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I only post this to illustrate the significance of a road back to back after an emotional win the night before. If you watched this game, it was clear from the opening tip Golden State expended quite a bit emotionally the night before in Oakland against Russell Westbrook’s Thunder.

The Lakers are playing much better so far this season with Luke Walton coaching the team. Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and D’Angelo Russell are all stepping up their games. For the first time in a while there appears to be some light with the Lakers.

Having written that though, Golden State was just an absolute no show against the Lakers. Steph Curry’s streak of 157 games with a made three is no longer. He went 0-10 from three. Klay Thompson struggled as well going 2-10 from three after going 4-8 against the Thunder on Thursday night. All told, Curry and Thompson were a collective 9-35. Hard to imagine.

It happens in sports every day. Trying to rebound from an emotional high and not having it in the gas tank.

But give some credit to Walton and his Lakers, they’re getting better and showing some signs of growing up a little.

A tough night for the Thunder. It all started well with Steven Adams dominating inside during a first period which eventually saw OKC win 32-31. But from that point forward the wheels came off as Adams got in some early foul problems as the tone of the game completely got away from the Thunder.

Golden State got Kevin Durant going early and it was vintage KD as he finished with 39 points going 7-11 from three point range. It was clear Steve Kerr and the Warriors were going to make this night special for Durant against his old teammates.

The final read 122-96, but beyond the first period when Adams was dominating Pachulia at will, OKC could never sustain anything on either end of the floor.

Clearly, Golden State was determined to make it a difficult night for Russell Westbrook as the lane was usually clogged with two or three defenders. Andre Roberson did nothing to alleviate this as he was basically non-existent from an offensive standpoint.

Westbrook had to work for any space he could muster against what was essentially a zone setup to take the lane away from him. No triple double on this night. Westbrook’s line was 20-6-10 with 6 turnovers attached.

A difficult situation for OKC playing this game on the second night of a road back to back after a tough grinding win the night before against the Clippers.

This in no way is an excuse being offered because the Warriors are clearly at a different level than the Thunder with Durant’s flip flop of franchises. You don’t lose the third best player in the world to the team you were just about even to last season and not fall behind. Simply put, OKC’s realistic high end expectations are to maybe finish fourth in the West and get into the second round. Golden’s State’s expectations are to win the West and then beat LeBron in the Finals.

The obvious take from this game is Russell Westbrook will need Sam Presti to add another significant offensive piece if the Thunder aspire to become a contender again.

Some silver linings from the game were Adams’ interior dominance in the first period. Victor Oladipo did some positive things and scored 21 points. Joffery Lauvergne showed he could compete at this level and could very well be the Thunder’s second or third best overall big at this juncture. He competes on both ends which is what the Thunder needs. Sabonis had a rough start, but as the game wore on showed he can do a few things. He just needs time. Jerami Grant had some good and bad moments, but his pure athleticism can’t be ignored.

On the flip side, Enes Kanter played only three minutes and was horrific in those three minutes as he didn’t even appear to be playable against the Warriors. Roberson was non-existent offensively and this in no way helped Russell Westbrook get near the rim let alone to it. Anthony Morrow got some minutes and didn’t make a basket. Singler didn’t play until the second half so you can’t blame him because the game was over at halftime. Abrines got first half minutes and looked like a first year European player playing against a team of NBA All-Stars. Christon struggled as well.

For OKC to be competitive against these Warriors these guys can’t just stink it up as they basically did on Thursday night. But to the point, second tier role players usually play better at home so the Thunder can only hope when the Warriors travel to the Peake in February and March these guys play much better.

When you have a young team and have a road back to back against the Clippers and Warriors a split is a good thing. That shouldn’t be lost big picture as the season moves forward. But overall–OKC isn’t in Golden State’s league. But really who is other than LeBron and maybe the Spurs.

The realistic goal for OKC’s extremely young team is to get better and for Sam Presti to add another offensive piece to help Russell Westbrook.

Minnesota tomorrow night in Oklahoma City.

I have to admit I watched almost all of the Thunder’s 85-83 win over the Clippers with my index finger atop the back buttom on my remote going back and forth between the Thunder-Clippers and the Cubs-Indians. Lucky for me, both of the teams I wanted to win did so.

OKC won it’s fourth straight out of the gate and now remain as the only unbeaten team in the West heading into Oracle tonight. Actually, I’m not all that amped about tonight because I finally heard something authentic and honest come from the lips of Kevin Durant which touched me almost as much as his 2013-14 MVP speech. What Durant said was that basically, unlike Russell, he’s still trying to find himself as a human being and that in a sense he envies Russell for the relationships he has with his wife, both of his parents, his brother, and close friends. I couldn’t agree more with Kevin. That’s a significant step forward. I completely respect him for saying that instead of some of the other nonsense he’s said of late.

