Kevin Durant took flight with one of his best ever Monday night in Game 4 on the road vs. the Houston Rockets.

It wouldn’t be enough though as the Oklahoma City Thunder lost 105-103.

Durant ended up with 38 points, eight rebounds and six assists. He also turned the ball over seven times though as the Rockets made it their primary focus to double-team him on every occasion.

This dunk was nasty though. Durant had just hit a three to pull the Thunder closer and then took matters into his own hands as much as anyone could with this play and finish.

This is now the third time in the last two games that Durant (in Russell Westbrook’s absence) has gone coast-to-coast with a crazy dunk.

We’re seeing a different Thunder team as was expected since the Westbrook injury. Durant has assumed a larger role which is very interesting considering he is the second best player in the NBA and I guess we never really knew what it would look like if he was on the 2010 Cavaliers.

The loss is not too worrisome for the Thunder that are still up 3-1 in this series. The Rockets played a great game at home as they desperately didn’t want to get swept in front of their home crowd. They came out with a strategy and stuck to it and made big shots.

Game 5 will be Wednesday night back in OKC.

Last night vs. the Golden State Warriors, Russell Westbrook ferociously blocked Stephen Curry from behind igniting a fast break which Durant capped off with a big slam dunk.

After the slam, Durant did a little Mortal Kombat move with a throat slicing gesture.

This continues the pretty odd season for Durant in which he started picking up way more technicals and basically living up to the saying “KD is not nice.”

The gesture is something that you should expect to get a fine for. It pretty much crosses the line and Durant took it too far.

Somehow, it looks like Durant just did this in the heat of the moment and didn’t really think about it. Who knew this kind of move was something that could come out of Durant after a play like that?

The play was really amazing though and this fine lets us focus on that just a little bit more. It’s the kind of play that you really only see in Thunder games because they have the likes of Durant and Westbrook to pull it off.

But now KD is $25K poorer.

When the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Jeff Green to the Boston Celtics back in 2011 for Kendrick Perkins, everyone was on board with the move.

The Thunder were looking at one team back then that they needed to get past to win the Western Conference and that was the Los Angeles Lakers who were most dominant because of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum on their frontline.

Perkins was going to help the Thunder deal with them. He would have, the Thunder just never really needed Perkins to.

Perkins has brought a lot of value to the Thunder as a leader and vocal defensive anchor. He can be a good NBA player but some feel he plays a little too much for the Thunder, especially when Nick Collison is the other option, and he’s paid too much (he’s owed $17 million the next two seasons).

It wasn’t just swapping Green for Perkins at the time of the trade that made it seem like such a good deal for the Thunder. It also allowed James Harden and Serge Ibaka to be unleashed within the Thunder rotation.

It’s not a knock on Green, but he was the third wheel behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and it made it kind of hard for Harden to have the ball much on offense and Ibaka to get minutes.

Looking back on the trade now and watching Green go off for a career-high 43 points last night vs. the Miami Heat has to have Thunder fans thinking about what could have been had they not traded Green.

A big reason why the Thunder traded Green was because they knew they weren’t going to be able to pay him past his rookie contract, especially since they saw how promising Harden and Ibaka were. What ended up happening though was before the 2011-12 season, doctors found a problem with Green’s heart and he missed the entire season and basically ended up not getting the kind of money OKC anticipated he would demand.

Green signed a four-year, $36 million deal with the Celtics which has him making just about the same as what Perkins is making for the Thunder.

It would have been impossible for the Thunder to foresee this but basically, they could have been able to keep Green and eventually pay him.

This may have even kept Harden from blossoming so quickly into a no-brainer, max-contract guy to where the Thunder could have potentially kept him as well. Maybe not, but kind of a reasonable possibility.

Would the Thunder have made it to the NBA Finals last year without Green or Perkins? Probably. Just insert Collison into all of Perkins’ minutes from last year and they would have been just fine.

You can make the case that the Thunder could essentially have the same team right now except with Green instead of Perkins. Isn’t that the perfect swap for the Thunder? They need to get better at playing small and Green is the perfect small ball three/four and one of the best in the league right now at defending LeBron James.

This is probably too unfair to think about as a possible “What if?” scenario but it still could have happened and wouldn’t the Thunder be better off with Green instead of Perkins right now?

Last night, it was hard not to think that way.

Oklahoma City Thunder rookies Perry Jones, III and Jeremy Lamb have not played much this year in the NBA.

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks has stuck with his veterans and essentially the players that were a big part last year of the Thunder’s NBA Finals run.

Last night, both Jones and Lamb looked good, on different teams however.

Jones played with the Thunder last night and got a lot of burn thanks to Hasheem Thabeet’s sore lower back. Jones made his first four shots and finished with eight points and five rebounds in the game.

Jones was moving well within the offense and his teammates found him twice inside with nice passes that resulted in highly athletic flushes by PJ3.

Lamb was sent down earlier in the week to the Thunder’s D-League affiliate Tulsa 66ers and had another great game for them last night.

In their 110-95 win over the Idaho Stampede, Lamb scored 29 points in just under 27 minutes of action on 13-for-15 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 shooting from behind the three-point line.

It just looks so easy for Lamb when he’s out there which can be a good thing and a bad thing. When his jump shot is on fire like it was last night, it’s a very good thing.

The potential shown by Jones and Lamb last night and other instances this season has to have Thunder fans excited about the future of this team (as if they weren’t already).

Jones is such a great athlete that should perfectly fit in with the style the Thunder are looking to embody down the road. Lamb is the same way and would definitely be playing the NBA a lot more this season if he was on any other team.

It surprised a lot of people back in 2008 when the Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Russell Westbrook with the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Westbrook definitely looked like he had the talent to play at the next level but there were a lot of questions surrounding him coming out of UCLA. No one knew if he could handle playing the point guard position in the NBA or how he’d do alongside Kevin Durant.

It has worked out pretty well.

Recently during the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference at MIT, former Thunder analytics consultant Ben Alamar sat down with Zach Lowe with Grantland to discuss his book and time with the Thunder organization.

The Thunder are pretty secretive with how they operate and Alamar coming out and sharing a few things were pretty interesting.

The most interesting thing is who the Thunder were also drafting with that No. 4 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. If not Westbrook, the Thunder were considering picking center Brook Lopez. Imagine how different that would have panned out.

Alamar goes in depth about how the Thunder used film to analyze Westbrook when he was the primary ball handler at UCLA. There were a few games when Darren Collison was out and certain points in every game where Westbrook essentially played the point.

The Thunder’s grading of Westbrook’s decision-making as a point guard had him ranked right up there with Collison and even Derrick Rose. Even though the first thing that jumped out about Westbrook was his athleticism and potential, the analytics also backed him up.

Alamar said he really went to bat for Westbrook even going further than his analytics supported expressing his desire that the Thunder draft him instead of Lopez.

The Thunder obviously made the right choice here. Lopez is a solid NBA player who made his first All-Star team this year but not even close to in the class of Westbrook.

Late in the Oklahoma City Thunder-Los Angeles Clippers game yesterday afternoon, Serge Ibaka and Blake Griffin got tangled up in the paint while battling for a rebound.

Griffin had good position on Ibaka and a frustrated Ibaka swung his arm down in a chopping motion toward Griffin.

The result was Ibaka connecting near Griffin’s groin and a flagrant-one foul called on Ibaka.

The Clippers capitalized by scoring seven points on that possession thanks to the call and captured their first lead of the game with 90 seconds to play.

Ibaka responded on the other end for OKC with an and-one layup that put the Thunder back on top and OKC would go on to win the game 108-104.

The foul by Ibaka will be reviewed by the league and many think there is a good chance he will get a suspension for the act.

You can make the case that it was an intentional low-blow but Ibaka is saying he did not intend to hurt Griffin.

If you watch Ibaka’s eyes on the play, they are focused on the rim the entire time and the physical jostling between he and Griffin make it easy to understand that Ibaka was not intending to strike Griffin in that area.

It looks more like a frustration move by Ibaka who had his arm being held by Griffin and wanted to chop it free. He missed Griffin’s arm and instead got him below the belt.

