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Game day. So much NBA irony and history wrapped all around this game and all games played between these two teams this season. The team which was ordained by the basketball world to be champions and a dynasty playing the team which somewhat slid under the radar screen and is in pursuit of not only a repeat, but a seventy win season as well.

Sure, injuries to the Thunder played a part, but no injuries were attached to Oklahoma City’s decision to trade James Harden. Nor were injuries a part of the mix to pass on Draymond Green after his stellar four year career at Michigan State, versus opting to take Perry Jones of bad knees and at best what could be described as a mild flameout college career at Baylor.

The eventual waste of another first round pick on Josh Huestis had no injuries attached as well. The jury is still out on trading Lance Thomas and a first round pick for Dion Waiters.

So here we are later this evening to witness in a sense a historical NBA regular season game of sorts. A game of the boys who should have been kings against the boys who stole it from them and plan on establishing a dynasty of their own.

It makes for a potential classic ESPN 30/30 documentary.

 

A good piece by newsok’s Anthony Slater in the Friday edition on this very topic. Namely…how the Oklahoma City Thunder were supplanted as the darlings and heir champions post the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs’ reigns.

Putting aside OKC traded their third most valuable player in James Harden, and Golden State ultimately made the right choice in not trading Klay Thompson, the Warriors draft class of 2012 looms as the primary reason Golden State is now on the cusp of a repeat championship while Durant, Westbrook, Presti, and the Thunder remain in search of their first ring.

In this one class, Golden State snared two starters and a key substitute in Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Festus Ezeli.

As haunting as the Harden trade remains to this day to many Thunder fans, this is probably more why the Thunder have yet to win a championship while the Warriors have soared to historical heights.

The ultimate irony is Sam Presti and the Thunder passed on Draymond Green late in the first round, and instead took Perry Jones from Baylor with their pick. Later in the draft, Golden State selected Green with a second round pick.

Perry Jones was traded to the Boston Celtics this past summer with OKC getting little in return. Jones was later waived by the Celtics and is no longer in the league.

Meanwhile, Draymond Green has become the second most important player on the Warriors’ roster. Harrison Barnes has become a solid starter and Festus Ezeli has become an excellent sub for Andrew Bogut at the center position.

 

Some say teams take on the competitive swagger of their coach. The Golden State Warriors appear to be one of those teams.

Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson form the greatest current trio for any team in the NBA. GM Bob Myers and special consultant Jerry West found three players who starred in college at Davidson, Michigan State, and Washington State respectively, who while very good college players, have all taken their professional games to an even higher level. All three are winners. All three unselfish. All three with high BBIQs. Oklahoma City clearly has a herculean task in front of them tomorrow night at Oracle Arena where the Warriors have yet to lose this season.

A piece was recently written by Adrian Wojnarowski addressing this very subject matter. Because of Golden State’s current bargain contract with Steph Curry, it’s finically conceivable the Warriors could keep Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, yet still have space to add Kevin Durant.

Talk about a scary thought for not only the Oklahoma City Thunder, but for the rest of the NBA as well. Golden State without Durant is currently on the periphery of becoming a dynasty as it is. With Durant–the Warriors would have two generational scorers on the floor at the same time while both still in the prime of their careers.

Plus, the Warriors could potentially further revolutionize their small ball philosophies by going Draymond Green at center, Durant at power forward, Harrison Barnes or someone else at small forward, Klay Thompson at shooting guard, and Steph Curry at point guard. Think about that.

Not only would it make the Warriors untouchable to defend, it would destroy one of their primary rivals in the West in the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But beyond that, it would possibly create a super dynasty in Golden State which could possibly challenge dynasties from other eras if these guys buy in like Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli have done contractually with the Spurs in the latter years of their careers.

Golden State isn’t like the Buss children running the Laker franchise into the ground. GM Jim Myers and super consultant Jerry West are shrewd basketball minds. If you doubt, consider how quickly Golden State emerged from a promising young team to the monster we already see on the cusp of a potential 70 win season and a repeat in a collective bargaining era when repeating isn’t an easy thing to do in either the NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB.

