Going into this game it looked like it would be a tough emotional spot for Oklahoma City and it was. The Kings built a 19 point first half lead, but as per the norm with this team they didn’t panic. There’s a very nice blend of youth and vet experience on this ball club. They don’t flinch. They dig in and find a way to climb back into games.
This isn’t just Chris Paul. The team as a whole has bought in and it shows every game in different variations. And at this point I am going to give Billy Donovan some major props on how he’s handled this team throughout the season. He’s had a nice feel with his team.
Six different players scored in double figures with no one really being what I would describe as the dominant star. To me the play of the game was when Dennis Schroder made a twisting layup with his left hand to in a sense give the impression this was going to be another Thunder win.
And it was.
The Thunder are still a player away from being elite in that Dort, Ferguson, and Diallo by committee have nights when they can fill the role, but for them it will become more difficult as the caliber of competition cranks up in the goal achieving portion of the schedule.
Tonight in Milwaukee will an interesting test for these three players, plus for Steven Adams with having to handle Brooks Lopez on the perimeter.
For me Milwaukee is the best team in the East with Boston at two and Toronto at three.
I like Milwaukee tonight at somewhere around 7.5 to 8 points.
I’m jacked for the game as an NBA fan and very much hoping it’s Mike Breen, Jeff van Gundy, and Mark Jackson on the call.
It’ll be a good time to settle in with a glass of wine and some microwave popcorn and see what happens.
Man, I’m waaay too exited for this game, specially since we’re probably getting trounced on national TV…
Kind of miss Breen Jackson and Van Gundy banter too…
Both games of the ESPN doubleheader were fairly revealing. To me…there are four, maybe five teams who could win the NBA championship. Those being in this order….1 Lakers, 2 Milwaukee, 3 Clippers, 4 Celtics, and 5 Raptors. But with the first three I could see any of the three winning it depending on health or luck.
Gallinari was out as was Middleton–so that in essence should have been a wash.
OKC had no answer whatsoever for Giannis nor do they for LeBron. To me…the realistic goal for OKC has been and still is to either play Denver or Houston in the first round. Because what we saw last night from a healthy Clipper team is that the Thunder are not in the same league with either LA team or Milwaukee.
It will be interesting to see on Tuesday how the Thunder compete at home versus the Clippers.
Since the OKC game was such a blowout…I was actually kind of happy it was the Doris Burke team.
Do you agree on the separation lines of the pecking order?