As far as the win over the Clippers–Westbrook was once again magnificent even though his 35-6-5 line was somewhat pedestrian compared to Week 1. No other Thunder player scored in double figures. Oladipo scored nine points and was the second leading scorer.

Steven Adams and Enes Kanter both had double figure rebounding nights. But this was a game about Westbrook hitting key baskets when it mattered and the Thunder playing some great team defense. On the night, the Clippers shot 39.1% from the field. More to that point, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul went a combined 11-32 from the field.

Three things stood out to me about this game. Samaj Christon, Joffery Lauvernge, and Jerami Grant were all solid and will continue to play significant roles moving forward. Plus the fact, Billy Donovan now has three guys who can play the point in Westbrook, Oladipo, and Christon. So why is there really need to keep Cam Payne moving forward?

Jerami Grant doesn’t shoot any better than Andre Roberson, but I love his defense and raw athleticism. OKC now has four perimeter defenders in Westbrook, Oladipo, Roberson, and Grant who should be able to somewhat match up with the Warriors. The dilemma with the Warriors is how to go small with them. Sam Presti has now given Billy Donovan his own small lineup of Westbrook, Adams, Oladipo, Roberson, and Grant. But again–OKC now has four guys who can defend on the perimeter. The Thunder have never really had this as a team. And, yes, BTW…defense wins championships. You can never have enough guys who can defend.

As far as tonight, I have no idea what will happen. I’m not all that much into the Westbrook-Durant narrative at this point. I’ve completely moved forward with all that. I’ll never boo Kevin Durant even though he did disappoint me. It’s his life, not ours. It was his decision–not ours. Instead I’ll remember the good things about Durant and how he touched all of our lives in Oklahoma City for almost an entire decade. Having written that though–I clearly hope we beat his ass tonight.

LET’S GO THUNDER!

Congrats to the Cubs, Bill Murray, and their fans.

Lots of speculation on a deal bringing Rudy Gay to Oklahoma City. We’ll see.

Sam Presti is a busy dude right now. After signing both Adams and Oladipo to four year extensions and not getting one done with Andre Roberson he has now traded Ersan Ilyasova and a protected 2020 first round pick to the Sixers for Jerami Grant and a TPE. Thus, Ersan Ilyasova’s career as a stretch four in OKC lasted three games.

Grant is 6’9″ and basically an athletic forward who can defend multiple front court positions and unlike both Roberson and Singler can defend power forwards if needed. Like Andre Roberson, he’s limited offensively. First and foremost this puts the Thunder $7.1 million under the salary cap and for the Thunder this will perhaps enable them to pursue Rudy Gay once Cameron Payne’s health situation is clarified.

The most glaring weakness of OKC currently is three point shooting. It would appear Presti will be making another deal once Cameron Payne is given a clean slate of health.

Short term, OKC did nothing which makes them better immediately. But it would appear Sam Presti will be pulling another trigger in the not too distant future to shore up OKC’s small forward offensive woes and give Westbrook some more help on that end of the floor.

Jerami Grant–Syracuse

A very good week for the OKC Thunder got even better on Monday when it was reported both Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo signed four year extensions with the Thunder. Adams reportedly will sign a four year deal at $100 million while Oladipo reportedly will sign a four year deal at $84 million. Both extensions will prevent the players from becoming restricted free agents this summer which would have required the Thunder to match other teams’ offers this summer.

Simply put—this gives OKC a very promising core of Westbrook, Adams, and Oladipo. Andre Roberson will become a restricted free agent this summer. Domas Sabonis is in the first year of his rookie scale contract. Enes Kanter is in the second year of his four year deal. Cam Payne and Josh Huestis are both rookie scale players. New backup point guard Semaj Christon is a rookie scale player as well. Kyle Singler is in the second year of his four year deal which will probably look like a rookie scale contract value wise once the new CBA goes into effect in 2017.

Thus, Presti has a core of Westbrook, Adams, and Oladipo surrounded by a second tier of young players in Roberson, Kanter, Payne, Sabonis, Christon, Singler, and Huestis. Plus, their first round pick this summer.

If the Thunder feel they need to go after a max offer free agent this summer they’ll need to shed around $29 million in payroll. Which to me would mean the shedding salary starting point would begin with Enes Kanter’s $17.8 million on the books.

Of the free agents available this summer the one who would most fit the Thunder in my estimation would be Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans. He would be a seamless fit with his size and skill set I would think. Imagine a starting five of Westbrook, Davis, Adams, Oladipo, and Andre Roberson. I’m almost certain that would garner Jerry West’s attention.

So–while in a sense we’ll all be looking back somewhat to the Durant years when OKC visits the Warriors on Thursday–what Sam Presti has done since July 4th is rebuild the Thunder with a core of talented young players which makes the NBA future burn fairly bright in Oklahoma City if Russell Westbrook ultimately decides to make LA his summer home only.