Ibaka has had an edginess to him this season and has shown some of that in the past as well. But there’s never been anything to point to Ibaka being a dirty player.

This was simply a case of Ibaka forgetting where he was at and making a dumb move that ended up looking worse than it really was.

It wasn’t intentional but if you want to suspend Ibaka because he should have known better than to swing that violently in that way then that would be totally understandable.

The Thunder will really need Ibaka in their next game as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Jeremy Lamb has been doing work in the D-League all season long. The highlights here are from the Tulsa 66ers game last Friday night vs. the Reno Bighorns in which they won 92-88 thanks to some late-game heroics from Lamb.

Lamb finished with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in the game and hit two big-time three-pointers late to help lift the 66ers to victory.

Watching these highlights, you can see the kind of talent that Lamb has and it’s a little disappointing that he hasn’t gotten a shot with the Oklahoma City Thunder this season.

Lamb is very talented offensively. He has a midrange game, can easily shoot it from deep and has the length and athleticism to finish around the rim.

What’s held him back from getting playing time for the Thunder this season has been the depth of the Thunder and defense. Head coach Scott Brooks demands a lot defensively from his players and if you aren’t ready to commit on the defensive end and you are young, you’re not going to get a lot of run.

The cool thing about the Thunder’s D-League affiliate is that they run the same offense that OKC does. You can tell just from these highlights that Lamb is scoring on plays we are used to seeing Kevin Durant score from.

So when the time does come for Lamb, or anyone else, to be called upon by the Thunder, they are more than ready to step in and start running the offense.

The Thunder will have a big decision to make after this season whether or not they will try and re-sign Kevin Martin. With Lamb waiting in the wings, it might make it easier to let Martin walk.

In the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 105-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets last night, Kevin Durant had one of the most ridiculous shots you will ever see.

Durant channeled Dr. J and George Gervin in the first quarter as he took off from the left block and then went for the up-and-under layup after seeing JaVale McGee come over.

What happened next is something that only Durant can pull off. At his size and length, his skill is unmatched and it all came together on this play as he somehow got his right arm to the other side of the rim and gently kissed a layup off the glass and in.

This really is one of the great shots of all-time and of Durant’s career. It was a move that would be nearly impossible for Durant or anyone in the league today to ever replicate.

Durant finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds in the game and struggled shooting the ball for most of the night. He went just 9-for-20 from the field and missed three of his last four field goal attempts in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder’s three-game winning came to an end and it only gets harder for OKC in their next game as they will travel to LA to take on the Clippers tomorrow afternoon.

Even in a loss, the Thunder still find a way to be one of the most entertaining teams in the league thanks to shots like this one courtesy of KD.

Following a frustrating 109-94 loss to the Utah Jazz Tuesday night, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook was confronted by the media in the locker room and asked a few questions.

After a reporter asks Westbrook if they lost the game or the Jazz won it, Westbrook looks at the reporter in disgust and says, “What? Bro, what are you talking about man?” Then Westbrook says that he’s out and ends the interview.

Okay, time for everyone to go crazy about this video and act like Westbrook’s immaturity will lead to the eventual downfall of the Thunder this season.

In all seriousness, Westbrook is just clearly frustrated after the win, with himself and his team. The effort was lacking against the Jazz and Westbrook and the rest of the team know this. They don’t like losing that way.

Westbrook wears his heart on his sleeve and will speak his mind. He clearly didn’t feel like answering any of those typical questions that the media likes to throw players’ way following games.

If anything, it’s a positive thing that losing like this bothers Westbrook so much. Should he be nice to the media? Yeah, why not? But it’s not a huge deal. Just like when he had an altercation with teammate Thabo Sefolosha a few weeks ago it wasn’t a huge deal.

The Thunder will look to bounce back from this loss Thursday night at home vs. the Miami Heat.

Foot Locker has had a nice run this year with ads starring NBA players. Remember before the season when it was Russell Westbrook and James Harden for the “tear-away” beard spot?

Now we have Kevin Durant starring in one with the tagline being “KD is not nice.”

Durant is pretty solid with commercials. He looks comfortable in it and delivers his lines in a funny way.

It is true too that KD is not nice. Not this year at least. Durant has shown his mean side this year leading the league with nine technical fouls on the season.

It’s a new edge to Durant that is part of his improvement this year and why he is an MVP candidate.

This is what Russell Westbrook did in the third quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s last game vs. the Memphis Grizzlies.

Westbrook is posting up like he had been doing quite a bit in the game and gets called for a 5-second call (you can’t dribble with your back to the basket posting up for more than five seconds).

Westbrook goes nuts after the call and starts screaming at Thabo Sefolosha, who cut into the paint on the play which bothered Westbrook because he apparently planned to drive into the paint himself.

The very odd thing here is how upset Westbrook gets. He is so out of control that Scott Brooks feels like he is forced to take him out of the game, which he does and the Grizzlies then go on a 25-10 run and nearly come back.

Sefolosha is not doing anything terribly wrong here. It’s a normal basketball play for someone to cut into the paint from the opposite wing while their teammate is posting up. Westbrook had been going to a fadeaway jumper from the post numerous times earlier in the game too so it’s not like he was constantly driving into the paint where Sefolosha may have been stepping on his toes.

After the game, the Thunder players and coaching staff downplayed the moment. They called Westbrook a very emotional player and the whole thing was just a misunderstanding. That may be an understatement but what the national media is trying to turn this thing into is over the top.

There are highly respected people from the media writing the Thunder off as NBA title contenders because of this incident. They think it shows that Westbrook is too immature and has an out of control ego that will eventually hold this team back.

Listen, something like this has never happened before with this Thunder team. Westbrook isn’t blowing up, throwing a tantrum and yelling at his teammates on a consistent basis. Just because it happened on national TV doesn’t mean it’s a common occurrence in OKC.

There’s no feeling of “hey man, stay away from Westbrook because he will blow up at you if you say anything to him” in the Thunder locker room.

This incident was really an unfair representation of Westbrook. The likelihood of something like this happening again is very slim too. So really, it’s not much of a big deal at all.

The Thunder will try to move on tonight on the road vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers, not on national television. Those who follow the team will see the Thunder seemingly back to normal as if nothing happened the other night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets once again met for a great game last night at the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets would come out on top in overtime 121-118 despite 37 points from Kevin Durant and 36 points from Russell Westbrook.

The game was intense down the stretch and Westbrook in particular was fired up. So fired up he even decided to get involved with Denver’s mascot, Rocky, and block his halfcourt shot attempt not once, but twice.

Rocky was attempting blind halfcourt shots during timeouts late in the game and with the players about to return to the floor, Westbrook came flying by to deny the shots.

You could tell that Westbrook loved doing this and loved the reaction from the Denver crowd reining boos down on him.

It sparked Westbrook to play with an added edge down the stretch that included a cold-blooded 3-pointer with 22 seconds left that tied the game at 109 and would send it into overtime.

Westbrook was a monster for most of the game making plenty of big plays down the stretch but it wouldn’t be enough for OKC. Westbrook not only scored 36 points but had nine assists and eight rebounds as well as he nearly had a triple-double.

The Thunder will be off tonight and then travel to play the Los Angeles Clippers tomorrow night.

We’ve seen this before. Kevin Durant with the ball in his hands and a chance to sink the Dallas Mavericks with a game-winning shot.

Last night, Kevin Durant scored 52 points with the final two resulting in a game-winning bucket as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 117-114 in overtime.

Durant was isolated with Shawn Marion covering him at the end of the overtime. He crossed over to his left then hit a tough one-handed fall away with 16 seconds left to put the Thunder up 116-114. It was a shot that looked just like this one that he hit in Game 1 of the Thunder’s first round series with Dallas last season.

The degree of difficulty on the game-winner last night is extremely high but Durant makes it look easy. Moving to his left then compensating with contact and the shot dropping in with that kind of touch is not easy to pull off.

Durant was actually not as hot from the field as you may think considering he ended up with a career-high. He made just 13-of-31 shots and really struggled in the fourth quarter. He made up for it however by getting to the line 21 times and making every single free throw.

Durant continues to build on his legacy as one of the most clutch players in this league. Dallas seems to be his favorite team to make victim in this journey.

