Month: May 2025

Good interview by Coach Adelman after seeing his team get demolished in Game 2 by 43 points inside of an emotional PayCom Arena on Wednesday night.

No excuses, no blaming of the refs…no bullshit. He called his players out and he saw it pretty much like I saw the game.

The Nuggets led one time in this game and that was at 2-0. Not long after the Thunder were ahead 34-14 and for all practical intent this game was over because in my mind the Nuggets did not react quickly enough to the physicality applied by the Thunder. This is playoff basketball. This isn’t the time you shrink away from physicality. This is the time you turn it up.

The only Denver player who answered the physicality call was Russell Westbrook and I thought he by far was Denver’s best player last night…if there was one.

As players…you have to be smart enough to feel the tone the refs are setting early in the game and adjust to it. By the time Denver seemingly ‘somewhat’ adjusted to this physicality the Thunder had scored an NBA record 87 first half points in a playoff game to lead 87-56..

The previous record of 86 points in a half was set by Cleveland when they laid the wood down on Golden State in the 2017 NBA Finals.

It was Jokic’s worst game in his NBA career. He was limited to 17 points and had a career worst -36 rating.

I don’t sugarcoat things on this blog. Denver just basically got their asses kicked by a hungry-angry Thunder team which knows they gave away Game 1 on Monday night.

I also like the way Coach Adelman didn’t play the ‘1-1 series is tied we did what we set out to do’ nonsense. Denver got beat in every facet of the game.

Denver got outrebounded, they turned the ball over 21 times, they got bullied in the paint on both ends of the floor, and they gave up more fast break points. The only Nugget who engaged was 37 year-old Russell Westbrook, and MJ has to tell you—that is still one reason I love Russell.

This is not complex. The guys in that Denver locker room know it. They’re proud men. They know or will know by Friday morning after they’ve dissected the film how they have to address this on Friday night inside of what should be a raccous Ball Arena.

This is what NBA Playoff basketball and NHL hockey are all about. They adjust, you adjust, they adjust, you adjust.

After Game 1, Shai in his always gentle way challenged his team by saying, “We’re going to find out about ourselves in Game 2.”

I would imagine that train of thought has already been shared in the Nugget locker room by Jokic and maybe even perhaps Russell Westbrook.

Game threes in series tied at 1-1 are usually a pretty big deal. I would think the opening five minutes on Friday night should be revealing as to what type of game we’re going to see.

Mike J

You three guys…thank you for giving this old guy who’s now a officially a Stage 4 cancer survivor the opportunity to share a thought or two with you this gameday morning.

Life goes by in flash. You three young dudes have the most glorious opportunities of any humans on the face of this earth. You do. Only a very special few have what you already have, and trust me…I understand how hard each one of you and your families have worked for these opportunities.

But now having seen what transpired in that last minute at home on Monday night in a game in which Vegas had you tabbed as a 10.5 favorite…I feel even though the three of you are now the face brand image of the world’s largest cellular carrier…it wouldn’t hurt for an old guy who actually likes all three of you to say…

“Tonight isn’t about fame, ego, or money. It’s about what’s in your collective hearts as teammates and leaders of your basketball team. It’s about making sure all three of you go out there tonight and leave nothing in the tank. It’s about playing up to your unique individual skillsets and doing the little things the right way for 48 minutes.

Granted, Coach Mark certainly didn’t help you guys with a stupid late challenge which took your last timout away and his late game-time management was horrific in that last minute. But the thing is…it never should have come down to that. Know what I mean?

One last thing, my favorite hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche, blew a 2-0 Game 7 lead with 13 minutes left this past week-end. Their season is now over because as a team the Avalanche forgot to take care of the little things for 60 minutes. Two of the world’s greatest current hockey players, Nate McKinnon and Cale Makar are now done for the season…as in done. If you three guys do all the little things right along with Alex Caruso and I’m sure the other guys will follow because the teams which ultimately win championships are coached from WITHIN. Have nice game tonight.”

Mike J

So…did the Nuggets elevate their play to a level where they should have won Game 1 at home as a Vegas 10.5 dog— or did Shai’s Thunder group choke under the bright lights as they did against Dallas last post season and as they did against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup Finals in December?

You tell me Thunder Nation.

You tell, El Prez.

There’s no way you should lose this game with a 13 point lead with six minutes remaining and 18 Nugget turnovers on the scorecard which led to somewhere around 26 Thunder points or so.

