Month: February 2016

Heading out to a watch party. A game with this kind of national preset needs some music. Heading out to a watch party. LET’S GO THUNDER!

Finally… Super Bowl Saturday with the NBA on ESPN. The game everybody has been waiting to see since Kevin Durant went down just before halftime with an ankle injury in last season’s incredible first half of basketball at Oracle. So much has happened to both teams since.

Durant went on to eventually miss 55 games as Oklahoma City would miss the playoffs despite record setting heroics from Russell Westbrook.

Golden State won sixty games, then beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games to claim the O’Brien  Trophy. But much was made by scribes of Golden State not having to deal with Oklahoma City, or having the luxury of playing a Cleveland team without Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love, or having the luck of not having to play the San Antonio Spurs at all. The experts were calling the Warriors championship a bit of luck with a perfect storm attached.

But that was then, now is a different matter after a record starting winning streak to open the season, a 22-0 home record, and a glistening overall mark of 45-4, and a team very much with a chance to reach the seventy win plateau this regular season. Suffice it to say, Golden State is sending a message to the pundits.

Meanwhile, OKC’s Thunder is about what we thought they’d be with a healthy Kevin Durant back in the lineup for all but seven games this season. The Thunder are 35-9 with Durant and either the third or fourth best team in the league, depending on how the Spurs’ health holds up. Durant has been spectacular this season with an improved game which features better defense and more passing than ever before. Russell Westbrook has been fabulous and is garnering triple doubles galore and has shownan expanded willingness to feed teammates. Clearly, this is the best season of combined play Durant and Westbrook have displayed while in OKC.

But the glaring question is a simple one. Has Sam Presti put enough around Durant and Westbrook for the Thunder to seriously challenge either Golden State or Cleveland in a best four out of seven series?  It’s a very fair question, yet one not broached enough by the gentle Oklahoma City local media.

Obviously, I’m not alone in this thought as Vegas has OKC currently as an eight point road underdog despite being 12-1 in their last thirteen games.

Warriors’ GM Bob Myers and Co. have put everything into building a team which can play smart, can hang with big lineups if needed, and yet take small ball to a level never seen in the NBA previously. Plus, despite what people might think–the Warriors are good defensively with a rim protector in Andrew Bogut. A versatile defender in Draymond Green who can guard multiple positions. And an elite lockdown defender in Andre Iguodala who can defend either LeBron James or Kevin Durant. Note to some in OKC: Iguodala is an elite lockdown defender, Andre Roberson is not. Good, perhaps, but not elite.

The questions for me tonight are two-fold. 1 Can Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter, Anthony Morrow, Cam Payne, Kyle Singler, and Nick Collison play at a high enough level on the road to give enough support to Durant and Westbrook for OKC to have a puncher’s chance in the last two minutes? And 2 Will Billy Donovan be able to morph his combinations quick enough on the fly to avoid Golden State hitting OKC with several haymaker runs through the course of the game?

Vegas says no and I pretty much agree. But that’s why you play the games and don’t put an overemphasis on just the first game of this series.

But I would say from an OKC standpoint, they need to play well tonight. Play smart, hang around and have a chance to win so as to have something to build on during the remainder of the season which makes them believe Golden State isn’t completely unbeatable.

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