Mar 20, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum. Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime with a score of 90-89. Mandatory Credit: Spruce DerdenUSA TODAY Sports

The word “panic” and the regular season don’t go well together in Oklahoma City. In the NBA, teams can get the 8^th seed for the playoffs; get hot during the playoffs, and the next thing you know, they are receiving their ring. Especially for the Thunder, this team will only be judged on what they do in the postseason.

However, lets panic and worry a little bit, because hey, there’s something to panic about. It seems as if this Oklahoma City team has no identity after all. Back to back losses, at home against a hot Nuggets team, and in Memphis. Neither of those teams are contenders in the first place. So, why? What’s going on? Is it time to panic?

             1.       Derek Fisher taking up quality minutes

Scott Brooks always talking about having a veteran in locker room with pure experience and leadership. But, does that untimely mean he has to get big time minutes? Think about this for a second: If Oklahoma City’s “identity” is to run and get out in transition, why have Fisher in the minutes? He is clearly being overmatched night in and night out. Plus, I would definitely rather  have Brewer, Lamb, or Liggins on the floor.

        2.  Poor Shooting

The Thunder is 11 for 64 from beyond the arc in their last few games. Specifically, they shot an atrocious 5-21 against Dallas, 4 of 25 in a loss to Denver, and 2 for 18 in a loss to Memphis last night.

        3.  Inconsistency

One possession you can say to yourself, “This team is unstoppable, and unguardable ” and then the next possession Westbrook will drive and take a low percentage shot or it will just become isolation basketball. That can’t happen.

Lets see what others are saying:

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on Oklahoma City’s lost to Memphis and recent woes: “Like I said, they almost did enough to win this game. But it’s not enough, and that’s now losses to Denver and Memphis inside of a week. They need better late-game execution and better consistency in their sets. They have some things to work on.”

Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman: “This could totally be a reactionary question. I’m willing to admit that. But what is the Thunder’s identity? Does this team have one? We know it has two all-league players in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and wins a lot of games. But what exactly is this team’s hallmark beyond that? Defense? We’ve seen enough this season to know that’s closer to a dream than a reality. Offense? Then why such struggles when it matters most? Teamwork? That’s laughable. Inside? Outside? What is it? I can’t really tell you at the moment. But, hey, all these regular season wins sure look nice.”

Aren’t the Thunder lucky they play a poor Magic team on Friday? Phew.

Feb 27, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Ronnie Brewer (8) enters the game in action against the New Orleans Hornets during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

It was supposed to be one of the sneaky-good moves at the trade deadline nearly a month ago. The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks while only letting go of a second-round pick.

It looked like the perfect acquisition for a Thunder team that was a little thin at the wing position. The Thunder had already seen DeAndre Liggins thrive in limited minutes this season and Brewer was just supposed to be a better version of Liggins.

Then the Thunder re-signed Derek Fisher and amazingly, that has meant basically zero playing time for Brewer.

“There’s not a lot of minutes right now,” Brooks said. “But we’re happy that we have him. It gives us an option if we need it. But right now he just has to stay ready.”

Via The Oklahoman

Brewer shouldn’t be seen as just an option for the Thunder. He is a quality player in this league that’s good enough to start on a number of teams.

It would be different if he couldn’t get minutes because the Thunder were so deep but the fact that Fisher is essentially playing over him makes no sense at all.

Brooks loves Fisher. It’s because Fisher is a great leader and pretty does all of the little things that make a coach feel good. Brooks was also a former backup point guard in this league and perhaps feels some sort of connection to Fisher.

This is a scary development for the Thunder though. The Fisher rental last year made sense. Reggie Jackson wasn’t cutting it as a rookie and Fisher brought some valuable things to the locker room.

But another rental this year and pushing Brewer to the end of the bench is inexcusable.

It’s funny too because there is this thing where you have to be a great, long, athletic athlete usually to find playing time with the Thunder. Brewer is that and Fisher is the opposite. It just doesn’t add up.

The Thunder don’t have the same margin for error that they did a year ago. James Harden is gone and the Thunder can’t afford to let up at anytime once the playoffs come around.

Playing Fisher, whether it’s over Brewer or not, only puts more pressure on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

It’s just very hard to feel good about the Thunder’s chances seeing Fisher get this much run.

Mar. 7, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson (15) looks to pass the ball against the New York Knicks during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

With a few questions lingering around the Thunder organization and fans, questioning why the Thunder weren’t playing well, those remarks and questions were all answered this week. A four game win streak that included wins in Los Angeles beating a talented and deep Clipper team, at home to play the “revived” Lakers, and in the one the toughest environments to play in beating the Knicks.

Being that it’s only the regular season, you can’t take too much out of Oklahoma City’s recent success. But, you can pick apart the little details that will make this team unstoppable come playoff time.

