Thunder Week In Review: November 1st-November 9th

  When life sends you obstacles, the best thing you can do is work your hardest to get through them. That's exactly the motto the Oklahoma City Thunder have adopted this season, as the injury situation for the team has regressed from bad, to worse, to unbelievably terrible. On November 3rd, against Brooklyn, Andre Roberson suffered a sprained foot, and is day-to-day, according to the Thunder training staff, and hasn't played since then. Then, against Toronto the next day, Perry Jones, who was contributing in a major way for the Thunder, offensively, left the game with a knee injury, and hasn't returned yet, either. With a total 5 players out for the Thunder, the NBA granted a grievance for the organization to go out and get another player. Enter former Rockets backup point guard, Ish Smith. Smith has been with 7 other teams in his career, and the Thunder make it his 8th to be with. He has never averaged over 4 points a game in a season, and has averaged under 10 minutes of playing time for most of his career as well. Not exactly a superstar, but an able body that produced 7 points and 1 assist in the Thunder's 2nd win of the season, last night, against the Sacramento Kings, 101-93.

Thunder player, Perry Jones (#3) and Andre Roberson (right) are now
also on the injured players list that keeps growing for OKC this season.

  As for all the other games the Thunder played this week, the only thing to pair with the injuries in some of the games, losses came with it. OKC went 2-3 this week, but played close in a loss at home to Memphis, and could have easily gone 3-2. Fortunately, Oklahoma City has 3 winnable games in a row on their schedule, so a 4-game winning streak could be in affect when they host the Houston Rockets on November 16th. Another positive for OKC, is that Reggie Jackson and Serge Ibaka have come together and picked up the slack in the absence of so many of their teammates. But like all good things, this may cause Reggie Jackson to pull a James Harden, and ask the organization for a huge contract. Sorry Reggie, you're not James Harden, and never will be, but is losing Jackson going to hinder this team like the loss of Harden did back in 2012? Not even close. Jackson has been inconsistent in his career, even if he has been there for the team in some huge spots, and in order to pitch the idea that he should be given a major deal, you need to bring consistent production to the court. Furthermore, Jackson pushed and pushed to try and obtain a starting position for this season, only to be beaten out by Roberson, who is now injured (who isn't?). So Reggie, enjoy your starting role while it lasts, and if you really want that contract extension, carry this team to a winning record before KD's return in late December. It's just something to think about, as the injury-stricken Thunder continue to press onward through this grueling NBA season.

West-BROKEN: Westbrook Suffers Broken Hand in Thunder Loss

   In the harshest of environments, a bug, not just an ordinary bug, is hovering and then lands onto the leaf of a Red Bud tree in front of the Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma City. The arena is infested with these pesky bugs. But what kind of bug is tormenting the residents of the Thunder's domain? The injury bug. It stung a member of the team, once more, and left in its wake, an injured Russell Westbrook. The superstar point guard was examined and evaluated in the locker room during last night's game agains the LA Clippers, and it was determined that he has suffered a fracture in his right hand early on in the first quarter. Team Trainers expect Westbrook to be back in 4-6 weeks, but the devastation of this injury could be the death sentence for the Thunder's playoff chances. Before any playoff games can be played or not played by the Thunder, they had a Clipper team to take care of without any all-star on the floor for them, and two all-stars who were healthy, that were trying to beat them.

Thunder guard, Russell Westbrook, left Thursday
night's game with a broken right hand. He will
miss approximately 4-6 weeks with the injury.