Durant and the Thunder are now on a 6-game winning streak with their next five games coming up on the road. Durant is averaging 35.6 points per game on 53.6 percent shooting during the win streak.

Here are highlights of all 52 points from Durant last night:

With 1:57 left in last night’s Oklahoma City Thunder-Brooklyn Nets game, frustration got the better of Kevin Durant and he was ejected for the first time in his 6-year career.

The Thunder were inbounding the ball from the baseline and Kendrick Perkins was called for an illegal screen on Durant’s defender, Gerald Wallace. Durant punched his arm in the air and dropped a few F-bombs by the looks of it and referee Danny Crawford had enough.

It was kind of a weird moment seeing Durant lose his cool like that because it has basically never happened to him before.

The Thunder expended so much energy to get back in the game last night after falling behind by 23 points in the first half. Then in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, OKC just couldn’t muster enough to complete the comeback and Brooklyn started to pull away.

Durant was hit with some contact on a few drives leading up to the play where he was clearly looking for a foul. The calls were 50-50 ones that Durant is used to getting at home but that wasn’t the case last night.

The ejection and the emotion that the Thunder team had over last night’s game will probably be a good thing in the near future. It was the kind of game where afterward, team leaders like Durant and Perkins will likely talk the team in a way that will help them play better moving forward.

The defense has been suspect for the Thunder lately even in their wins and especially last night. It’s the kind of thing that can be cured with better focus and attention to detail.

One thing is definitely for certain though and that’s that Durant will be going off tomorrow night at home vs. Philadelphia. You have to feel bad for the 76ers that they will be dealing with an extra motivated Durant on that night.

Team USA was played very close by Argentina in the first half and led by only one point at halftime.

Team USA came out much stronger in the third quarter and ran away with the game behind a spirited performance by LeBron James and Kevin Durant who combined for 26 points in the third quarter alone.

Durant scored 28 points in the game and made 8-of-10 threes including this one to beat the buzzer in the first quarter.

Durant’s defense in the third quarter was most impressive though. He was all over the floor making deflections and getting steals that led to a lot of offense for Team USA. Here he makes a nasty steal and LeBron finds rewards Durant with the sweet dish for a dunk on the fast break.

Russell Westbrook would put the finishing touches on this win with this ridiculous slam dunk over Argentina big man Leo Gutierrez. The dunk was reminiscent of what Vince Carter did 12 years ago in the Sydney Olympics vs. France.

Team USA begins play in the medal round today vs. Australia in the quarterfinals. The game will tip at 5:15 p.m. EST and will air on the NBC Sports Network.

Kevin Durant will star in what undoubtedly will be a huge box office hit later this year, his movie Thunderstruck.

In the movie, a young kid (with no basketball skills), is a huge fan of Durant and wishes more than anything in the world that he had Durant’s talent. He ends up getting to go to a Thunder game and take a half court shot at halftime.

Now this is where it gets interesting and I hope you’re sitting down for this. The kid meets Durant and Durant signs a ball for him and when he hands it over to him, he also gives him all of his basketball talent.

This is a brand new twist in a basketball movie that involves an NBA star. It’s totally different than Space Jam or Like Mike.

You will have to wait until Aug. 24 to find out what happens next. The movie is going to be very good, that’s all I know for sure.

Durant will be awesome though all kidding aside. Not necessarily in an acting sense but seeing him on the big screen like this will be cool. He doesn’t have the personality of a Michael Jordan but he will do his own thing in this movie and it will be amazing.

The Thunder did not expect to see Jones III that late in the draft but could not pass up the opportunity to draft a player as talented as Jones III.

Jones III played two seasons at Baylor. He was projected to be a lottery pick after his first season and could have been this year too if this draft wasn’t as deep and if concerns regarding his knee didn’t come up.

Jones III averaged 13.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and shot .549 percent from the floor as a freshman at Baylor. Last season as a sophomore he averaged 13.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and shot .500 percent from the field.

Jones III averaged around 14 points per game in high school as well. His productions has never quite lived up to the talent he possesses. Jones III has been compared to a mix of Rudy Gay and Josh Smith. He is a power forward who is skilled enough to make plays on the perimeter some as well.

Below are a few highlight vides of Jones III. The first is DraftExpress’ official draft video for him, then some highlights while he was at Baylor and the third is from Hoop Mixtape.

LeBron James played a little bit better in Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals than Game 4 of the 2011 NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat led the series both times 2-1. In 2011, LeBron played one of the worst games of his career in Game 4 and last night he played one of his best, topped off with a dramatic three.

“I was just trying to make a play,” James said. “If I was out on the floor, I wanted to try to make a play with the limited mobility I had at that time, and I was happy I was able to come through.”
Erik Spoelstra would have to take LeBron out for the final minutes saying that he was too much of a liability on defense.

LeBron started cramping after a drive to the basket and was forced to leave the floor with 5:15 to play in the game. The Thunder took advantage going up 94-92 with 4:20 left in the game.

When LeBron checked back in the Heat went on a 7-0 run and closed the game 12-4.

LeBron scored 26 points in the game to go with 12 assists and nine rebounds. His assists accounted for 29 points giving him a total of 55 created points which only five players have done in an NBA Finals game since 1997.

LeBron says he will be fine for Game 5 which will be Thursday night at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

Kevin Durant caught the inbound on the left baseline with LeBron James guarding him and tried to go for a quick score to catch LeBron off guard. LeBron fouled Durant but it wasn’t called. Heat win.

“On the last play, I figured they were going to go to him,” LeBron said. “He got a small step on me. I just wanted to try to keep a body on him, make him take a tough shot, and he’s made tough shots all year, all series, and just that one he missed. KD is an unbelievable talent. I think we all know that. We all see that. He can make every shot on the floor. Just try to keep a body on him, take contested shots. He got away from me a couple times, got a couple of 3s that I am not too happy about.”

It would have been nice to see the Thunder get a better look maybe with Durant at the top of the key but it was an opportunistic decision to go for that shot. Durant had an angle and didn’t get the call.

“You know, I think I shot a good shot,” Durant said. “That’s a shot I shoot all the time. I just missed. I was just worrying about the shot. I really couldn’t tell you. I’ve got to watch the film, I guess. I missed the shot man.”

No one will look at Durant and blame him for the Game 2 100-96 loss and nor should they. He scored 32 points (16 in the fourth) and was 12-for-22 from the field.

Russell Westbrook is the one taking all of the heat.

Westbrook scored 27 points on 10-of-26 shooting to go along with seven assists and eight rebounds. He shot a lot. He shot more than Durant. So it’s all his fault.

Westbrook has been criticized a ton over the past few seasons. Whenever the Thunder lose, people look at him as to why. He takes too many shots or needs to pass to Durant more. He never gets any credit when the Thunder win though. All of that is for Durant.

Westbrook is averaging 27-9-8 right now in the Finals but is shooting only 40 percent from the field and has attempted 50 shots in two games to Durant’s 42.

That doesn’t sound like a point guard and that’s because Westbrook really isn’t one. He is a playmaker. He is dynamic. He is the second best player on a team three wins away from an NBA title. He is Westbrook.

Scott Brooks and the Thunder don’t ask him to be a point guard either. They ask him to shoot and to play with his instinct and play harder than any player in the league for 48 minutes. That works for this team.

The problems with Durant not getting enough shots or Westbrook taking too many aren’t because of Westbrook. It’s the design of the offense and when it breaks down, it’s usually Westbrook who shoots.

The Heat came out more aggressive in Game 2 especially on defense and that’s why the Thunder fell behind 18-2. They need to match Miami’s intensity from the tip in Game 3 to avoid falling behind again.

When it comes to having to play with intensity, who would you rather have than Westbrook?

Flopping has been a big talking point this year in the NBA and particularly in the playoffs.

Serge Ibaka was asked about flopping and who the biggest floppers were in the NBA Finals. He initially mentioned Mario Chalmers and Derek Fisher casually. Then when Shane Battier’s name was brought up he called him the biggest flopper of them all.

With players like Battier and Fisher, flopping could play a big role in the NBA Finals. Even LeBron, Wade, Durant and Harden do their fair share of flopping trying to get calls.