NO WAY.

Just so we’re clear–theThunder on a game by game basis score around 20% of their points off live ball turnovers. So in that regard the Nuggets at best get a D- on their report card. The Nuggets in no way were stellar in this game. Not even close. Their heart was great and admirable, but Coach David Adelman knows they need to be better the rest of this series. Much better.

I would also add the Nuggets played even more short-handed than they did in Game 7 versus the Cippers because Michael Porter Jr. was basically so bad in this game he was unplayable and Coach David Adelman had no choice but to pull him.

MJ also can’t believe anyone in Oklahoma City thought this was going to be a cakewalk 4-0 sweep. Jokic, Jamal, Aaron, C-Braun, and Russell are five dudes who have a great deal of pride at stake and have something to prove as four of these guys were instrumental in the Nuggets’ championship run two years ago and the fifth is a certain Hall of Famer.

Coach Mark, JDub, Chet and to a lesser degree Shai….this is when you guys show us you’re post season contenders and not just regular season posers who get by with this because the sports media press in Oklahoma City honestly isn’t equipped with the type of basketball insiders who should be covering the team like teams are covered in other markets in the league.

So as we stand right now if the Nuggets hold home serve in home games in Denver… they win the series in Game 6 inside of Ball Arena. If the Nuggets somehow pull off another miracle road win at PayCom Arena tomorrow night as a current 11.5 road underdog…I would think this series is over.

Shai said it best last night in his post game presser, “This is when we find out who we really are.”

I would add your best player last night was Alex Caruso and in my view if he can handle 32-34 minutes a game this would be the time.

This would be the time for Coach Mark to go from being the Developmental Coach at the Girl’s U8 Rec Soccer League over there on Danforth Rd. in Edmond and you know, maybe put the foot on the pedal just a wee bit and coach to win. BE RUTHLESS. DENVER DOESN’T HAVE A BENCH. I would assume Sam Presti trading Josh Giddy for Alex Caruso was carried out with the idea in mind to win championship relevant games in post season [play WHEN THE GAMES ACTUALLY MATTER.

In closing out my little mini-rant before I get myself in the proper frame of mind to watch TNT’s Tuesday Night Doubleheader….I would suggest AT&T pull their Thunder add off the air until at the least these guys win the Western Conference and actually do something which merits an add of this nature.

Rant over.

MJ

Let me be clear…Aaron Gordon’s game winning three with 2.5 seconds left wasn’t his best play of the night. His best play of the night was when he postered Chet Holmgren for the best dunk of this post season so far.

Aaron’s game winner came with 2.5 seconds left in regulation as the Nuggets came off of two missed throws by the same Chet Holmgren with 9.5 seconds left. The Nuggets trailed by one, but had no timeouts remaining. This is the kind of stuff which keeps MJ blogging on the underground in radical right Trumpy Oklahoma.

So after Chet bricked both critical free throws, Christian Braun moved the ball to midcourt to a waiting Russell Westbrook.

Russell calmly moved the ball up court on the right side of the floor to about the top of the key area then executed a picture perfect cross-court pass into the arms of a streaking Aaron Gordon on the left wing. Aaron gathered himself, locked, loaded…and then went nothing but net over the flailing arms of the same Chet Holmgren who bricked the two most important free throws in his pro career.

Aaron gets the game winner. Russell gets the primary assist, and the Nuggets get an improbable Game 1 win in a game in which they trailed pretty much all the way going back to a 24-22 first quarter lead.

Despite what the big NBA thinkers on the Sports Animal in Oklahoma think…the only sweep in play right now is if the Nuggets win the next three games to sweep the Thunder with the best player in the league leading the way.

Shai will win the Kia regular season MVP and he deserves the award. But I can pretty much assure you every GM in the NBA knows who the best player in the league is. Jokic was superb. He never surrendered in this game even when the Nuggets were live ball turn-overing the ball and a blowout in Game 1 seemed plausible.

But Jokic never surrendered. He went for 42 points, 22 rebounds, and 6 assists. Plus, he did what all great players do…he coached his team from within and carried his mates on his broad shoulders to a point where Aaron, Christian, Jamal, and Russell could help him steal Game 1 in Oklahoma City.

Michael Porter was brutal. He did not see the floor in the final four minutes. Nice job there by Coach Adelman. Coach Adelman only went with seven players on the night and DeAndre Jordan was not one of them. Peyton Watson got minutes and Julian Strawther got a splash of minutes in the first half and made one layup.