Although I hate the thought of what it would do to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the competitive balance of the entire NBA as a whole, it’s an intriguing possibility to consider for not only Golden State, but for Kevin Durant as well.

Whether it’s just a rumor which never materializes, from a historical view you could very well see this move trumping Lebron’s move to Miami when the Heat then played in four straight NBA Finals and won two championships.

The notion of Curry, Durant, Green, and Thompson together exceeds any roster combination the rest of the league could answer as LeBron ages and the Spurs encounter life after Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli retire.

It would be a move which could possibly bring Golden State multiple championships and sadly define the Harden trade as one of the worst in NBA history. As OKC still to this very juncture almost four years removed from the Harden trade haven’t addressed their dilemma at the shooting guard position.

 

For the second time this season, Orlando’s Magic toyed with the notion of beating the Oklahoma City Thunder. But in the encore performance of the overtime thriller from earlier this season, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant imposed their will during this game’s final minute of regulation. For the most part it was a game of 231 combined points, not great defense, but plenty of entertainment value as this one only required 48 minutes for the Thunder to escape with a rousing 117-114 win over the Magic inside a rocking Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Fast forward.

A Westbrook layup tied the game at 114 apiece with 29.4 seconds left. On Orlando’s ensuing possession, Serge Ibaka blocked Victor Oladipo’s layup at the rim. It was Ibaka’s sixth blocked shot of the game.

Dion Waiter’s grabbed the loose ball, then quickly moved the ball to the capable hands of Kevin Durant who dribbled past half court and hit nothing but net with a long three which swished with 0.5 seconds left. Timeout, Magic. Orlando got the ball to a swerving Oladipo on the ensuing inbounds, who then missed iron on a well guarded three as time expired, and for the second straight game–Durant and Westbrook saved the Thunder against a young Orlando team which has difficulty closing games.

Russell Westbrook registered his third straight triple double and eighth of the season. This one was eye popping though–even for Westbrook as he went for 24 points, a career high 19 rebounds, and 14 assists.

While Westbrook was his usual high energy self, Kevin Durant was elegant, efficient and scored 37 points on the night, including the game winner.

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are my co No. 1 Stars of the Game.

Victor Oladipo was magnificent again torching OKC for 37 points and making it a trying night for Dion Waiters. But before you go all analytical goofy comparing charts, graphs, real plus/minus vortexes, El Nino, and a stubborn westerly flow jet stream, remember Oladipo pretty much did the same thing to Andre Roberson in the overtime thriller back in Orlando. .. only from his back and out of bounds.

Serge Ibaka had an interesting line with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 blocks. Dion Waiters scored 8 points on a 3-8 shooting night.

OKC’s bench scored 32 points as a unit with Kanter and Payne leading the way with 13 and 9 points respectively.

OKC improves to 38-13, winners of five straight and 12 of their last 13, but every soul in Thunder Nation knows what awaits in California on Super Bowl Saturday Night on ABC.

Namely, a Golden State team which improved to 45-4 tonight with a 134-121 pasting of the Washington Wizards. On the night, Curry and Co. went 20-42 from behind the arc in preparation of showing the NBA world on Saturday they hunger to be regarded as a historical team before all is said and done this basketball season.

It’s time to see what Oklahoma City is or isn’t.

Mike Jackson

Orlando Magic visiting the Thunder tonight in the final prerequisite game before the much anticipated track meet at Golden State on Saturday night.

OKC and Orlando met earlier in the year in a classic game in which the Thunder made a miraculous comeback highlighted by a Westbrook half court heave and some great shot making by Magic guard Victor Oladipo. OKC finally escaped with a pulsating 139-136 double overtime win in a game which became a Thunder instant classic. It was clearly a classic regular season game where your relatives and friends were calling or texting during the final minutes asking, “Are you believing this game?” I’m guessing Brian Davis peed on himself at least twice coming down the stretch. It was a great last twenty minutes of ball.