  The Clippers never led by more than 10 points, and once again, poor 3-point shooting let OKC hang around in this one. Without Russell or Kevin, Perry Jones led the team in scoring with 32 points, and Oklahoma City had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Serge Ibaka's shot from long distance hit the back iron and the Thunder fell to the Clippers with the final score showing 93-90. Ibaka finished the game with 17 points and recorded 9 boards. As far as overall team play goes, the Thunder turned the ball over 22 times and shot below 30% from beyond the arc for the second game in a row. These first 30 games of the season become very critical for OKC because by the time Westbrook returns, the team will have played 20-25 games, and still won't have Durant back until after Christmas. The tall task of being playoff eligible without Kevin just got even harder without Westbrook being available, and it leaves the team with only 8 healthy players out of the 15 on the active roster. Head Coach for OKC, Scott Brooks, will show just what he is made out of, and will have to produce wins with players that other teams would't even start. If Brooks can get the team to 25 wins before Durant is back into the lineup, then the Coach of the Year Award should be mailed to him before the season has even concluded, and Brooks should be the coach for the Western All-Star Team in February. Realistically though, the Thunder could only win 12 games by December 26, and those games are against the Bucks, Jazz, Pistons, 76ers, Hornets, Timberwolves, Kings, and Celtics. Oklahoma City plays a few of those 8 teams, twice, so that should be to their advantage, but the thought of a 12-17 record is totally sickening for a team that had championship aspirations.
  Moving forward for OKC, they host Denver as their home opener on Saturday, and the crowd should be into it for the whole 48 minutes. Though the Thunder could be blown out of their own gym, the likelihood of that occurring has simmered down after the 2 road losses that Oklahoma City has tacked on have only come by an average of 10 points. Honestly, if Scott Brooks doesn't sit Westbrook at the beginning of the 4th quarter against Portland on Wednesday, and then Russell didn't get hurt last night, OKC could be 2-0 instead of 0-2 to start their season. But now, everything having to do with Westbrook (and Durant) will have to cease since neither of them will see the floor until November 28th. For now, it's time to focus on Sebastian Telfair, Andre Roberson, Perry Jones, Serge Ibaka, and Steven Adams. Those are your Thunder starters for Saturday's game, and will most likely (barring ANOTHER injury) be the starting lineup until late November or early December. I don't think any OKC fan could have predicted that lineup would be the one showcased in the home opener, and I think that could be the most truthful statement made by anyone, at this point.
  Looking ahead to tomorrow night's match-up against Denver, the local media shrugged off the Nuggets when the question was asked if the Thunder would beat them in their first game at home, three days ago, but now, the murmuring of home loss is overriding those predictions. The Thunder are undefeated in their home openers (3-0) within the Chesapeake Energy Arena (established in 2011) and look to improve that record to 4-0. That's just something to think about, as the Thunder take Halloween off in order to travel back home to OKC in preparation to play against the Denver Nuggets at 7CT on Saturday.

BLAZED: Thunder Lose Season Opener in Portland

   As the Oklahoma City Thunder took to the court for the first time in the 2014-2015 season, there was no Kevin Durant, no Anthony Morrow, no Jeremy Lamb, and no Reggie Jackson for head coach, Scott Brooks, to utilize during the Thunder's 106-89 defeat. Considering the outstanding play of Russell Westbrook, who ended the night with 38 points, it was OKC who led at the end of the first 3 quarter. But a speedster like Westbrook needs his breather too, eventually, and Brooks sat him at the start of the final quarter, and that's when things got hairy for Oklahoma City. The Thunder couldn't hit a basket to save their life, and once Russell was inserted back into the game, the Portland Trailblazers caught fire from behind the 3-point line, and OKC just couldn't catch up. The perimeter shooting for the Thunder had been a concern coming into Wednesday night's game due to the fact that the team shot so poorly during the preseason, and that showed very obviously as they went 2 for 18 The starting lineup, which consisted of Russell, Andre Roberson,  Perry Jones, Serge Ibaka, and Steven Adams, started the game very well, and Westbrook was unstoppable throughout most of the evening. OKC got some help though, because the Trailblazers shot very poorly from beyond the arc for most of the evening, and without the barrage of 3-pointers that fell on target in the waning moments of regulation, it was a pretty pedestrian showing for the team that won over 50 games last season. But it was opening night, and there are now 81 games left for OKC and Portland to play, so for Thunder fans already pushing the panic button...just stop it.