The Thunder’s bench has been absolutely brilliant as of late. Scott Brooks has had a minor change to rotation, as Hasheem Thabeet has not been playing as much as of late, with zero minutes against the Knicks. Also, Derek Fisher has virtually became Oklahoma City’s seventh man, backing up Westbrook. A big thanks to Oklahoma City bench success has been Reggie Jackson. He looks as if he’s a seventh year veteran on the floor. Directing, playing with a whole lots of confidence, and being the player Presti saw in him. Jackson hit timely three’s in the Knicks game to help the Thunder hold off the Knicks.

Another big key as of late has been the production of Serge Ibaka. Minus the stupid play on Griffin late in Los Angeles, Ibaka has been playing really well. He went for 12 and nine against the Knicks, and had 16 points against Blake Griffin and the Clippers.

Finally, most of this credit has to go to Russell Westbrook. We’ve heard the Kobe Bryant comparison that ESPN.com did, and it looks as if that jump started him on this streak. Westbrook seems “guardable” beating his guy to the rim every possession. He put up 37 points and 10 rebounds against the Lakers, 29 against the Clippers, and a solid 21 points against New York.

Now, here comes the second tough stretch for Oklahoma City. Today against Boston at home, in San Antonio (big one) on Monday, and a tough Jazz team at home on Wednesday. If Miami streak can come to end, the NBA needs to then take a look at how well the guys in the blue and yellow has been playing. Look out!

Jun 20, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Derek Fisher (37) stretches during practice for game five of the 2012 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn’t surprising when news broke a few days ago that the Oklahoma City Thunder had signed veteran point guard Derek Fisher.

The Thunder had just traded third-strong point guard Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers a few days prior leaving second year man Reggie Jackson as the only backup to Russell Westbrook remaining on the roster.

Fisher had signed with the Thunder around the same time last season too and fit in pretty well for the most part becoming an important role player in the playoffs.

It’s a different situation this year though because Jackson has really emerged as a solid player of the Thunder bench.

Jackson is a tremendous athlete who defends really well and is growing leaps and bounds as a playmaker. You can see his confidence starting to really grow with the more playing time he earns.

The backup point guard slot is not a weakness for the Thunder right now. Jackson is doing a great job really and it won’t be like last year where Thunder head coach Scott Brooks immediately named Fisher the backup when he was signed.

Brooks did have some interesting comments about the situation however.

“Definitely, he will play,” so says Scott Brooks. “Does he take spots on the floor, minutes from other guys? To have a good team you have to have sacrifices from everybody. Minutes are going to be had, minutes are probably going to be taken away from many guys. Not just because of Derek Fisher, but as the season goes on, sometimes the rotations become smaller.”

Via Daily Thunder

This is not good news for the Thunder.

Brooks loves Fisher way too much. There’s nothing wrong with that because Fisher is by all accounts a great leader and mentor for this young Thunder squad but he is simply not needed right now.

Brooks loved using Fisher in crunch time last season and then, it kind of made sense, but still not really. He would use Fisher along with Russell Westbrook as the Thunder went small.

Thabo Sefolosha wasn’t getting crunch time minutes last season because the Thunder had James Harden. Sefolosha is this year one of the most important players for the Thunder and is Fisher is getting burn late in games over him, that won’t be a good trade off for the Thunder.

Then there is the fact that the Thunder just acquired Ronnie Brewer and also have Kevin Martin to find minutes for. Fisher just doesn’t fit in or is needed.

It seems like Brooks is committed to playing small going forward. So we know Kevin Durant will be ending most games at the four with Westbrook on the floor too.

Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins or Nick Collison will be at the five and then that leaves two spots for Fisher/Martin/Sefolosha/Brewer.

If Fisher is ever getting the nod over either of those three, it won’t be good news for the Thunder.

Fisher is really a liability on defense at this point in his career. Teams will take advantage of the Thunder’s switching defense to go at Fisher as much as possible. Is this really what the Thunder want their season to come down to? A 38-year old trying to check Dwyane Wade or Tony Parker?

The best case scenario is Fisher hardly playing at all. Maybe he will get hurt and Jackson will continue to play so well that even Brooks can’t come up with a reason to play him.

It’s starting to feel very likely that Fisher will once again become a very important piece to the Thunder this season and be closing out a lot of games. And it’s hard to imagine that working out in the Thunder’s favor.

Jun 21, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Derek Fisher (37) talks to Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) during the fourth quarter in game five in the 2012 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder signed 38-year old Derek Fisher yesterday for the rest of the season.

Fisher has only played nine games this season with the Dallas Mavericks with the last one coming all the way back on Dec. 18.

Fisher was signed by the Thunder around the same time last year and was a big part of their playoff run.

What kind of impact will Fisher have with the Thunder this season?