Magic come in tonight a pedestrian 21-26 and have fallen back in the standings after a promising start to the season. Orlando currently sits as the 11th seed in the East.

Like many teams in the East, Orlando has some nice young talent, but still a star player away from being a serious playoff contender considering  the plethora of good to medium level teams in the East this season.

I’d prefer not to talk about the rumor-story circulating about Durant possibly going to Golden State in free agency. That would not only be depressing from a Thunder standpoint, but from a league standpoint as well. Golden State is the last team in the league which needs Kevin Durant. Jim Myers, Jerry West, lighten up. You’ve made your point already. You have a potential dynasty, except you didn’t trade part of it to the Houston Rockets.

Thunder come in tonight at 37-13 and 4-0 so far with the Dion Waiters starting experiment starting to get some traction from most smart B-ball people except some of the Daily Thunder analytic youngsters who all find themselves trailing yours truly in the prestigious Daily Thunder Western Conference Regular Season Seeding Championship.

Some nice play by the Thunder in their last two games as the roster as a whole has stepped up and shown some energy, passion, and overall caring.

OKC needs to take care of this Magic team, play sharp, play crisp, and don’t get anybody nicked up tonight before heading out west to play the defending champion Warriors who are already 45-4 without Kevin Durant.

OKC is 34-9 with Durant, and my hope is the Durant to Golden State story circulating is just one of many false stories which should come rolling along as the season moves towards summer. I mean, the Warriors already have Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andrew Bogut, and Harrison Barnes.

I can’t help it—I’m already thinking about Golden State this Saturday myself and wondering if Billy Donovan is going to stick with Adams and Serge together–or come out small.

Hope the Thunder are more focused on the Magic than I am, because the game every fan in the NBA has been wanting to see is in the on deck circle.

Haven’t seen the Vegas line, but I’ll go OKC -13 tonight.

 

 

OKC Thunder 114 — Washington Wizards 98

While most of the nation had an eye to Iowa’s presidential caucus, OKC’s Thunder easily handled the underachieving Wizards by a 114-98 count on Monday night inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

OKC came out fast, led early, and was never really in danger while improving to 37-13 overall and 34-9 in games Kevin Durant has played.

This is a Washington team most picked to be top six team in the East, my guess is there will be a coaching change at some point this season or at the conclusion of the season. I would think Randy Wittman’s days are numbered.

Russell Westbrook had his seventh triple double of the season and eighteenth in the last two seasons. Again, the type of line which makes me want to believe OKC can possibly get where they want come April…. 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists. Russell Westbrook is my No. 1 Star of the Game.

Kevin Durant went 29, 8, and 4 was just basically Kevin Durant playing against inferior talent.

Serge Ibaka was functional with a double, double of 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Dion Waiters had an off shooting night going 3-11, but grabbed 6 rebounds, dished 3 assists, and had 3 steals. But keep this in mind, even when Waiters is missing shots he’s doing something Andre Roberson will never do with the starters…namely–spacing the floor because he can’t be left alone by opposing defenses. And I don’t care how many white guys who never played basketball and have twenty thousand gazillion versions of plus/minus say otherwise. Against elite competition your shooting guard has to BE ABLE TO SHOOT THE BALL OR AT LEAST CREATE THAT ILLUSION.

OKC’s bench was good scoring 32 points. Enes Kanter led the bench with 14 points, while Cam Payne returned to action and had what I thought were 13 minutes of serviceable play.

My takeaway is simple, OKC won the game, played well, took care of business like professionals, and hopefully got showered in time to watch four different presidential canidates claim they won the Iowa caucus,  thankfully none of which were Donald Trump. Note to the Big Donald—don’t skip any debates in New Hampshire.

Orlando Magic in town on Wednesday night.

Mike Jackson