Thunder Lose to Raptors– Fall to 8th Seed

This blog entry requires human decency and a bit of a kinder, gentler approach. Besides, it was Nick Collison Night and the game versus the pretty good Toronto Raptors was an afterthought.

Everyone in Oklahoma besides Little Nick Gallo knows where this Thunder season is headed–so there’s no need for me to lack sensitivity per se. It is what it is.

For the second straight season it appears the Thunder with the nicest Ward Cleaver-like coach in the NBA will be a huge disappointment as we near the real NBA season in April.

With OKC’s most recent loss since February 14th, in New Orleans–this one being a 123-114 overtime loss to the Raptors, the Thunder have done the unthinkable and dropped from second to eighth place in the Western Conference standings.

During this span of sixteen games the Thunder are a collective 5-11 and quite honestly appear to be one of the worst teams in the NBA since the All-Star break. It’s not just one thing. The Thunder just suck collectively. From their head coach to their two stars to their role players to their bench to their media relations people—the Thunder suck across the board.

Take this game as a brief microcosm. Russell Westbrook did have 42 points, but he also had 8 turnovers. Paul George was nothing special in a huge game with a 19 point performance and dropped below Nicola Jokic on my MVP vote list. Combined—Steven Adams, Jerami Grant, Terrance Ferguson and Dennis Schroder went a combined 13-47 from the field.

But here’s the most glaring sign of overall Thunder lack of attention to detail—they shot 15-29 from the free throw line. So my question to Russell Westbrook and Paul George would be, “Even if you got every call what difference would it make?”

The Thunder just aren’t very good and the easy first third of the season schedule masked so much of what we’ve seen since the schedule got tough.

You don’t play Memphis, Phoenix, Cleveland and the NY Knicks in the playoffs. This Thunder in the current tense is who the Thunder are unfortunately against playoff caliber competition. The Divine Miracle in Philly snookered us.

For a reason which completely escapes me, Sam Presti, and I wrote it several times back when it happened, extended Billy Donovan another year for next season in Oklahoma City. I’m not sure if I ever remember a coach being extended then being fired, but it is what is in Oklahoma City NBA wise.

On a positive side, the Toronto Raptors have a nice team apparently ready to make some noise in the highly anticipated Eastern Conference Playoffs. Their starting five with the addition of Marc Gasol and the star emergence of Pascal Siakem is impressive. They run the court. They move the ball. They finish…and in essence do all the things coach Nick Nurse asks of them on a nightly basis for the most part.

The really bad news for the Thunder is they just went 0-3 on a critical home stand and now travel to play these same Raptors on Friday night.

There won’t be any outburst or snarky writing from me on here. The truth is evident. The Thunder just aren’t that good.