This wasn’t even the Denver 6 we witnessed in Game 7 versus the LA Clippers. Instead it was the Denver 5 slaying the ‘unbeatable’ OKC Thunder on their home court as a Vegas 10.5 road underdog.

Michael Porter, buddy. I would have traded you at the deadline. But then GM Calvin Booth didn’t pull that trigger. Pull your link on the chain, buddy. Your teammates need something from you in the remaining games in this series if the Nuggets are to advance.

From the Thunder side. I thought they actually played pretty well in the second and third periods. They created plenty of points off live ball turnovers and I thought Alex Caruso was excellent. I thought Caruso was the Thunder’s best player in the game.

Now to Shai. He played fine. But here’s the thing…to be that guy being the best player on the best team…sometimes you have to be a bit of a prick. You have to possess that Kobe-Michael-Steph-Timmy-LeBron edgy side of your personna. You can’t always be the sweetest nice guy in the league.

So…Game 2 on Wednesday night in OKC. The Nuggets are operating on house money is the way I see it. They already have what they desperately wanted in this first two games in OKC…that being a split. Which now brings into play the possibility of Denver ending this series in Game 6 in Ball Arena.

And, hey….you Sports Animal listners and Daily Thunder readers…if you want to learn something about the NBA now and again–MJ is here for you.

Have a nice Tuesday, Oklahoma.

Mike J

As an OU fan who watched Buddy play in Norman from 2013-16 this was a special night of hoops for me in Game 7 last night. MJ almost cried for Buddy, but didn’t. I’m trying to pull back on all of tmy cancer journey crying.

Keep this in mind about Buddy, in ’16 he won Big 12 Player of the Year and National Player of the Year as he led Lon Kruger’s Sooners to their fifth Final Four in program history. Plus, if I remember correctly–he was a lottery pick by the Sacramento Kings.

33 points, 9 three pointers, 12-15 from the field, several key defensive plays, and he tied a record for most threes ever made in a Game 7.

I’m just happy for Buddy. This is his 8th NBA season and in all truth the first good team Buddy has played on his professional career. Buddy has now played in a grand total of 11 NBA playoff games.

But keep this in mind about Buddy moving forward…in his eight year NBA career he and Steph have been the most prolific three point makers in the league. And again to give Warrior GM Michael Dunleavy some credit…when Klay left this summer to join the Dallas Mavericks…Mike Dunleavy found a way to fill that three point shooting void by adding Buddy to the Warrior mix.

And here’s another thing…with the Warriors, Buddy has improved markedly with the defensive side of his game. He’s no longer an easy guy to attack defensively. The Warriors win with defense and Buddy has learned on to play some defense. He’s no Luka, baby.

I thought both Steph and Draymond sucked in Game 5 and Game 6…and that’s exactly what I wrote on my ‘tell it like it is’ blog. I THOUGHT THEY BOTH SUCKED.

But Jimmy Butler was there to calm the waters was his level-headed approach and evidently the Warriors had a team meeting after Game Game 6. Both Steph and Draymond told the team they had to be better in Game 7…and they both kept their word in that regard.

Draymond, of course, got his obligaatory technical early in the game, but also made a couple of early threes to get his team in rythmn.

Steph only scored 22 points in this game, but overall was superb. He was the point guard the Warriors must have if they want to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves. He eliminated the weak turnovers, rebounded like Russell Westbrook, was STRONG ON THE BALL, won 50-50 battles for the ball, and scored the ball in the second half when the game was still in doubt.

He basically triple doubled with a 22, 10, 8 night when his team had to have it to move to the final eight teams still breathing basketball life.

Now we’re down to eight good basketball teams, and MJ would say this…. this is a year where I think eight of the eight could conceivably advance to their conference championship finals. Like the recent NCAA Tournament…this could be a stellar Final 8 for the quest to hoist the O’Brien Trophy.

The Minnesota TWolves are not a typical No. 6 seed. Any team with Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler is not a typical No. 7 seed which had to win a play-in game just to advance to the playoffs. If you think I’m full of shit..I would suggest you consider what No. 4 Indiana did on the road yesterday versus No. 1 Cleveland in the East.

While I think the OKC Thunder are young and loaded, I in no way think they’re unbeatble. Quite the opposite.