It is becoming a big deal though even for NBA commissioner David Stern.

“Flopping almost doesn’t do it justice,” Stern said Tuesday. “Trickery. Deceit designed to cause the game to be decided other than on its merits. We’ll be looking at that.

“We’ll be looking at a number of things that make it easier for us to say to our fans what we all know to be true: Our referees want to get everything right.”

The goal with flopping and tweaking officiating in anyway should be to get the referees out of the spotlight in as much as possible. The worst thing about watching a game is feeling that the referees affected the outcome afterwards.

Flopping puts referees in the limelight. There won’t be a perfect fix to immediately get rid of flopping but the fact that Stern is talking about it is a good sign for the NBA.

Jim Rome interviewed NBA commissioner David Stern on his radio show today and began the interview by asking Stern if the NBA Draft Lottery was fixed.

Stern answered by saying “No” and then asked Rome “Do you still beat your wife?” Stern didn’t ask this based on any history of Rome beating his wife but to suggest that it is just as ridiculous a question as the one Rome asked.

The question by Rome can be rationalized as fair but you know that Stern isn’t going to say anything other than “No” and he did that and then became aggravated that it was even being asked. The question worked to get a reaction from Stern.

I get what Rome was doing and I understand talking about the New Orleans Hornets winning the NBA Draft Lottery with Stern because that is interesting to hear what he would have to say.

I guess the question accomplished something because now everyone is talking about it.

They went back and forth a little bit after that question but it was awkward the entire time. Stern even took a dig at Rome at the end saying he now had to go because he had someone important to call and that was Stephen A. Smith.

Kevin Durant leads the Thunder with 13 points as the Thunder trail 54-47 at halftime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.

LeBron James has 14 points, four rebounds and two assists but has had a hard time scoring when Durant has been guarding him.

The Miami Heat jumped out to a lead because of 3-point shooting. They’ve made 6-of-10 threes in the game as Shane Battier has made 3-of-4 and has 13 points.

Russell Westbrook has struggled from the field starting 0-for-4 and has nine points and six assists.

Derek Fisher provided a nice lift off the bench with six points for OKC.

The Thunder missed a lot of good looks and let Miami get a lot of which they made most. The Thunder will need to tighten up on defense and continue to move the ball on offense to come back in this game and avoid going down 0-1.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs gave NBA fans one heck of a series in the Western Conference Finals this year.

It was a matchup of the two teams in the NBA who were playing far better than anyone else: the Spurs reaching a 20-game win streak after going up 2-0 in the series and the Thunder growing right before our eyes into what looks to be a potential dynasty.

The Spurs were the best team in the NBA. They hadn’t lost in the playoffs and not since April 11 when the series began. Their offense did not feature a top individual scorer in the league but instead a cast of players that knew their exact roles.

They played perfect basketball. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon. This wasn’t the boring, grind it out Spurs team of old but a fun, up-and-down team that wowed with the extra pass.

And in the first two games of the Western Conference Finals it looked like they were going to put the young Thunder back in their place. They outclassed them in a basketball sense and unintentionally mocked their style of play.

They appeared unbeatable until the inevitable started to happen: the changing of the guard in the Western Conference. The Thunder began to realize their potential.

OKC ran the Spurs out of the gym in Game 3, made them look old. Then in Game 4, Kevin Durant gave us one of the playoffs’ best gems, dropping 18 in the fourth quarter including 16 in a row for the Thunder. He struggled in the series somewhat until then, finally showing us just how godly he can appear.

Game 5 was the true test for the up-and-comers. On the road in San Antonio, you knew the Spurs would be ready after losing two-straight. The Thunder were not intimidated in the slightest. They stuck to their game plan and survived a furious Spurs comeback thanks to individual prowess in shot making.

The Spurs did not die right away in Game 6 in OKC, racing out to an 18-point lead in the first quarter. Tony Parker was brilliant but then the Thunder started to come back. Aided by the best crowd in the NBA, there was no stopping what was coming. The future became the present.

For the first time since 1998, a team not named the Mavericks, Lakers or Spurs would be representing the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. And the Thunder beat all three of those franchises in these playoffs.

This series will be and should be remembered for a lot of things that made it so great. But we’ll always remember most that it was the moment the Thunder came into their own, realized their potential and took that next step toward becoming a champion.

Kevin Durant will be starring in a movie called ‘Thunderstruck’ based on a kid taking his basketball talent from him while Durant loses all of his talent.

Huh, pretty original.

It’s basically exactly like Space Jam except without Michael Jordan or Bugs Bunny.

Durant is amazing though in everything he does. He can do no wrong. If his acting skills from the Doodle Jump commercials are any indication, he will kill it in this film as well.

The film will hit theaters August 24.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have advanced to the NBA Finals after beating the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 in the Western Conference Finals.

The Thunder won Game 6 107-99 despite trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 34 points and 14 rebounds.

The Thunder will await the winner of Miami and Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston leads that series 3-2 with Game 6 tonight in Boston.

Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant scored 18 points in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs to help the Thunder even the series at 2-2 with a 109-103 win.

Durant had scored 18 points in the first three quarters for Oklahoma City and then completely took over in the fourth scoring 16-straight points for the Thunder in one stretch.

Durant had only scored 10 points in the fourth quarters of Games 1-3 combined heading into Game 4 and was just 1-for-5 from the field as well.

The Thunder found something that worked and they went to it the rest of the game. Scott Brooks will do this a lot in the fourth quarters of games.

Brooks did this with James Harden in the fourth quarter of Game 4 vs. the Mavericks in the first round. He did it with the Russell Westbrook and Durant pick-and-roll back in January against the Warriors too.

The Thunder ran the same exact play on 10-consecutive half court possessions in the fourth quarter beginning at the 7:25 mark with the Thunder ahead 86-80 and ending with 1:04 left and the Thunder leading 105-96.

It’s a simple play that the Thunder have run many times before and is very effective because it involves Durant, Westbrook and Harden.

Westbrook brings the ball up and waits for Harden to come off two screens on the baseline and pop out to the left wing. After Westbrook passes to Harden, he goes and sets a downscreen on Durant’s man on the right block. Durant then pops up to the top of the key and Westbrook flattens out to the right corner.

The play worked against the Spurs last night in every way possible. When Durant got the ball at the top of the key, he scored nearly every time in an isolation situation. When the Spurs switched the screen and had Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili on Durant, he took advantage and scored going to the rim.

The Thunder even got Harden two wide open 3-point looks from the set when Kendrick Perkins would come up to set a back pick on Harden’s man after Durant made the catch.

This set is nothing special for the Thunder but you don’t have to be special with your play-calling with the Thunder. It works because it spaces the floor nicely and puts Durant in an area where he is very comfortable going to work.

The Thunder hadn’t found a go-to play yet against the Spurs in fourth quarters. They had go-to plays against the Mavericks and Lakers and now look to have found something for San Antonio.

With the series headed back to San Antonio for Game 5 Monday night, the Thunder can expect a much tougher effort from the Spurs than they saw in Oklahoma City. Role players aren’t as good on the road so more of the burden will lie with Durant.

Durant is ready for this though especially after his 18-point fourth quarter in Game 4.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden had an uncharacteristically bad showing in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals as the Thunder lost 101-98 to the Spurs.

Harden scored 19 points in that game and was 7-for-17 from the field but did not attempt a single free throw for the first time this year.

Harden did not look himself as the Spurs’ game plan to defend the Thunder in the pick-and-roll worked very well.

The Spurs basically let the Thunder ball handler come off the screen with no pressure and gave them space, playing to defend the drive.

For Harden, this seemed to work especially well. Harden’s game is simple when you look at where he attacks the defense. He either shoots threes or attacks the rim and does very little in between.

Harden hit a few threes in the game but couldn’t get anything going toward the rim. The Spurs were ready for him and contested without fouling and also drew two charges on him.

The midrange pull-up jump shot was the look San Antonio was conceding Harden and he rarely took it. Harden rarely takes midrange shots in general, attempting just 1.1 shots per game this season from between 10-to-15 feet.

In Game 2, we saw Harden adjust.