The Thunder don’t exactly need a backup point guard right now like they did last year. Second year man Reggie Jackson has been playing great of late beating out Eric Maynor for the job and really becoming a sneaky weapon off the Thunder bench.

Jackson was only a rookie last year and after Maynor tore his ACL, the backup point guard position became a real weakness for the Thunder.

Fisher came in and did a decent job hitting some big shots in the playoffs and fitting in well with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Fisher shouldn’t expect to come in this season and immediately become the backup point. If anything, he will be more of an insurance and possibly used in spot situations.

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks does love Fisher quite a bit though. He probably played him a little too much last year and in the playoffs. Brooks has always talked up Fisher’s leadership and the little things he brings to the team.

Fisher can bring a little defense and three-point shooting as well. He shot 43.5 percent from three for Dallas this season. Last year with the Thunder he shot 31.4 percent from three in the regular season and 37.5 percent in the playoffs.

Fisher is someone you can always trust in crunch time too. He won’t shy away from any big shot and is one of the best at spacing the floor and getting his team’s stars in the right position.

If Fisher starts playing big minutes for the Thunder this season, it won’t be a good sign. It will mean that Jackson isn’t cutting it and the Thunder are forced to resort to a 38-year old.

You know Brooks will love playing Fisher in crunch time which won’t be the best thing for the Thunder. Going small is great at the end of games but when small means Fisher and Westbrook in the backcourt, that’s taking it too far.

If small becomes Westbrook, Durant, Martin, Ibaka/Collison and Sefolosha/Brewer, then that’s more like it.

Fisher won’t have a huge impact on the Thunder this season. There is nothing wrong with the signing and it made sense but don’t expect the Thunder to be any more prepared for the playoffs now because of Fisher.

The Thunder play their next game tomorrow night at home vs. the New Orleans Hornets. We may get a chance to see the debuts of Fisher and Ronnie Brewer then.

Dec 14, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Dallas Mavericks guard Derek Fisher (6) during their game against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Mavericks 95-74. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder have reportedly reached a deal to sign veteran point guard Derek Fisher.

Derek Fisher has reached agreement with Oklahoma City on a contract for rest of season, league sources tell Y! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 25, 2013

Fisher, 38, has not been playing this season and only played nine games with the Dallas Mavericks in total this year.

Fisher was of course signed by the Thunder around the same time last season after being traded by the Los Angeles Lakers and then waived by the Houston Rockets.

Fisher was a big part of the Thunder’s playoff run last season playing 22.3 minutes per game in the playoffs for OKC and averaging 6.3 points and 1.3 assists per game.

Fisher shot just 31.4 percent from three in the regular season last year but upped that number to 37.5 percent in the playoffs.

Fisher was brought on last year because of the injury to Eric Maynor that kept him sidelined for most of the season.

Rookie Reggie Jackson wasn’t cutting it as the backup point guard last year so Fisher stepped into that role.

Jackson has been much better this season and it seems unlikely that Fisher will begin playing instead of Jackson right away, if ever.

Fisher will still bring value to this team with his veteran leadership and locker room presence.

Beth Hall-US PRESSWIRE

Derek Fisher is still an unsigned free agent after finishing out last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Fisher was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers at the trade deadline to the Houston Rockets, who then waived him.

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks told the L.A. Times that there is still a chance Fisher could be back with the Thunder next year.

“There still is,” Brooks said. “Everything is still fluid. Derek Fisher, just being around him, I can tell why he’s loved by so many people and why the Lakers won so many championships. He puts everything he has into every possession, every practice and every game. In our practices, he is 37 and he did everything we asked, every drill and every possession. He practices every day. It was great. I don’t think we could’ve gone as far as we did without him. I thought he was terrific and I love him. I really have a lot of respect for him.”

Brooks played the role of backup point guard well in his playing career, primarily with the Rockets, so he knows the benefit of the position. After Eric Maynor went down with an injury that ended his season last year, rookie Reggie Jackson was unable to do a sufficient job in the role leading to the signing of Fisher.

The chances of Fisher coming to the Thunder were said to be “remote” by Sam Amick of SI.com. The Thunder have 18 players that will be on their training camp roster and with Maynor and Jackson returning next year, there isn’t much room for Fisher.

Fisher has been seen working out at the Lakers and Clippers’ training facilities this summer. The chance of Fisher returning to the Lakers is also more unlikely than not at this point.

All in all, Fisher did not contribute a ton for the Thunder last season and there is really no reason for the Thunder to pursue him for next year. Brooks was just giving the correct answer to the question by not saying much at all.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Free agent point guard Derek Fisher still hasn’t found a home this offseason. Fisher was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline last season and then was waived by Houston.

The Oklahoma City Thunder then signed Fisher, who was contemplating at the time signing with the Heat or Bulls as well.