Russell Westbrook converses with an official in last night's
loss to the Portland Trailblazers. The Thunder guard finished
with an astounding 38 points in 44 minutes of play.

   Coming into this game, most NBA fans knew that Durant was going to be out until Christmas (possibly), and that Anthony Morrow's sprained MCL isn't going to be ready for another 2 months or so. Along with those injuries, 6th man candidate, Reggie Jackson, didn't even make the trip up to Portland due to his sprained ankle, and the back-up shooting guard, Jeremy Lamb, was also absent with a minor back injury that could allow him to play against the LA Clippers on Saturday. With all these injuries, the first 20 game of the season are crucial to OKC, and the expectations for them are very low. If the Thunder go 10-10 for the first 20 games, that will be a monumental accomplishment. With the performance last night though, it's easy to see that this team will go as far as Westbrook can take them. Most national media members picked the Thunder to go 14-6 through the first 20 games, but assumptions have sen made that they didn't know of Jackson or Lamb's absence. I'm sure their predictions will change as the season continues to unfold.

  As far as they game on Saturday is concerned, the Thunder are not favored at all, and respectively so. Without another offensive powerhouse next to Westbrook, the next man up to become the second leading scorer for this team is up for grabs. Lance Thomas, a late edition to the team, had a solid night off the bench and scored 14 points, but Serge Ibaka, the projected second leading scorer on the team, only finished with 10 points. Serge did also grab 8 boards and blocked 4 shots, but the final score indicates that those numbers just won't cut it, especially against the Clippers. Los Angeles has a very strong front court that Adams and the Thunder's other center, Kendrick Perkins, will have to deal with, and judging from the 27 points they gave up to Portland center, LaMarcus Aldridge, they will have their hands full. Just something to think about, as the Thunder take the today to travel to the City of Angels and look forward to playing the Clippers at 9:30 CT, on ESPN, tonight.

Got To Get Back Up

   A re-run. A good, old-fashioned, beat down. Déjà vu. The Oklahoma City Thunder lost Game 5 of their series against the San Antonio Spurs with a score of 89-117. Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Russell Westbrook added his 21 points to combine for well over half of the team’s points. Reggie Jackson was the only other Thunder player to score double digits, and the next highest scorer for OKC was only able to muster up 6 points. The defense of San Antonio was not the cause of the huge loss as much as the fact they shot 51% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. OKC shot 25% from 3-point range and only shot 43%. On most nights, a team shooting an overall percentage in the low 40s would’ve been good enough to win, but when teams, like the Spurs, make 13 shots from distance, you’re odds of winning decrease exponentially.

  Most media members and Thunder faithful believed this series would come down to a Game 7 in San Antonio, so OKC should win Game 6 at home on Saturday, right? Well, according to the numbers, the Thunder can win Game 6 all they want, but in Game 7 (if there is one) they only have about a 15% chance of coming out with a victory. Teams have overcome these numbers that have been accumulated over the history of time before, but the way Oklahoma City just let San Antonio players into the lane and wide open for easy 3-point shot opportunities made this Game 5 feel just like Games 1 and 2. Bringing that to light, does that mean Serge Ibaka’s return was all for not? Was his Willis Reed-esque return something people will look at down the road and just say, “Well, the Oklahoma City front office just lied about him being so severely hurt. Didn’t matter in the end though,” or will they recall of a time where one player helped a team maximize its potential in the playoffs and got the job done? With all the speculation surrounding the Thunder organization and the way they handled Ibaka’s injury, it’s becoming more of a story than the actual games being played in these Western Conference finals. The reason this happening is because no game in this series has been competitive all the way down the stretch, and with Ibaka in or out, the Thunder got thumped, again, in the AT&T Center.