Here we see Harden confidently take three midrange jump shots and make all of them. This helped to open up the rest of Harden’s offensive game as well.

Harden scored 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and from the free throw line. Harden only attempted one 3-pointer in the game too.

Having Harden play well is vitally important for the Thunder and while Oklahoma City is still down 0-2 in the series, it would feel a lot worse if Harden had played two poor games as well.

Expect Harden along with Durant and Westbrook to play a little better when they are at home for Games 3 and 4 and get this series back even at 2-2.

During the game however, there was a pretty embarrassing incident in the stands with fans of both the Spurs and Thunder fighting.

Obviously, there is no place for this at an NBA game. It’s a pretty ugly incident and I guess we’re all lucky that Metta World Peace did not attend this game.

Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs are leading the Oklahoma City Thunder 55-44 at half time of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Spurs shot 57.9 percent from the field in the first half while the Thunder shot just 36.2 percent.

The Spurs are doing their thing on offense moving the ball perfectly while the Thunder have been unable to slow them down and match them on the other end.

Kevin Durant and James Harden lead the Thunder with 14 points each.

Tony Parker leads the Spurs with 17 points and five assists.

Russell Westbrook scored 12 points in the third quarter including this and-one shot on a fast break.

The Thunder lead the Lakers 83-77 after three and have captured all of the momentum heading into the final quarter.

Westbrook leads the Thunder with 20 points while Kevin Durant has poured in 17.

Kobe Bryant has scored 34 for the Lakers.

But it was Durant’s defense on Kobe Bryant in the final four minutes of the game that really swayed the momentum in the Thunder’s favor.

Kobe made a 17-foot fadeaway over James Harden from the right baseline to put the Lakers ahead 96-90 with 4:28 left in the game. Durant started covering Kobe after that shot.

“He said, ‘You get ‘em,’” Durant said of head coach Scott Brooks telling him to start covering Kobe. “I had to go guard him. I couldn’t tell Coach no. I didn’t want to back down from the challenge.”

Kobe missed his next five shots and only scored two more meaningful points the rest of the game.

Kobe had 34 points before Durant started guarding him and was for the second straight game killing the Thunder on offense in the post and getting to the free throw line.

Durant played Kobe some at the end of Game 3 and was effective then as well. Brooks probably saw this and knew it would be a good matchup for the Thunder at this point in the game.

“He wants to guard him,” Brooks said. “We like putting Thabo [Sefolosha], James [Harden] and Kevin on him. It was about three and [a] half minutes to go, and I made the decision. I thought that was the right thing to do at the time. Kobe was making shots like he always seems to do, but I thought Kevin did a good job of using his length and bothering him.”

Durant’s length is key to stopping Kobe. He is listed at 6-foot-9 but most people know he’s probably closer to 7-feet. With Kobe not having the quickness he used to, Durant doesn’t even lose anything guarding Kobe in that department either.

Kobe was having the most success getting physical with those defending him and fighting for position. He was getting a lot of foul calls on these plays in the last two games and it made defenders like Harden and Sefolosha have to be more tentative when contesting his shots.

Durant didn’t have to worry about playing physical. He could play off him and force him into tough, contested jumpers which he did.

“It was pretty much the same thing, except in the fourth quarter they crowd me and they shrink the floor,” Kobe said. “The driving lanes close off. [Serge] Ibaka’s more active coming off of rotations. But when you have the ball with the shot clock going down, it’s tough to get everybody in the right spots.”

Durant’s improved defense this season has been overlooked somewhat until last night. He has become more focused and engaged defensively and when he really locks in, he can be extremely effective on a number of elite players.

In the Thunder’s first meeting with the Miami Heat this season, Durant played and essentially shut down LeBron James in the same way that he did Kobe last night.

It is unlikely that Brooks would ever elect to have Durant cover Kobe for an entire game. But using him down the stretch on him to change things up and make Kobe alter his approach in crunch time is something we should expect again if another game comes down to the wire.

Russell Westbrook went down with an injury after slipping while running down the court just before the end of the first half of Game 4 vs. the Lakers.

A lot of players have been slipping in this game and it may have something to do with the fact that there is ice beneath the court because of the NHL Playoffs.

Westbrook looked to possibly hurt his groin or hip but this guy hasn’t missed a game since before high school, Thunder fans shouldn’t be too worried.

The Lakers lead 56-46 at the half. They are again getting a few more calls than the Thunder and doing a better job getting the 50-50 balls, something that the Thunder usually holds the edge in.

The style of the game again is favoring the Lakers but the Thunder have all year long played in games like this where it feels like they shouldn’t win and then they find a way to pull the game out. See Game 2.

Russell Westbrook is fine. It was his hip. He got manual treatment at the half and will return.

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) May 20, 2012

The Thunder trailed 81-68 entering the fourth quarter and it looked like the series would be going back to Oklahoma City.

Then Harden took over the game. The Thunder offense went exclusively through him as it usually does when he’s out there with the bench unit and it also continues to when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook checked back in.

An interesting thing to note here too is that Scott Brooks took Durant out with a few minutes left in the third quarter and when he does that it usually means Durant will start the fourth quarter and play the rest of the game.

If Durant starts the fourth does Harden completely take over? Maybe not.

In the fourth quarter the Thunder would have 22 offensive possessions. Twenty of them came in the half court and 15 straight of them were Harden dribbling down, getting one pick and creating everything.

Let’s go through the entire fourth quarter for the Thunder.

The first three possessions, the Thunder run their Corner 2 set that featured Harden and Nick Collison in dribble handoff action.

Harden comes off a Collison screen and drives left to the paint and then finds Daequan Cook throwing a pass across his body for the three. When Harden makes passes, shooters make shots because the basketball Gods love his passes.

11:38 – Dallas up 81-71

Harden drives left again off of a Collison screen and the ball is poked away out of bounds by Delonte West from behind. Cook then finds Serge Ibaka wide open for a dunk on a slip from the baseline out of bounds play.

10:56 – Dallas up 81-73

Before the ball can go to Collison on the next possession, Derek Fisher reads an opening to drive on the pick-and-roll and then misses the pull-up jumper.

10:11 – Dallas up 83-73

Durant checks back in. Now the Thunder are just having Harden bring the ball up usually to the right wing and bring a screen to him above the 3-point line. Harden drives hard left and gets fouled from behind and gets the continuation layup to fall and makes the free throw.

9:29 – Dallas up 86-76

Harden this time when he gets into the paint goes to his right and misses the tough layup. Ibaka follows up the offensive rebounds and misses the putback.

9:00 – Dallas up 86-76

Harden gets the pick-and-roll but nothing is there right away. He backs off then goes straight into West on the isolation drive and finishes with a tough eurostep from 10-feet away. Dallas fans wanted the travel.

Here are his last two buckets.

8:33 – Dallas up 86-78

Westbrook checks back in. Harden gets his screen again and goes hard to his left finishing with the layup.

8:07 – Dallas up 86-80

Harden gets the screen but there isn’t a lot of space to drive and kicks back to Durant who comes up some to the right wing and Durant drills the three. Again, shooters knock down shots when Harden is the passer.

7:26 – Dallas up 86-83

Harden gets the pick and splits the defenders on his way to the huge monster dunk.

6:39 – Dallas up 86-85

Dallas now decides to go to their matchup zone so that Harden can’t as easily attack the paint. It works in a way. Harden has to kick out to Westbrook on the left wing after the pick. Westbrook drives and kicks back out to Harden who swings it to Durant on the right wing who nails the three.

6:05 – Tie game 88-88

Harden gets the pick again and quickly kicks out to Durant on the right wing. Dirk comes up to close out on Durant and Durant drives hard baseline past him and finishes with the flush.

5:33 – Dallas up 91-90

Westbrook strips Dirk on defense then finds a trailing Ibaka for the fast break dunk to give the Thunder their first lead of the quarter.

5:16 – Oklahoma City up 92-91

Dallas still in the matchup zone. Harden waives off the Ibaka screen and goes one-on-one on Jason Kidd. He drives to his right and misses the layup over Ian Mahinmi.