Fisher fit in well with the Thunder for the most part. He has some big Fisher-like moments in the playoffs, hitting a few big shots and doing a better job than Reggie Jackson as Russell Westbrook’s backup.

Fisher averaged 4.9 points per game in 20 regular season games with the Thunder last season. In the playoffs, he averaged 6.3 points per game in 22.3 minutes. He shot .415 percent from the field and .375 percent from three.

SI.com’s Sam Amick is reporting that there is only a “remote” chance Fisher will be back in OKC next year. The Thunder not only have Westbrook and Jackson on the roster but Eric Maynor is returning from ACL surgery next season so there is really no need for Fisher. The Thunder also already have more than 15 players under contract if you include some of the training camp signees.

Amick also reported that Fisher turned down the Chicago Bulls before the Bulls signed Nate Robinson to backup Krik Hinrich while Derrick Rose is still recovering from his knee injury. This is somewhat puzzling because aside from Miami and OKC, the Bulls are one of the few teams out there who could compete for a title and that’s what Fisher wants to do now in the twilight of his career.

It seems unlikely Fisher would want to go somewhere like New Orleans or Cleveland at this point. Maybe there’s a chance he is somehow waiting on the Los Angeles Lakers and a possible return there. He has done it before. The Lakers are pretty set at point guard with Steve Nash and Steve Blake though so that is pretty unlikely too.

Fisher can still bring something to a team in limited minutes off the bench. But the point guard position has become very deep in the NBA and no team seems like they plan to reach for Fisher if they don’t absolutely need another backup point.

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Most of the big names in the NBA have already found a home this offseason but there are still a few players out there in search of a team.

Michael Redd is one of them and the Oklahoma City Thunder have been grouped in as a possible suitor for the veteran 3-point specialist. Derek Fisher, who finished last season with the Thunder, could find his way to San Antonio.

Sam Amico of Fox Sports says: “Apparently no interest from Cavs on Ohio guy Michael Redd, but teams mentioned as possible suitors include the … Wizards, Nuggets, Grizzlies, Bulls, and yes, Thunder, who still have a spot available in the backcourt after Derek Fisher’s departure. Both Redd and Fisher are unrestricted free agents, and while clearly past their primes, could still help a team looking for shooting and a veteran presence off the bench. As for Fisher, it would not surprise me to see him end up with the Spurs.”

The Thunder don’t exactly have a spot open in the backcourt. With Eric Maynor returning from injury and the signings of Hasheem Thabeet and Hollis Thompson this summer, OKC has a full roster.

That doesn’t mean it would be impossible for them to sign another player like Redd. Redd averaged 8.2 points per game last season in 51 games with the Phoenix Suns. He averaged 15.1 minutes per game but shot just .318 percent from three, despite playing with Steve Nash.

Whenever people are trying to come up with possible destinations for 3-point specialists, the Thunder’s name is often brought up. Such has been the case with Sacramento Kings’ guard Jimmer Fredette as well.

Fisher was signed by the Thunder last season after being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline and then waived by Houston. He played in the final 20 games for the Thunder averaging 20.4 minutes per game and 4.9 points per game.

Fisher played a lot of important minutes in the playoffs and had some big moments which we are used to seeing from him.

The Spurs don’t seem to have any kind of need for Fisher with guards Tony Parker, Gary Neal, Patty Mills and Nando De Colo already on the roster. Not to mention Fisher’s past being a Spurs killer and the unforgettable 0.4 seconds left shot.

The point with Fisher is that he only wants to go somewhere where he can win. That’s why teams like Chicago, Miami and now San Antonio are being linked to his name.

It seems unlikely that Fisher will become a Spur just like it seems unlikely the Thunder will change their roster anymore before next season.

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Jimmer Fredette is the kind of basketball player that should fit in anywhere. But that’s not what’s happening in Sacramento.

In his rookie season last year with the Kings, Fredette played 18.6 minutes per game and just .386 percent from the field. He was a lottery pick but found himself getting less run than Isaiah Thomas who was picked dead last in the same draft.

Sam Amico of Fox Sports says: “Speaking of Kings, Jimmer Fredette would love to go someplace where someone other than just DeMarcus Cousins will pass him the ball. Thunder would love to pry Fredette away from Kings as replacement for Derek Fisher. Kevin Durant is a Jimmer fan.”

There is no indication that the Thunder have openly expressed interest in acquiring Fredette and right now their priorities are elsewhere, mainly contract negotiations with James Harden. But Fredette would be a perfect fit wearing a Thunder uniform.

One of the things the Thunder could use is a deadly 3-point shooter, which Fredette surely is or at least can blossom into. He has unlimited range and would make it that much more difficult to help on Durant-Westbrook-Harden.

Fredette might provide a pretty big defensive liability that the Thunder would prefer not deal with but he could make up for it with his offense and it’s always possible to hide some guys on defense.

