Thunder/Rockets Recap

While not like the Rockets first visit to Oklahoma City, this last Thunder/Rockets game still brings up old memories and  "what might have been."  I am (of course) speaking of the off season trade that sent the Bearded Wonder James Harden to Houston in exchange for Kevin Martin (and other players on both sides).  I'm sure it was less impactful than the first time around for both teams.  But the result was nearly the same, with a runaway 124-94 victory in favor of the road Thunder.

Thunder/Mavs Recap

What we thought we were going to get was a Thunder blowout of a team that when last they met, they swept out of the playoffs 4-0.  What we got was an overtime thriller of a game that saw the Thunder trail most of the way.  But in the end, the better team won and the Thunder took a 111-105 victory at home from the Dallas Mavericks.  Due to work considerations, I missed most of the first half - but considering the Thunder played "turrible" during that time, I actually consider myself lucky.

Thunder/Heat Recap

So yeah...this game sucked.  The Thunder managed to fall to their evil opposites from the East 103-97 on Christmas Day.  Despite a large FT disparity, the Thunder still managed to play poor team defense at the wrong times and give up easy baskets in transition that led to the Heat's 6 point victory.  KD was his usual brisk self, but both he and Russ had a cold first half, with KD sitting for more than a bit with foul trouble.

As noted at the onset of the game, it had been something like 4 games in a row since LBJ was called for a foul, and OKC managed to give him one early on in the first half, but with Durant getting his 3rd foul before halftime, it really put a damper on OKC's ability to compete.  The role players for Miami (mostly the 3 point shooters) came through in a big way, with Mario Chalmers nearly matching DWade's 21 with 20 points of his own.  Bosh had 16 including a huge dunk near the end of the game that killed the Thunder's rally bid.

Russ rebounded the rock well, and finished with a double dip of 21 and 11, but had only 3 dimes to go along with 5 turnovers.  Not exactly the pass first look most folks are hoping for out of their point guard.  But without Russ attacking the rim relentlessly (he had 12 free throw attempts) the Thunder would have been much worse off.  This was a chippy game, with a scrum between Russ, Wade, and Shane Battier near the midway point of the game, and you could tell both of these teams wanted a W badly.

There was the dunk by Bosh near the end of the game I mentioned before.  Perkins came off his man (Bosh) to help on LeBron out near the 3 point line...but it wasn't a hard double, and LeBron really wasn't driving or looking to shoot.  Perk also went to the wrong side of the floor if he was going to double, and I'll have to put my thoughts on Perk's value to the team in another article I guess.  Suffice it to say...it was an ugly game for Thunder fans.  But if I know one thing...is that the #ThunderNationRISE.

Thunder Weekly Roundup

Some news and notes from around the NBA, with a Thunder heavy focus:

• Thunder rookie Jeremy Lamb isn't getting a whole lot of minutes while riding the Thunder bench, but when he's not in OKC, he's spending his time with the Thunder's D-League affiliate the Tulsa 66'ers.  And man, is that time well spent: as of this writing, he's putting up 23ppg, 4.9rpg, and 3.3apg.  Not bad for the Association, much less the D-League.  As Lamb was really the centerpiece of the Harden-to-Houston trade for the future, I must say the future looks pretty bright.  We know Lamb can score (see his 2 year college career stats here) but to really fill Harden's mighty big shoes, we need to see his play-making abilities.  But he's off to a good start.

All good things...

Come to an end, right?  Only this wasn't a good thing, it was a great thing, namely the 12 game winning streak the Thunder ripped off right before losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night, 99-93.   I heard before the game that Kevin Martin wasn't going to play, and it didn't get any better after the tip off for the Thunder.  Saw this game as the first of the Thursday night doubleheader on TNT, and man...well, the Thunder never led in this one, which pretty much sums up the whole night for them.

Guess who's back? (again)

So...I'm back.  Or I'm trying to be.  I'm not gonna lie...last year was hard man.  Really hard...to have game 1 in hand and then to have the Finals just basically ripped away...it was tough to take.  I still to this day can't watch any of the highlights or the commercials advertising the "Miami Heat NBA Champions" swag.  But its over and done with - and we've all got to move on.  Even me.

Which is easier to do when you've got lots going on...and there is TONS going on in the NBA right now.  As of the time of this post, both the Thunder and Clippers are on double digit win streaks, the Lakers are in complete disarray, and the Heat look very little like the defending NBA champs at this point.  And that's only 4 teams in the L.

So I'm hoping to welcome you back to the blog - as I welcome myself back to the up and down world of being an NBA fan.  There's plenty more to come.  But, as always, #ThunderNationRISE

P.S. If hoops isn't your thing, check out my tech blog with a few friends of mine...its worth the read!

Two Tech Geeks