4:37 – Oklahoma City up 92-91

Harden again isolates with Kidd on him and drives left this time but loses his handle on the way to the rim. He regains it then kicks back out to Derek Fisher who drives in for the layup.

4:05 – Oklahoma City up 94-91

Dallas is back in man. Harden gets the screen and drives left. Jason Terry helps on the drive and Harden kicks out to Westbrook on the left wing who misses the 3-pointer.

3:34 – Oklahoma City up 94-91

Harden in the pick-and-roll and Mahinmi doesn’t hedge creating a situation where Harden has momentum driving right at Mahinmi. Harden gets to his right and is fouled shooting the layup and makes both.

3:00 – Oklahoma City up 96-91

Thunder try and go pick-and-roll again with Harden. Nothing is there and Harden kicks to Durant. The ball goes back to Harden at the end of the shot clock and he goes one-on-one with Shawn Marion on him and scores going to his left with the layup.

2:30 – Oklahoma City up 98-93

Dallas is looking to go back into their matchup zone here but the Thunder are overloaded on the left side of the floor. Dallas gets confused and Harden swings to Durant on the right wing before the pick-and-roll comes all the way. Dallas is scrambling and Durant finds Collison diving to the rim and he’s fouled shooting a layup and makes both free throws.

2:01 – Oklahoma City up 100-95

Dallas in the zone and Marion ends up on Harden who decides to just isolate on him. Marion is playing off him and Harden knows he can get the stepback three off. He misses it.

1:27 – Oklahoma City up 100-95

The Thunder go to Durant isolating at the top of the key. He has space and elects to go for the pull-up straightaway 3-pointer. He misses it.

0:48 – Oklahoma City up 100-95

The Thunder go back to Harden in the pick-and-roll while Dallas is back in man. Harden gets Kidd to switch on to him and then easily drives by him going to his right and the paint is wide open for him to finish with the layup.

So Harden scores 15 in the quarter and dishes out three assists (all for 3-pointers). The Thunder ran the same basic play on 15 straight half court possessions and it worked incredibly well.

I’ve said before that the Thunder are at their best doing exactly this. With Harden as the playmaker and Durant and Westbrook off the ball they are maximizing the three’s potential. We saw Harden of course do that in Game 4 and Durant too showed us how good he can be off the ball.

Westbrook’s greatest impact came on defense but he’s shown before how effective he can be off the ball when Harden has it.

It was so important for Oklahoma City to get Harden playing well in their first round series and that’s exactly what happened. The sweep of the defending champs proved that the Thunder are serious contenders and they will go as far as Harden takes them.

Durant went 10-for-27 in Game 1 and then 5-for-17 in Game 2. He has made some big plays most notably the Game 1 game-winner but getting that shooting number up will definitely be a priority for the Thunder moving forward.

Something that Oklahoma City has tried to get better at this season is getting Durant touches closer to the rim and in the post. Durant posted up 10.5 percent of the time this season. Last year he was only posting 6.5 percent of the time and two years ago 5.7 percent.

The 10.5 percent is still kind of low for a player like Durant but a step in the right direction as far as most people are concerned.

In the first two games against Dallas in this series, Durant has posted up 13 times. That doesn’t seem like a ton but it is more than he did during the regular season.

Durant has gone 4-for-8 from the field in those 13 possessions, turned the ball over three times and been fouled twice (once in the act of shooting).

Durant has flat out not appeared very comfortable posting up in these two games. One reason is that Durant has been guarded primarily by Shawn Marion who does a very good job on him.

Durant essentially does two things when he is in the post: he either shoots a jump shot over his right shoulder or tries to go strong to the rim over his left shoulder (or simply toward the middle of the floor usually).

Durant isn’t strong enough yet to develop the kind of post game that Dirk Nowitzki has and that’s surely what Durant is trying to eventually do already using that stepback one-footer (which by the way Durant has far from mastered as it seems to almost never go in).

So what should Durant be doing when he gets the ball in the post against Dallas? We know Oklahoma City is going to continue to try and get him touches down there and it’s a spot where he should be able to score since he is always 4-to-5 inches taller than his defender.

The best thing he ever does is face up. This is usually because he will get pushed out too far and in Durant’s case that’s almost a better thing. When he faces up he can either simply shoot over his defender (probably the best case) or drive strong to his right and draw contact.

When he drive to his right while having his back to the basket he seems to always lose his balance. But when he is already facing he is much more comfortable and can elevate on his way to the rim.

But it’s not always going to be easy for him to face up the way Dallas defends him. They like to get as close as possible to him and really body him up. This means Durant will have to try and go to shots with his back to the basket.

He looks the most comfortable going to the fadeaway over his right shoulder (most righties do). The one problem here and why Durant isn’t more effective with this shot is that he’s not one to put a lot of arc on his jumper like Dirk would. And while fading back that makes the shot very difficult to drop.

I’d like to see Durant try and go glass when he uses his fadeaway. He doesn’t do it often so I’m not going to hold my breath on this one but I think he’d make a higher percentage of these shots.

Either way, when he has his back to the basket he should almost always be going to that fadeaway. It’s an automatic clean look if nothing else.

Depending on how the game is being called I wouldn’t mind him trying to drive but it seems the only good that ever comes from that is a foul being called.

At the end of the day, it’s nice that Durant is posting more but I don’t know how useful it is going to be especially when he has a very solid defender like Marion covering him.

He’s just not ready to dominate from that position and until he learns to, the Thunder might be stuck one notch below the level of champion.

Serge Ibaka had been playing Dirk for most of the game and Scott Brooks switched Perkins on him late. Perkins forced Dirk into a miss and two turnovers and did it with simply great effort and energy.

In Game 2 we expected to see the same from the Thunder, going with Perkins on Dirk. It wasn’t featured early with Ibaka still getting some run on Dirk and foul trouble for everyone. But we did see the matchup late.

Dirk missed two huge shots in the final minutes, shots we’re not used to seeing him miss. He got great looks and he got them because Dallas adjusted to Perkins covering him.

In Game 1 Perkins covered Dirk in isolation and back-to-the-basket situations. That’s where Dirk was killing Ibaka.

Perkins took that away so Dallas went to using Dirk in the pick-and-roll when Perkins was on him in Game 2.

The first of Dirk’s misses was the most surprising. He became wide open for a three from the left wing after setting a screen for Jason Terry. Russell Westbrook was trailing Terry and Perkins forced to show at least a little. That left Dirk wide open and he missed the seemingly automatic look.

Dallas went to the same set on their next possession and this time Jason Kidd found Dirk open rolling to the basket. Ibaka came over to help and the set accomplished what it set out to at least to an extent and got Perkins away from Dirk.

Dirk posted Ibaka on the left block and went to his patented fadeaway one-footer. He did not get the roll and the Thunder would win the game because of these two misses.

At first look, I thought Dirk should have gone at Ibaka the way he always does when he has success: spinning to that right shoulder and getting contact going to the rim. Instead he went to the fallaway and Ibaka actually played the move well reacting very quickly to the spin and maybe Dirk sensed this and that’s why he went for that shot.

Dirk has been great in these first two games despite Dallas losing both. It will be a challenge for Oklahoma City to continue to play him decently heading on the road for the next two games.

But we’ve seen something we’re not used to with Dirk and that’s him not coming up absolutely huge in the final moments of games. The Thunder have done a good job effecting this and it may lead to them eventually winning this series.

Dirk Nowitzki and Kendrick Perkins exchanged some rough shoves early on in Game 2 of the first round series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.

Nowitzki was frustrated by some physical work by Perkins on the offensive glass and lost his cool throwing a blatant elbow to Perkins’ chest. Perkins immediately retaliated with what almost looked like a punch.

The two received technicals and the incident didn’t escalate any further.

Nowitzki was frustrated a play earlier when he was hit in the face inadvertently by Serge Ibaka following a made jump shot and gave Ibaka a shove running back on defense.

The Thunder have played physical with Nowitzki because that is the best way to handle the reining Finals MVP. Nowitzki should be used to this but obviously felt it was excessive tonight.

The series is getting chippy.

Dallas was executing everything and making clutch shots and the game looked like it was going to come down to the Thunder executing on offense, something they didn’t do last year in the playoffs and something that even this year they still receive a lot of heat for.