The Thunder aren’t necessarily looking for a replacement for Derek Fisher either. Eric Maynor will be back from injury next season although his last season for the Thunder will likely be next year.

Then there’s Reggie Jackson who is coming off a pretty unimpressive rookie season but did show some promise in the summer league.

Fredette would be a welcome addition to the Thunder if it became a possibility. Durant being a fan of his would make it that much better too.

It’s not something that will happen anytime soon but it’s always fun to dream about the future of this Thunder team.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Reggie Jackson had a tough time in his rookie year with the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. After backup point guard Eric Maynor went down with an injury, Jackson was thrust into the backup point role.

Jackson wasn’t fully ready for the job and struggled for most of the season shooting just 32.1 percent from the field on the year. The Thunder went out and acquired veteran point guard Derek Fisher before the playoffs and Jackson returned to the end of the bench.

Jackson is looking to make more of an impact for the Thunder next season though and has met and worked on his shot with Boston College coach Steve Donahue and former BC coach Al Skinner, according to The Boston Globe.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get on the court and help the team,” Jackson told The Boston Globe. “You have to be a leader and understand how to handle tough situations. It’s a different game as you go up every level, and the ones that are confident are the ones that stay around.”

Jackson will come into next season as the third strong point guard behind Russell Westbrook and Maynor but he will still fight for playing time. Jackson looked very good in the Thunder’s Summer League games averaging 15.3 points and 3.5 assists per game.

Jackson is a very good athlete that could easily blossom into a lockdown defender at the point guard position. He played with a ton of confidence in the Summer League and his offense improved in the process.

Jackson has a good knack for scoring inside and finishing with his long arms. Adding a solid jump shot to his arsenal is just what he needs to start getting more run.

Maynor will be in the last year of his contract next season which could make Jackson the backup point of the future is he proves himself.

“The biggest thing last year for me was I was questioning myself about certain things,” Jackson said. “You have to trust in your game. Once I got on the court I was thinking about everything instead of just playing. I’m getting back to just playing ball and having belief in my abilities.”

Fisher was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder last season after the Los Angeles Lakers traded him to the Houston Rockets where he was waived. Fisher chose the Thunder over the Miami Heat.

The Thunder were in need of a backup point to finish out last season after Eric Maynor had torn his ACL after just nine games and the rookie point experiment of Reggie Jackson was not thriving by any means.

Fisher came in and did his job and made a few big shots during the playoffs. That was expected.

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks did seem to like playing Fisher a little too much, often using him in OKC’s small lineups instead of a player like Thabo Sefolosha. Brooks would ride the hot hand after Fisher made a shot or two but usually it didn’t quite pay off for the Thunder.

Fisher is still considering the Thunder this offseason but it is very unlikely they are interested in signing him. Maynor is expected to be recovered from his injury next season and the Thunder have already signed Hasheem Thabeet in free agency and drafted Perry Jones III leaving just one more open roster spot.

The Thunder are not looking to add a fourth point guard unless they elect to re-sign Royal Ivey for very little money which is still a possibility.

Fisher, Ivey and Nazr Mohammed are the three Thunder players from last year’s team that may not be back in 2012-13. In fact, cross Fisher and Mohammed off that list for sure.

A lot of teams and players are making a lot of news in this so far exciting NBA free agency period but the Thunder are forced to stand pat.

The No. 1 priority for OKC is working on extensions for James Harden and Serge Ibaka and possibly Maynor as well. The task of keeping Harden and Ibaka long-term is not an easy one and it is believed that both will have to accept less money to remain with the team down the road.

The last thing the Thunder want to see is the free agency market determine their values. We have seen already this offseason what that can mean with Eric Gordon receiving a max-offer from Phoenix and the money being thrown at guys like Roy Hibbert and Nicolas Batum.

Both Harden and Ibaka can expect to see excessive cash offered their way if they are free agents next summer. OKC does not want to see that happen.

The Thunder do have a few roster spots to fill though with Derek Fisher, Nazr Mohammed and Royal Ivey all possibly coming off the books.

The Thunder aren’t going to outbid anyone for a free agent but here are a few possibilities for the Thunder:

Hasheem Thabeet, C

Thabeet was the first name brought up this offseason with the Thunder. The former No. 2 overall pick in 2009 has pretty much been a bust so far in his NBA career. Thabeet hasn’t gotten a lot of chances yet though anywhere he has played. At 7-foot-3, Thabeet is a physical specimen and was drafted No. 2 for a reason: he has a lot of potential. The Thunder may be a perfect spot for him to shine.

With Mohammed likely on the way out, the Thunder would be in the market for another backup big. Kendrick Perkins will be the starting center with Serge Ibaka starting at power forward. Nick Collison and Cole Aldrich are the immediate backup bigs and then there is rookie Perry Jones III. Signing another backup center if Aldrich doesn’t pan out would be a good idea for OKC.