So enough of the talk and the blogging…Game 1 tonight in OKC. Denver vs. the Thunder with their pretty little neatly folded T-shirts and noisemakers. I think I’ll wear my powder blue Jamal jersey to the gym today. I actually still have my 2012 noisemaker which had a team photo on the backside. Name that roster without Google and see if you’re a real NBA or Thunder fan.

This should be great basketball in all four series. Or at least we hope it will be.

I haven’t played the below song since the cancer journey became part of my life. I think this might be the right time to play it on my blog again.

Have a wonderful Monday.

Mike J

So here we go…the matchup NBA fans wanted to see in the West. The Denver 6 with Jokic vs. an OKC Thunder team which in reality goes at least twelve deep with probable MVP Sahi Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way.

This should prove to be an interesting series. I would say again, the Nuggets with David Adelman and without Michael Malone look the same minus the fact it appears to me Coach Adelman has more faith in DeAndre Jordan’s bench minutes versus those of Peyton Watson.

From my objective eye this is how I rate the Top 8 Nugget players coming into this Western Conference semi-final:

1 Jokic, 2 Jamal, 3 Aaron Gordon, 4 Christian Braun, 5 Michael Porter, 6 Russell, 7 Deandre Jordan, 8 Peyton Watson.

If I were to go four players deeper…. 9 Jalen Pickett, 10 Julian Strawther, 11 Zeke, and 12 Tyson Hunter.

Realisticly speaking…Coach Mark can go twelve deep if he so chooses and have a commanding edge in bench talent. But here’s the thing…most NBA championship coaches usually have pared their rotation to 8 or 9 by the ‘goal acheiving segment’ of the season. This is when it matters and every coach basically has the same 240 total game minutes to manage their rotations.

We still really don’t know about the Thunder because they got a relative bye in the first round. We know they’re very talented for certain, but again this franchise hasn’t won a meaningful playoff series since 2016 when they beat an aged Tim Duncan and the Spurs in the second round. If anyone reads this and thinks I’m wrong, please correct me.

This Thunder team appears to be more like a college team with a similarity to Nolan Richardson’s ‘Forty Minutes of Hell’ approach. Or more recently somewhat akin to what Florida Coach Todd Golden did with his bench on the Gators’ run to their recent national championship.

Can the Denver 6 somewhat temper the torrid pace of the Thunder and bring these games to a slower more manageable pace?

If I’m Coach Addelman with my team today the majority of what I’m talking about is pace, turnovers, offensive rebounding, and LIVE BALL TURNOVERS.

To have success against this Thunder team you need to eliminate live ball turnovers and be a force on the offensive boards so as to keep the horses from running loose at their most comfortable pace.

To further illustrate this point I would write the Thunder are very much hoping the Houston Rockets do not advance this evening because they take care of the ball and in my mind are the best offensive rebounding team in the NBA when Steven Adams plays like he did in Game 6.

BTW…I’m happy for Steven. It’s good to see him finally healthy again. I loved his book and all the good things he does for people back in New Zealand.

Tonight’s game?

I would be shocked if the Warriors win this game because they’ve been absolutely brutal these past two games. Draymond Green in Game 6 took a Flagrant 1 less than two minutes into the game which resulted in a four point possession for the Rockets.

There is a profound difference between playing tough and playing like an unchained idiot. We’ll see which Draymond Green shows up in Houston this evening, and Steph Curry needs to bring his game as well.

We’ll see if they have anything left.

Mike J

This was a great game to watch on Thursday night in what easily turned out to be the best first round series in the Eastern Conference. Unlike the West, which has already had its No. 3 seed the LA Lakers ousted, and No. 2 seed Houston on the ropes versus the Warriors…this series was the only one in the East with any competitive drama.

Now we get Boston vs the NY Knicks and Cleveland vs. the Indiana Pacers. The four best teams in the East without dispute. Detroit has nothing to be ashamed of as they showed the NBA world they should be a team on the rise with valuable experience gained for a young guy like Cade Cunningham. Cade had multiple chances down the stretch in Game 6, but just wasn’t able to deliever as did Mr. Clutch Jalen Brunson.

This is what Jalen Brunson does better than anyone else in the league currenty…including Steph Curry. But what we’ve never seen from Jalen with the Knicks is if his late game magic can get the Knicks past the Celtics and into the Eastern Conference Finals…and possibly beyond to the NBA Finals.