They did a great job last night.

Trailing 96-94 with 1:03 left in the game, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks called timeout and called for one of the Thunder’s best sets that they’ve been running recently.

James Harden inbounds to Russell Westbrook who sets up at the top of the key waiting for Kevin Durant and Kendrick Perkins to come up and set a double screen.

Westbrook comes off the Perkins pick to the right predetermined and waits for Perkins to set another pick on Durant’s man to try and free Durant up at the top of the key.

In the past few weeks when the Thunder have run this set it has every time gotten Durant wide open at the top of the key. Last night, Dallas defended it well and Westbrook didn’t make the defense commit too much on him so Durant was covered tightly by Shawn Marion at the top of the key when Westbrook passes to him.

Perkins stays around Durant, reading the defense and realizing that Durant isn’t wide open and sets a ball screen on Marion. Durant uses it well and gets into the paint by Marion and Perkins’ man Ian Mahinmi.

Dirk Nowitzki is forced to come up and help on Durant who is ready (having just dumped off to Serge Ibaka for a dunk a few possession earlier) to find Ibaka cutting who finishes with the and-one dunk.

This has been Oklahoma City’s most effective set the past few weeks and it was great to see them go to it out of a timeout when they really needed a bucket.

Dallas covering it well was kind of a blessing because if Durant had been left wide open and tempted to take the three, he may have gone for it and missed since he was off with his shot for most of the night.

This was a better set for Oklahoma City to run at this time because if they had gone to the Westbrook-Durant pick-and-pop (which they do often down the stretch), it may have just resulted in a switch and Durant forced into a tough isolation jumper.

This is evidence of the Thunder taking steps in the right direction with their play down the stretch of tight games.

Kendrick Perkins would guard Nowitzki the rest of the way.

The Thunder went on a 7-0 run after that with Perkins forcing Nowitzki into a missed three-pointer and then two turnovers on three of the next four possessions.

Nowitzki struggled to start the game but came alive in the fourth quarter and began looking like the Finals MVP again.

Ibaka is a great defender in his own right but the matchup with Nowitzki favors Dallas. Ibaka is better as a help-side shot blocker and playing up tightly on Nowitzki isn’t an easy task.

Perkins’ value was realized tonight and it was huge.

The Thunder were struggling earlier in the quarter trying to go small and get offense using Kevin Durant at the four. Durant’s shot was not falling so there was no advantage for the Thunder and they were giving up better interior defense by going small.

I love Durant at the four on offense but this team is better when they have Perkins and Ibaka out there with the big three.

That showed tonight and especially with Ibaka giving something offensively as well the Thunder looked their best in the final minutes.

Ibaka covered Nowitzki for most of the game but I think it will benefit the Thunder to have Perkins cover him some more that way Ibaka can also be used as the help guy to block shots.

The one problem here is that Perkins could get in foul trouble early if he’s matched up with Nowitzki. It will be up to the entire team to play with the intensity on defense they did down the stretch to help Perkins with this assignment.

Metta World Peace has finally spoken (not counting Twitter) about the elbow he delivered to James Harden last Sunday, earning him a seven-game suspension.

World Peace still sticks by that it was unintentional and that he was way too emotional in the moment.

The video doesn’t lie though. He meant to land the elbow on Harden. I do believe though that it was not as maliciously intended as it appeared. He totally lost himself in the moment and we know he is a crazy person. I believe that somehow he actually could have not known exactly what he was doing at the moment.

It’s unfair to every other player in the NBA to make an excuse for this though no matter what was going on in World Peace’s head. What goes on in his head is crazy stuff and it makes him the kind of guy who could do something like this on accident. Something that could have been much more horrible.

If Harden is facing World Peace and the elbow caught him in the jaw or eye this is a much bigger deal. The blow could have been a lot worse and World Peace is lucky in some regard that it wasn’t worse.

World Peace’s suspension will likely mean that he will return in round two of the playoffs in Oklahoma City. He will receive more boo’s than anyone has this season and deservedly so.

James Harden was not returning to the game after the elbow he received from Metta World Peace and the Thunder had to rely solely on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to create shots. The two struggled in the game with Durant going 11-for-34 and Westbrook 3-for-22.

The Thunder looked like the Thunder team from the 2011 Playoffs. Their sets were not complex and it resulted in a lot of tough shots and isolation plays.

This is who the Thunder are and it has led them to being second in the NBA in offensive efficiency this season.

Not having Harden at the end of the game hurt although the Thunder do not use Harden much at the end of games, it’s usually just a heavy dose of Durant and Westbrook like it was yesterday.

For all of the negativity surrounding the Thunder and their late-game offense, they did show me two sets in the second overtime that I loved. Both sets were sets that they have run before this season and worked against the Lakers yesterday. They just haven’t gone to these sets enough in my opinion.

The first play comes with 3:06 left in the second overtime with the Thunder trailing 102-99 after Steve Blake has just made a three-pointer. Westbrook brings the ball up on the left side of the floor and is going to receive a double-screen on the wing from Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka while Durant is in the left corner.

Westbrook comes of the screens but not aggressively and stations at the top of the key waiting for Durant who is now coming off a double from Perkins and Ibaka.

Durant comes off it pretty open and he has an opportunity to shoot immediately but is a little hesitant. He holds the ball for a second and Perkins and Devin Ebanks are still jostling for position so Durant decides to shoot and makes the three.

This play reminds me a lot of the double-staggered look Dallas showed Miami in the NBA Finals last year that worked so well. Westbrook has the option to come off the double and look to score and then the Thunder are setting another double for Durant to get a look. If Durant doesn’t have the jumper, he still has Perkins there to set him a ball screen and attack as well as Ibaka spotting up in the corner.

The Thunder would run this set again two possessions later but Durant did a bad job of setting up Ebanks to come off the screen and Westbrook was forced to abandon the pass to Durant and attack off of a Perkins screen. He threw up a wild shot at the rim over Pau Gasol and was not bailed out with a call.

Trailing 104-102 with 1:18 left on their next possession, Oklahoma City went to a different set that I have seen them run a few times in the past week, always with great success. It starts with Westbrook at the top of the key and Perkins and Durant at the elbows ready to come up and set a double for Westbrook.

Westbrook comes off the Perkins screen on the right and Jordan Hill hedges hard off Perkins deterring Westbrook back out beyond the three-point line on the right wing.

After Perkins sets the initial screen, he goes to find Durant’s man and set a downscreen for Durant who is going to pop out at the top of the key.

Durant gets the pass at the top of the key and is actually wide open and could have gone for the three. Instead he decides to drive the wide open lane as Hill is still in the area of Westbrook and hasn’t retreated back to the paint to help on Durant.

When Hill gets back to help, Durant easily gets by him to his strong hand and finishes a tough layup at the rim to tie the game.

When the Thunder have run this play lately they always have Durant standing wide open at the top of the key for a three. They haven’t run it much this year but I hope this is a set they have ready to use down the stretch of games in the playoffs.

The best part about these sets is that it didn’t result in isolation offense by the Thunder. They use Westbrook coming off screens which draws a ton of attention fro the defense and then find Durant for catch-and-shoot opportunities, which he is the best in the world at. Perkins is used to set multiple screens which is really his only strength on offense and Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha are able to space the floor as spot-up threats.

The Thunder aren’t all the way better with their late-game offense, that is for sure. But have they improved from last year? Definitely. Hopefully, it will be enough.

Metta World Peace elbowed James Harden in the back of the head following a dunk and celebrating it.

In real time it looked like World Peace hadn’t done it on purpose, yet still flagrant and unnecessary. On the replay it’s clear that he had bad intentions with it.

We unfortunately got a flashback of Ron Artest when Serge Ibaka approached World Peace to speak his mind and World Peace looked like he wanted to fight.

World Peace completely lost control and lost himself on the play. It was inexcusable and very surprising. You want to like World Peace and he’s come a long way since the Malice at the Palace but a play like this makes it tough.

The blow was a very physical one and Harden will definitely feel it. Hopefully it isn’t serious and he can return soon.

They’ve become the most athletic team in the league and flex their prowess embarrassing opponents by throwing down on them.