Devin Ebanks, SF

Ebanks is an athletic wing that has drawn interest from a number of teams, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopWorld. The Lakers have extended a qualifying offer to him so they can match any offer he received from another team if they choose.

A backup small forward for Kevin Durant is a need for the Thunder. Daequan Cook served as Durant’s backup for most of the regular season making the Thunder second unit extra small. Ebanks could be an upgrade in this spot and provide some more versatility to OKC’s lineups.

Roger Mason

ESPN’s Chris Broussard tweeted that the Thunder are among a few teams interested in Mason. Mason is basically a spot-up shooter not much different than Cook. This signing isn’t one the Thunder would prefer over Ebanks but if they can’t get Ebanks, Mason could come into play.

Mason averaged 5.5 points per game in 52 games for Washington last season. He is a career .381 percent 3-point shooter.

Daniel Orton

Orton is from Oklahoma and a potential target for OKC, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Orton was a first round draft pick by Orlando back in 2010. He has only played in 16 games in his short NBA career and never really showed much for the Magic.

With Thabeet expected to sign with the Thunder more than anything else, Orton seems unlikely to land in OKC.

Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Perry Jones III may very well have been the steal of the draft for the Oklahoma City Thunder, drafting him 28th overall.

The Thunder did not expect to see Jones III on the board at this point but were more than happy to select him.

“We felt very comfortable making this selection at 28,” Thunder GM Sam Presti said. “We looked at all the information that we had available, and we wouldn’t have selected him unless we felt comfortable with all the information.”

Presti went on to say how he saw Jones III in his first ever college practice at Baylor and spoke to his coach there who described Jones III as someone who really cares about what he’s doing on the basketball court and of course, quite the amazing athlete.

The more you think about Jones III on this Thunder team, the more it seems like a perfect fit. His personality should blend right in with the likes of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

“We really see him as a blend player,” Presti said. “We see great value in the fact that he’s incredibly talented, but he’s able to play within a team and understand how he can impact a game. He doesn’t need to be forcing the issue at all times. And with our particular team, we feel like that’s a huge quality that we looked at as a positive for us.”

But how much can we expect from Jones III during his rookie season? There are concerns regarding the health of his knee. Will he make the rotation?

The general consensus right now around the local media that cover the Thunder is that there aren’t a lot of immediate expectations for Jones III and that he may not be in the rotation to start.

“We won’t pigeonhole him,” assistant GM Troy Weaver said of Jones’ future position. “We think he can play anywhere on the front line. He’s a versatile player. The coaches will handle that. But we see his versatility as a strength.”

The Thunder will look to have a 10-man rotation once the season starts and Jones III actually has a very good chance of cutting into it. They will have the same starters as last season with Harden and Nick Collison as the first two off the bench.

Eric Maynor will be back from injury and will take over Derek Fisher’s backup point duties, assuming the Thunder don’t re-sign Fisher. Daequan Cook will continue his role as 3-point specialist leaving one more spot for Jones III to compete for.

Cole Aldrich has been in line waiting to step into the rotation and now with Nazr Mohammed likely gone he may. But Jones III could compete and beat Aldrich for that spot. The best case scenario for the Thunder would be if Jones III does crack the rotation.

You see, Jones III is exactly the type of player OKC was missing in the playoffs. They needed another versatile athlete to throw on LeBron or be able to grab rebounds while also defending quicker players.

In the playoffs, the Kendrick Perkins trade where OKC sent away Jeff Green started to look like a bad idea, if only Green was healthy. The Thunder were really missing that stretch 3-4 guy who can make some plays, defend a lot of positions and rebound.

Jones III can be exactly that for the Thunder. He won’t be the ball handler that Green was but he is bigger and just as athletic if not more. He’s not going to protect the rim like Serge Ibaka but he’ll be better to have out there than Fisher trying to take charges all the time.

We all keep reminding ourselves that Jones III could have been a lottery pick, this year or the last. That means he really should be getting a solid chunk of minutes for the Thunder next season.

“Everybody looks at his talent and says this guy should be dominant,” Weaver said. “But he plays within a teamwork and tries to blend with players and help his team win ballgames.”

One thing is for certain that the Thunder players will embrace him. Any down feelings Jones III had for slipping so late in the first round will be immediately erased when he steps on the floor with the most exciting team in the NBA.

This may be the typical overreaction immediately following the draft but there’s a few things we know about this Thunder team. One is that they will win a championship whether it’s this next season or soon after. Jones III will be integral in helping them do so.

The Miami Heat have won the last three games of this series after the Thunder took Game 1. They haven’t blown OKC out in any of those games they’ve just shown more poise down the stretch.