We’re going to find out if Karl Anthony-Towns in place of Julius Randle is the piece which has been missing from the Knicks’ puzzle of reaching a NBA Finals.

I was wrong. We get Game 6 of the Warriors and Rockets tonight. I do not envision this Warriors’ team being able to win a Game 7 on the road against these young, physical Rockets. Saturday night on the Bay…Steph, Jimmy, and their mates need to end this series if they want to play the Timberwolves in the conference semi-finals.

Personally…I’ll take the TWolves over either the Warriors or the Rockets in the next round. I like what I’m seeing from the TWolves. They play both ends of the court with a great deal of intensity and physicality, and unlike the Thunder or the Rockets… they played in the Western Conference Finals last spring. Plus…Julius Randle seems to be finding his way with these guys somewhat.

Then on this week-end.. we get the Denver Nuggets hosting the LA Clippers in a Game 7 for the right to face the OKC Thunder.

Gregg Popovich’s retirement from the San Antonio Spurs was announced today. I love Gregg Popovich and what he has brought to the NBA during his 29 seasons as the Spurs’ head coach.

He’ll still be team president. But still…this is a moment all NBA fans should take the time to reflect upon given how rare it is in the era of collective bargaining for any coach in the four major U.S. professional sports leagues to last with the same franchise….for 29 years.

Have a nice week-end.

MJ

Not a shock.

The Lakers are quite frankl;y not a good defensive basketball team and LeBron has gotten older. When the Mark Williams trade didn’t go through for the Lakers that made the Luka trade not really feasible for a team hoping to make a deep run in the West as the No. 3 seed.

Compound that by the fact JJ Reddick kept all five of his starters on the floor in the second half of Game 4 and Jaxson Hays was a DNP in Game 5. None of that makes pragmatic sense in the least.

As this series wore on…LeBron’s second half stats were markedly weaker than his first half stats. The young, tall, athletic Wolves basically ran LeBron down every game and this is what we have seen the past two seasons from LeBron in April and May.

As far as Luka…he’s a pylon defensively as I stated earlier on this blog. For this to work for the Lakers they have to have a strong rim protector inside the paint to cover for Luka’s lack of effort on the defensive end of the court. So this to me even makes Jaxon Hays’ diminshed role even more puzzling.

I’m not a big Lakers fan with the the exception of Austin Reaves so this is not a big deal for me. Life goes on. Que sera, whatever.

From the Minnesota perspective they only played eight players in this game and the Lakers’ complete interior defensive ineptitude made Rudy Gobert look like an offensive basketball player of some sort. I know I called Rudy Gobert a slug earlier this season on this very blog…so let’s wait and see what Rudy Gobert does offensively in the second round before I say I’m sorry for calling him an offensive slug on okcthunderground.com.

Julius Randle?

It would appear to me Julius Randle and his teammates are starting to figure out how to better integrate his outdated, slow, dribble dominated style of offensive basketball. Julius Randle was actually pretty good in this series. So let’s also keep a close eye on his game in Round 2. On how the next team team and coach address Julius Randle.

I think the No. 7 seed for the TWolves is misleading. We all seem to forget they advanced to the Western Conference Finals last season. Unlike the OKC Thunder, this core group in Minnesota has shown its post season chops and has beaten some good teams in post season. Shai’s group going back to the Chris Paul bubble season has yet to beat a good team in the NBA Playoffs.

Who have they beaten who has beaten won a second round game?

Think that’s hyberbole on my part…google it and check me out. Mike J isn’t Little Nick Gallo, Royce Young, or Michael Cage. I tell it like it is on my blog. That’s why I have this Thunder blog. I became weary of the Robert-Allen Pistols Firing type of Thunder coverage in this market.

So for this reason…I actually think at this point these TWolves are more mentally tougher than the Thunder and probably exude a ton of confidence per their leader Anthony Edwards.

But here’s the big but for me…this group of Thunder players have Alex Caruso and Hartenstein to help them be a tougher, smarter team with a chip on their shoulder and some genuine basketball hubris. MJ loves smart hubris. So Alex Caruso and Hartenstein don’t let me down for writing all these nice things about you on my blog.

As far as the Houston-Golden State series goes…from my take its all or nothing for the Warriors in Game 6 at home.

So we’ll see how that game turns out.

The rain has stopped in Oklahoma and hope all of you enjoy the sunshine today.

Mike J