   In conclusion, no person will completely count OKC out when it comes to winning this series, but they will have to do something they haven’t been able to do for 3 times already, and that’s win in San Antonio. Either that, or they’ll have to lose to the Spurs at home for the first time in 9 games in Chesapeake Arena, but the more likely of these scenarios is the first one.  Just something to think about as the Thunder prepare to tie up the series, once again, and force a Game 7 back in San Antonio for a chance to advance to the NBA Finals.

Even Steven

  Rabid. Unstoppable. A blur. All of these can be used to describe Russell Westbrook's 40-point performance that helped lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 105-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs that also tied the series at 2 games apiece. Alongside Russell, was a very productive Kevin Durant, who rang up 31 points of his own, and a rather healthy-looking, Serge Ibaka, who added 9 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. On the offensive side of the ball, Nick Collison was the only player that didn't score while he was on the floor, and defensively, OKC allowed 0 fast break points to the Spurs. All together, a very complete game was played by the Thunder, and the energy level within the Chesapeake Energy Arena was second to none.
  San Antonio came out to take an early 8-0 lead in the first quarter, and the fans within the arena were getting very anxious as they were probably thinking go the 122-105 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers that occurred in that very same arena in Game 1 of the previous round. But before anyone was rushing for the big, red, panic button, OKC got on a roll, and went on a 19-10 run that gave them the lead with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. From there, the Thunder never lost the lead and extended it to as much as 25 points in the third quarter before Spurs coach, Greg Popovich, pulled his starters and waived the white flag.
  Overall, the Thunder wanted this game more. They needed it more and it showed in a big way. Protecting your home court is so important in the playoffs, and when you dominate the team you're playing by as much as Oklahoma City did in Games 3 and 4, you get the sense that maybe having Ibaka in the middle, once again, is the secret to bringing this so-called, "best fundamental team in basketball" to its knees. San Antonio's leading scorer was not even a starter! Boris Diaw ended the night with 14 points and no other Spurs player cam even close to that (in relative terms)! Hall-of-Famer-To-Be, Tim Duncan, didn't even score in double-digits! Duncan finished his night with 9 points, and his partners in crime, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, combined for only 19 points. If that doesn't tell you enough about how aggressive and effective the Thunder's defense was, then what will? The big question is, can OKC keep it up?
  The answer to that question is an affirmative: YES. With Ibaka in the game, Oklahoma City is 40 points better and allowing about 23 points fewer then they were in Games 1 and 2. If the trend continues, we could be seeing a repeat of the Western Conference finals of 2012 when the Thunder ripped off 4 straight wins agains the Spurs after being demolished in the first 2. If it happens, bet that Spurs fans will be asking for answers just like their players are searching for one when it comes to the outstanding guard play of OKC that is tearing them to shreds. When you have Russell scoring 40 and his other guard counterparts adding on another 13 points, you just might have a problem guarding…well…the guards! But it wasn't just the scoring of Russell Westbrook that is bothering San Antonio, because Russell also dished out 10 assists to go alongside 5 rebounds and 5 steals. The last point guard to have those type of numbers in a playoff game was Allen Iverson in 2003, and that is a huge compliment to be next to one of the greatest point guards in the history of the NBA.
  So with Game 5 back in San Antonio, the biggest question of the day for people is this: Will any of these games be close? As of right now, the team that comes up on top is averaging a winning margin of about 19 points, and a road team still hasn't come away with a victory so far in this series. With those facts being paired together, most people would speculate that the series will end up going 7 games, and that the Spurs will win the series in San Antonio in that Game 7. Of course, Thunder fans wouldn't mind being 2012-esque and ending the series in Game 6, but that would require winning on the road in the AT&T Center in Game 5. Until Thursday at 9ET on TNT, the jury is still out on whether or not Oklahoma City can keep up this momentum after people were saying the same thing about San Antonio after the first 2 games of this series. Neither team has been able to capitalize on the momentum stemming from their home games, but if any team was going to carry it with them, and it be effective, is OKC. Just something to think about as the Thunder and Spurs prepare to square off, once again, in Game 5.