The Thunder finally avoided a slow start in Game 4 and actually jumped out to a pretty nice lead themselves, going up 33-16 in the first quarter.

The Thunder know what they need to fix and it’s just a matter of executing it and staying alive to get back home for Game 6.

Let’s start with…

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant – 30.3 PPG, 2.0 APG, 4.8 RPG, .550 FG%, .370 3PT%, .821 FT%

Kevin Durant was amazing in the first two games of this series, especially in the fourth quarters. But since the series has shifted to Miami, he really hasn’t played that well at all by his standards.

Durant is still scoring 26.5 points per game in Miami and shooting efficiently but the rest of his game is suffering. His rebounding is way down and his defense in general has been suspect.

Playing with a sense of desperation in Game 5 should hopefully cure these things for Durant. It’s really just a matter of being locked in and focused and flying all over the court. Durant has been caught in no man’s land just watching too often on defense.

Perhaps it has to do with how hard he has had to work just to get the ball. Miami is mostly fronting Durant and he isn’t strong enough to make that an easy catch. This has been going on for two games now and it has really hurt the Thunder offense so it will be interesting to see if they can adjust.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James – 29.3 PPG, 6.0 APG, 10.0 RPG, .472 FG%, .231 3PT%, .811 FT%

LeBron had one of his best games in Game 4 against the Thunder. He dominated the game from the low block, picking apart the Thunder defense on kick outs.

LeBron’s greatest strength in recent years has been reading the situation and taking what’s given. The Thunder defense did not defend him well in the post and LeBron made them pay with 26 points and 12 assists.

LeBron then capped off the night by hitting a huge three despite battling cramps and the Heat escaped with the win.

Other than that LeBron wasn’t too dominant. His jump shot hasn’t been deadly in this series and even when he shoots in the post it is worse than it feels.

LeBron didn’t play much of a distributor in the first three games of this series but he became that in Game 4 when Miami needed him too. Letting LeBron play that role and get the role players involved is not a good idea for the Thunder.

The Thunder do not need to double him too much in the post and need to be more concerned with taking away the spot-up shooters.

Durant barely guarded LeBron in Game 4 to avoid any potential foul trouble. If Durant was able to match up with him in the post, the Thunder could play him more straight up. If Game 5 is close and Durant isn’t in foul trouble, we’ll see if Scott Brooks puts him on LeBron in the fourth.

Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook – 29.0 PPG, 6.8 APG, 7.0 RPG, .480 FG%, .176 3PT%, .810 FT%

Russell Westbrook is coming off the game of his life in Game 4 scoring 43 points on 20-of-32 shooting.

Westbrook was completely unstoppable as his jump shot was falling as well as his shots at the rim when he attacked at will.

The Thunder probably won’t get 43 points from him again in this series but for the first time he didn’t start the game off missing his first three shots which was a great sign.

Westbrook will now not receive any criticism for his play. He showed in Game 4 he has nights where he is better than Durant and while the Thunder didn’t win, they very easily could have.

Westbrook’s confidence has to be at an all-time high even for him now and that should lead to him becoming a playmaker and opening up even more offense for the Thunder which they desperately need.

Larry W. Smith/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

Dwyane Wade – 23.3 PPG, 5.8 APG, 5.5 RPG, .413 FG%, .400 3PT%, .806 FT%

The Thunder have continued to do a good enough job on Dwyane Wade in this series. Wade did not kill the Thunder as a passer in Game 4 like he did in Game 3 but he still made some big shots.

The Thunder have to live with what Wade has been doing. The one area he has been hurting them lately is getting to the free throw line. Wade attempted 20 free throws in the last two games which is a number the Thunder can cut down.

Whenever Wade finds space, he hurts you. Westbrook has done a good job using his athleticism to guard Wade and he should see him some more in Game 5 too.

Wade is simply not the biggest concern for the Thunder right now.

James Harden – 10.8 PPG, 3.3 APG, 5.0 RPG, .351 FG%, .286 3PT%, .722 FT%

James Harden has still yet to play like himself in the Finals and that’s probably the biggest reason why the Thunder find themselves down 3-1.

If Harden is able to get it going just a little, it could be enough for the Thunder to win. His numbers are far below his normal averages all across the board.

We knew Miami would defend him the best of anyone in the playoffs but it is also in Harden’s head now why he’s not producing.

All it will take is a couple of drives to the basket where he gets fouled or finishes strong and that could get the momentum going for him.

If he doesn’t get his act together though, it’s hard to imagine the Thunder coming back in this series.

Larry W. Smith/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

Chris Bosh – 12.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG, .396 FG%, .250 3PT%, .833 FT%

Chris Bosh isn’t hurting the Thunder in the ways you would have expected in this series. He’s not scoring very much or doing a ton on offense to make things difficult for OKC.

