Posted by stinenavy on 1/18/2011 1:41:00 AM (view original):
Had a great chance to win, but just couldn't get any 3's to go in. Many of them wide open. Just great to watch Westbrook and Durant go through defenders on the way to layups. Granted Derek Fisher was prominently involved, but it's still good viewing. There's flaws involved, but they could win a playoff series vs anybody.

Fall back to a tie with Utah with the loss. Next game @ Denver on Wednesday.

They could win a playoff series against western conference teams not named the Lakers or Spurs.

They could beat the Lakers. Spurs would be a longshot based on past performance vs them.

Posted by stinenavy on 1/18/2011 4:07:00 PM (view original):
They could beat the Lakers. Spurs would be a longshot based on past performance vs them.

If the Lakers are healthy, the Thunder aren't winning a playoff series against them this year.

Just managed to beat some crap teams in OT, the Wolves and Wizards.

Get the Heat at home on Monday. Bosh won't play and if they're lucky Wade may be out again.

1 PM on ABC

Unfortunately Bosh and Wade both played, surprisingly. Almost pulled out a win. Props to Joel Anthony for some nice plays he made down the stretch. Failed to get some crucial rebounds and it led to the deciding 3 by Eddie House. Nice to see Cook playing effectively. Had 3 3's in the last two games. Thabo can stay on the bench when he comes back from injury.

Still 1 1/2 games ahead of Denver for the division. New Orleans on Wednesday, 2-1 in the season series.

Quality wins over New Orleans and Phoenix. Thabo came back vs Phoenix and Cook ended up parked on the bench. Disappointing since Cook shot the ball well from 3. Play in Utah tonight. Deron Williams has been hurting, so the hope is that he continues shooting poorly, and that Millsap doesn't put up 30 like he did early this season.

After tonight its 4 freebies until the All-Star break. Sacramento (twice), Memphis, and GS.

Great win vs Utah then a loss to Memphis (Ugh), a win @ Sac, a loss @ GS (Ugh), and a blowout win vs Sacramento.

Utah and Denver have been struggling. Surprisingly Portland is now 2nd in the division at 4 1/2 back.

Still within eyeshot of the #2 seed, but you just can't keep losing games vs mediocre teams.

Daequan Cook led the team in scoring with 20 vs Sac, however a fair amount of those points were in garbage time.

With Utah and Denver punting the season by trading their best players it appears to be smooth sailing for the division title, short of Portland making a big run.

Nice blowout of the Clippers to get the second half started. Play the Spurs tonight who absolutely own the Thunder. Hoping for a surprise, but don't think it's likely.

Caught the last five minutes of the Spurs-Thunder game. Just some bad breaks cost them the game. Durant missing a free throw for the lead, Harden's 3 pointer going in-and-out and the biggest one was the Manu missing a shot, not hitting the rim, Tony Parker gets the ball and sinks an unguarded 12 footer. Small victory in coming close, but it's time to win these types of games.

Next up is a struggling Orlando team then the Lakers on Sunday.

Big trade as Green and Krstic get traded for Perkins and Nate Robinson.

First off I hope Nate is planted deep on the bench. He can be pals with Royal Ivey. I realize he actually played decent minutes with the Celtics, but I don't believe he's a better fit than Maynor, but I do see him taking whatever minutes Cook was getting unfortunately.

Green isn't a huge loss, he wasn't good on defense, and his shot selection at times left much to be desired. Fittingly his last shot was a chucked 3 pointer with 6 seconds left on the clock. Nice player and I think he'll grow with the Celtics since he won't be asked to do as much. Bad part is that he provided some scoring in the post and now there's no one that's going to do that on the team.

Perkins is a very nice fit. There were two major issues on the team. Interior defense and 3 point shooting. He's had health issues this year but was durable before then. He fills a need.

Another trade happened of D.J. White and Mo Pete for Nazr Mohammed.

White just wasn't going to get PT on this team. Mohammed will be the backup center as Cole Aldrich isn't ready for primetime yet. Nazr is what he is. Score a little, rebound a little. Unremarkable but useful.

So we got:

PG Westbrook
SG Thabo
SF Durant
PF Ibaka
C Perkins

Backups- Harden, Maynor, Collison, Cook, Mohammad

Scrubs- N. Robinson, Aldrich, Ivey

Really like that there's 30-40 minutes now for Ibaka as his path is cleared for the starting gig.

Team is better shaped up for a playoff run and there's a better chance to climb out of the 4th seed. Seems that many now see the team as a legit title contender.

First 3 loss streak of the season with losses to the Lakers and Magic. Still in a transition phase, so it's to be expected. A bit surprised Cole Aldrich got minutes instead of Nazr. I don't think that will last too long though.

Perkins got a 4 year $35M deal. Seems about right. Will take him to age 30. That's about what Brendan Haywood got, minus some years.

Favorable next 8 games. Would be nice to start a run to secure the division which has Portland and Denver creeping up again.

Nice 3 game winning streak over Indiana, Atlanta, and Phoenix.

Nate Robinson managed to get himself hurt before he hurt the team with bad play. Nazr has been a nice minutes eater.

Always frisky Memphis Grizz tomorrow. Zach Randolph has gone for 31 points, 27 points and 31 points in the 3 matchups thus far. Hopefully they'll find a way to limit him by now.

Another loss to Memphis, Randolph only got 17, but they allowed too many offensive rebounds and had too many turnovers.

Good OT win at a hot Philly team along with a surprisingly tough Detroit team puts the team at 41-23.

OKC is 4 games back of the Lakers, and has an easier schedule than the Lakers, so it's possible, but not plausible to pass them in the standings.

Perkins will make his debut soon, possibly tomorrow, but more likely versus the Heat on Wednesday.

Easy victories over Cleveland and Washington. 7-1 record in the 8 game crap team marathon.

Great win @ Miami. Everything clicked right and the energy OKC put up was excellent. Might be the best win of the season.

6 home games coming up with non of them back-to-backs. Games are versus some very mediocre teams so it'd be nice to put in another 5-1 stretch.

Not making any ground on the Lakers, but the Mavs are slipping a bit even, but they're still 3 games up.

Really hope that 3 OT game killed Memphis' confidence. You never know how teams will bounce back after that.

Can't understate how bad Perkins is offensively. If he has the ball longer than 3-4 seconds he'll find a way to commit a turnover or get his shot blocked.

Lack of a knockdown 3 point guy hurts quite a bit. Cook is the best on the team, but he's struggling.

Don't mind Westbrook putting up a bunch of shots, just hate the constant 20 footers that seem to be so prevalent.

Defense has been great, packing bodies inside the paint and daring the Grizz to shoot from outside. Too many offensive rebounds given up, however.

Huge Game 6 today.