They’re led in this and in everything on the basketball court by their big three of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. They each cover a different dimension of highlight-making facials.

Here are my five best dunks in Thunder history.

5. Russell Westbrook on Omer Asik

Westbrook has turned into one of the best players in the league off the ball. This is interesting of course because he has the ball so much and shoots so often while being the primary ball-handler on a possession. But Westbrook is better than anyone at catching a pass and immediately attacking a defense with the drive.

On this play the Bulls are playing zone against the Thunder and Westbrook shows why he is so great against the zone. After swinging the ball around the perimeter a few times the ball gets to Westbrook and he springs into action.

Westbrook tries for a dunk like this once a game by the way.

4. James Harden on J.J. Hickson

Harden is one of the most graceful players in the NBA with the ball. He has a great handle and moves so efficiently and effortlessly covering the ground he wants. This dunk on Hickson is a perfect example of a Beard facial.

In transition he is picking up speed maybe even faster than he knows at the time. Concentrating on beating defenders with the dribble, he finds himself unexpectedly in perfect position to take off. As so often happen, Harden is a split-second ahead of Hickson who thinks he can get the block. One of the biggest secrets in the NBA is that Harden is a super athlete (I think his beard hides this some). He surprises Hickson with the flush that of course goes through the net perfectly.

3. Russell Westbrook alley-oop from Kevin Durant

The best part about this dunk is how perfectly it represents this Thunder team this season. From the moment Durant gets the ball your eyes immediately try and find Westbrook. I saw this one coming but thought it might not happen when Durant stumbles.

The pass was a little off but when does that not help a huge dunk? Westbrook cleanly makes the catch and is in perfect position to extend and take out his hate on the rim. Notice how high the ball bounces after it goes through and then the best part is Thunder play-by-play announcer Brian Davis reacting again about five seconds after the dunk.

2. Kevin Durant on Brendan Haywood

The Mavericks got the best of the Thunder last season in the playoffs but the Thunder had their moments. This was maybe the best in Game 2.

Durant has Peja Stojakovic on him (bad idea) and easily gets by him to his strong hand, which Durant will always do if he can choose. His takeoff is from so far away that Haywood has no chance of reaching the height Durant does. Throw in Durant’s length and any shove he got from Haywood doesn’t matter and improves the dunk as Durant extends and throws down with big time force.

The “jaw face” by Durant after the dunk makes it awesome.

1. Russell Westbrook destroys Shane Battier

You know how Battier looks like he’s lost a step this season? Well, I think this play might be exactly when Battier lost that step.

Like I said before, Westbrook tries for a dunk like this it seems every night. That’s why I always say he has the best chance of topping Blake Griffin for the Dunk of the Year crown.

Here Westbrook again shows how good he is at attacking after the catch. There’s no defender with him right away so he can gather perfectly. Battier is late getting there and may have wanted to take a charge but Westbrook soars around him in the air.

With one hand Westbrook hangs on the rim like he just conquered a city and provides one of his better celebratory roars.

I’ve said all year that if someone is going to challenge Blake Griffin for the dunk of the year it’s going to be Russell Westbrook.

Tonight he had one of the best dunks of the season catching this lob from Kevin Durant in transition.

The Thunder lead 58-39 at halftime. Westbrook has 12 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Durant leads the team with 17 points and 6 rebounds.

Kevin Durant has scored 16 points in the first half against the Indiana Pacers but he hasn’t gotten much help and the Thunder find themselves trailing 56-41 after two quarters.

Russell Westbrook has only three points and is 1-of-8 from the field but also has six assists and five rebounds.

Serge Ibaka has been solid for the Thunder with six points and four blocks already.

The Pacers have brought an all-around team effort to the floor tonight shooting 54.3 percent from the floor in the first half with Roy Hibbert leading the way with 16 points, five rebounds and four blocks.

Oklahoma City will have to get their act together early in the third quarter to avoid their third-straight loss tonight.

The Oklahoma City Thunder lead the Chicago Bulls 80-51 through three quarters thanks to some great play from their stars Kevin Durant and especially Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook leads the Thunder with 27 points and five assists while his jump shot has looked just as nice as it has during the Thunder’s five-game winning streak. While he was lighting the Bulls up with his jumper he decided to take out some anger on the rim as well with the highlight above.

Durant has scored 26 points to go with 10 rebounds.

The Thunder defense has been most impressive holding the Bulls around 30 percent shooting and sucking away any life they had going into this game. The Bulls are playing without Derrick Rose of course and the Thunder are taking advantage of this.

The matchup is a potential NBA Finals preview minus Rose of course and the Thunder are looking like the best team in the NBA today.

Russell Westbrook really showed off his athleticism with this buzzer-beating three-pointer against the Lakers Thursday night. Just watch Kobe Bryant think for a second he’s going to defend Westbrook on this play and the Honey Badger blow past him.

Westbrook scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter and looked unstoppable. He also has six assists in the game so far to zero turnovers.

Westbrook is starting to go into that mode where he brings the ball up the court and makes no passes before shooting. It’s the same thing he did in the Thunder’s last game against Portland and had success but not ideal always.

The Thunder trailed 30-18 after the first quarter but have since really outplayed the Lakers and lead 78-68 after three.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are protecting their home court tonight leading 80-69 after three quarters vs. the Miami Heat. The Thunder started to pull away in the second quarter with plays on the fast break like this one that occurred in the third quarter.

The Thunder are able to match the Heat’s athleticism and have much more intensity tonight.

Kevin Durant is leading the way with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists easily outplaying LeBron James on the night. James has 13 points and has attempted just one free throw through three quarters.

Dwyane Wade kept Miami alive with three threes in the third.

This is a potential NBA Finals preview and right now the Thunder have a slightly better record than the Heat. Their matchups in the regular season may end up determining an important home court advantage once the Finals come around.

The Thunder didn’t play their best game last night losing to the Jazz 97-90 and this definitely wasn’t one of the finer moments of the night for the Thunder.

Jamaal Tinsley with his street ball attitude showed up Nazr Mohammed by dribbling between his legs then drilling the jump shot.

Tinsley was big for the Jazz last night and scored nine points in the first half.

The Thunder will look to rebound from this loss tonight when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers.

The game promised to be an easy one and delivered as such. Oklahoma City easily dismantled the Portland Trailblazers 111-95 Sunday night.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook led the way combing for 54 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

James Harden was effective off the bench despite shooting 1-for-7 from the field because he got to the line a ton and made 11-of-14 free throws to go along with a team-high seven assists.

The Thunder were hot from deep last night which is always a testament to how tough an opponent plays them. Oklahoma City made 11-of-18 threes in the game as Durant made 4-of-5.

Thabo Sefolosha looked the best he has so far since returning from his injury as he made 4-of-5 field goals and scored 11 points and grabbed five boards.

The Thunder are among the worst in the league when it comes to assists per game but held a 24-to-15 advantage last night over Portland.

The Blazers did not seem to have the energy having just traded away Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby and now clearly in the mode for having a higher draft pick.

The Thunder are off tonight and will return to action Tuesday night at Utah.

The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t exercise their demons against the Spurs Friday night losing 114-105.

The Thunder got off to one of their signature slow starts and couldn’t amount enough of a comeback to get the victory at home against the team with the second-best record in the Western Conference.

Russell Westbrook kept the Thunder afloat like he so often does and led the team with 36 points. Kevin Durant scored 25 points in 43 minutes. James Harden had 19 points off the bench to go along with five assists and seven rebounds.

Tony Parker lit up the Thunder for 42 points in the teams’ last meeting and was effective again last night scoring 25 points to along with seven assists.

The big problem for Oklahoma City was Danny Green and DeJuan Blair combining for 43 points for the Spurs. The Thunder simply aren’t going to beat San Antonio allowing that kind of production from their role players.

The Thunder allowed the Spurs to shoot nearly 52 percent from the field last night and that’s something that obviously can’t happen in the playoffs. The Spurs who will add Manu Ginobili and Stephen Jackson to their cast that topped the Thunder last night are suddenly appearing as the legit two-seed that can challenge the Thunder for a spot in the NBA Finals.