So yes, I am going to mention that this far into the young season, the Thunder are undefeated having gone out and won their first 3 contests. After the jump, you'll get my thoughts on where OKC is after their first 3 games. Here's a brief hint...they are off to a pretty good start.
*Home opener against San Antonio (Thunder win: 112-106) - this was one that lived up to the hype. The Spurs always play the Thunder tough, and this game was no exception. The Spurs were in control of most of this game, and the Thunder looked like a team trying to work back in an MVP like Kevin Durant after sitting out for 7 months. And the Klaw Kawhi Leonard was doing work on KD all night long. Like for real doing work. But its not how you start, its how you finish. And the Thunder finished this one off right, getting a 6 point W in front of the home crowd. We should have known from the tip, when Andre Roberson stole it and took it down for a uncontested dunk that this was going to be the Thunder's night. When Dion Waiters plays a huge role in the win, you know you've got it going on. Kanter played quality minutes, and it looks like the plan of bringing him off the bench to abuse back up centers and power forwards in the league is going to pay off in a big way. Consider it 70 million dollars well spent.
*Roadie against Orlando (Thunder win: 139-136) - there's been a lot of talk about how the Magic might be the new "it" team in the East (like those same folks are all on the Jazz bandwagon for the same reason) young, athletic, some interesting pieces like Oladipo, Payton, Vucevic, and now Mario Hezonja. And to be honest, I was fairly sure it was just hype. Scott Skiles is a defensive minded coach, but he also gets his teams to play HARD - and the Magic surely played hard against the Thunder that night. Now a lackidaisical Thunder defense didn't help their cause, and they were down (big) and surely deserved to lose this one. But as is the "Thunder Way" they have a never say die attitude and they fought back until they had a chance to tie it on a half court heave that banked in by Westbrook. This one ended up being a double overtime nail biter, and the Thunder were glad to get out of town with a win.
*Home against Denver (Thunder win: 117-93) - The Nuggets aren't really a very good team. They came out and took it to the Rockets on opening night, but they really aren't in the same class as the Thunder when both teams are at full strength and playing up to their capacity. And it showed in the beating the Thunder laid on them, in which KD and Russ didn't even play a minute in the 4th quarter. Especially after the long minutes they played in the previous game, it was really good to see the bench unit come in, get some run, and do well in keeping the lead against the hapless Nugs. The start of the 3rd quarter was really the story here, where the Thunder turned an 8 point halftime lead into a 25 point bulge going into the 4th, on the strength of a 37-20 3rd period. The Nugs did what they should do, and laid down to the Thunder, the better team from start to finish.
I won't get too far ahead with spoilers, but the Thunder did drop their first game of the season to the Rockets last night, but more on that to come in the next Corner 3 Game Recap. But even at 3-1, it should always be #ThunderNationRISE
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