows he has flexibility in this regard with his bench units, but I like the fact he’s fair and not a knee jerker in this regard. Case in points, Cam Payne. He gave DJ Augustin every opportunity, but when it became apparent a change was needed—the trigger was pulled.

Another case in point, he knows he needs more defense on the bench unit, hence he did a very unpopular thing by benching Anthony Morrow and giving Kyle Singler a second chance which is showing a dividend currently. If I’m Dion Waiters–I’d be watching this closely and not be unprepared if he finds himself in another city come February 21. I’ll go B on the report card.

3 Team defense. I’m going incomplete data so far on this one or a B. I need to see the Thunder play Golden State, San Antonio, and the LA Clippers with a larger sample to be fair. But from what I’ve seen so far—Brooks’ teams were better defensively when healthy. I’ll go B on the report with incomplete attached to the card.

4 Handling of players. I always liked Donovan at Florida and I think he’s made a nice transition in this regard at the NBA level so far. He appears to understand the NBA star caste system and his handling of the team as a whole in this aspect has been fine . I’ll go  B on the report card.

5. Dealing with the OKC’s media. Donovan comes across as accessible, patient, and engaging. I’ll go B on the report card.

Mid term grade—I’ll go a solid, middle of the road B for Billy Donovan.

But here’s the bottom line, with the way Sam Presti  has constructed this team — if you’re the coach, you’ll only perform as high as Kevin Durant’s health will allow you to perform at the end of the day.

 

OKC Thunder 109 — Charlotte Hornets 95

It should have been relatively easy and it was. OKC’s Thunder took care of business and disposed of a Charlotte club missing Al Jefferson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Jeremy Lamb. Charlotte matters weren’t helped any when Nicholas Batum didn’t return for the second half as his injured toe caused a second half DNP as well.

OKC’s Thunder coasted to a take care of business 109-95 win in extending its win streak to six games and improving overall to 32-12. With Kevin Durant, the Thunder is 29-8 for the season.

Durant was excellent in the first period scoring fifteen points and setting the tone for a no nonsense night from OKC’s starters. On the night, Durant went 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. He set the tone and his team followed.

Russell Westbrook continued his shooting slump of sorts, yet filled his blue collar line which I love so much with a 16, 7, and 15 night. Three more rebounds and he would have had his fifth triple double of the season. But he and Durant both sat the fourth period and there was no triple double on this night–just a win and some much deserved rest.

Unlike last night in Denver, it was an overall good team performance. Six Thunder players in double figures. A 10 point, 10 rebound double-double by Steven Adams. Serge Ibaka chipping in with 14 points, 8 rebounds. Some nice overall team things from Andre Roberson including a beautiful corner three. All in all the starting unit scored 70 points and continued their mostly solid play since Durant’s return from the toe strain.

Kyle Singler and OKC’s bench up next. OKC’s bench scored 39 as a unit and was in reality led by Kyle Singler’s efficient high energy game which included 11 points, 4-4 from the field, and 3-3 from beyond the arc. He added energy and efficiency to the bench on this night and is my No. 1 Star of the Game. Good for Kyle Singler as he continues his rebound from what looked like an early season disaster flameout back to being a nice role player who’s steadily beginning to look like the guy who played for Coach K in Durham. I’m sincerely happy for Kyle Singler.  I loved watching him play at Duke. It was the biggest smile I’ve seen from him all season.

Enes Kanter was good as well with a 12 point, 8 rebound night. Rookie Cam Payne did some good things and some rookie things, but overall, I thought he was okay. Dion Waiters had his second straight bad shooting night and three turnovers, yet mitigated some of that by dishing three assists. Mitch McGary played and scored four points.

OKC’s ball movement was again excellent which resulted in 28 assists. Nick Collison, DJ Augustin, and Anthony Morrow were DNPs.

OKC got it’s six straight win, played relatively well, and rested the two stars in the fourth.

A good night in OKC for basketball following a day in which oil closed at $26 dollars a barrel for it’s lowest price since 2003.

Dallas Mavs in Dallas on Friday.

 

 

My favorite scene from Gorky Park other than the sables being set free.