Bosh is hurting the Thunder with his effort, energy and ability to get to those 50-50 balls. Who would have known?

Bosh’s ability to affect the series that way speaks more to the Thunder’s not matching Miami’s intensity in these last few games.

If you don’t notice Bosh in Game 5, the Thunder will win. If he’s a factor, this series might be over.

The Bigs

The play of the bigs for OKC was much less of an issue in Game 4 than the previous two. The Thunder avoided a slow start with their starting lineup and even got some nice production from Nick Collison when he checked in the first quarter.

The Thunder still have yet to really abuse Miami with their big men. They only got eight offensive rebounds in Game 4 and it feels like they need to be closer to 15 to really take advantage of this mismatch.

Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka combined for just eight points and 10 rebounds in Game 4. They’ve had games this postseason where they’ve both been terrific and the Thunder may need that kind of performance to extend this series.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

Shane Battier is no long the sniper he was in Oklahoma City but in Game 4 it was Chalmers who stepped up scoring 25 points.

Miami made 10 threes in the game thanks a lot to LeBron’s work in the post drawing doubles and kicking.

The Heat got too many open looks in the game for the Thunder to be comfortable with their defense and if they are hitting them again in Game 5, things will be very difficult for the Thunder.

The Thunder went just 3-for-16 from three in Game 4. Derek Fisher didn’t attempt any threes and Thabo Sefolosha went 1-for-3.

The Thunder are going to need someone other than Durant and Westbrook to step up in Game 5 if they are going to take this series back to Oklahoma City. Hitting some more threes would be nice.

Prediction

The Thunder have their backs against the wall as much as possible now. They’ve been here before though down two games in a series and responded by winning the next four games against the best team in basketball.

The Thunder know they just need to get this series back to Oklahoma City and they will have a great chance to win it. Game 5 will be their best effort of the season, it has to be.

If the Thunder play their best, there will be nothing the Heat can do to stop them too. It’s all up to them.

They haven’t lost four games in a row all season and I don’t think they start now. This series is still going seven. If they win Game 5, they’re not losing Game 6 and then in a Game 7, anything can happen.

This team doesn’t get down on themselves and they know they can beat this team. They’ve taken the next step so many times this season and it’s no time to take another step and win Game 5 in Miami.

The Thunder lost Game 3 in Miami 91-85 and really didn’t play a good game at all. The Heat shot very poorly from outside the paint and the Thunder were in great position to steal one on the road.

The Thunder led by 10 points in the third quarter but foul trouble for Kevin Durant helped allow the Heat to come back and close this one out.

Looking ahead to Game 4, the Thunder are going to need to play a lot better starting with…

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant – 31.0 PPG, 1.7 APG, 5.7 RPG, .574 FG%, .409 3PT%, .737 FT%

Durant may have had his worst game of the playoffs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. He scored 25 points and went 11-of-19 from the field but he picked up his fourth foul with 5:41 left in the third quarter and was a mess on defense all night.

The Thunder allowed Miami to get 14 offensive rebounds in the game and Durant was a big reason why. Too many times when a shot went up he showed no interest in boxing out or anything.

Durant is only averaging 5.7 rebounds per game in this series and that is something he really needs to improve upon. With the Thunder playing small so much, Durant needs to be super active on defense and rebounding.

Durant isn’t at his best when he is put in this position as an interior help defender but that’s what we have here in the NBA Finals. He needs to step up in that department or the Thunder are going to have a hard time coming back and winning this series.

Durant may be a little drained from defending LeBron James and having to work so hard to get open on offense. In Game 3, the Thunder tried to isolate Durant a little too much and it became very reminiscent of how the New York Knicks were using Carmelo Anthony against the Heat in the first round.

Durant would work so hard just to get an isolation opportunity against the best defender in basketball and it wore him down. And after working so hard to get the ball, you know you’re going to want to shoot every time and it resulted in stagnant offense for the Thunder.

Durant didn’t have any assists in his 39 minutes of action and that’s never a good sign for the Thunder. You really don’t expect the Thunder to win when Durant has this kind of game but the loss still hurts because they had a great chance to anyway.

Durant was unable to muster up any heroics in the fourth this time though. He scored just four points in the period and had two turnovers. He looked like he lost his rhythm after coming out of the game with his fourth foul.

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James – 30.3 PPG, 4.0 APG, 10.3 RPG, .464 FG%, .222 3PT%, .862 FT%

LeBron had another quiet LeBron game in Game 3. He had 29 points and 14 rebounds and it seemed not too spectacular. That’s LeBron for you.

He came out very aggressive again like Game 2 scoring inside and working hard for offensive rebounds. This was something the Thunder could have prevented simply by matching his intensity but they just didn’t have it that night.

LeBron was probably most important defending Durant. He made him work so hard just to get the ball that it took Durant out of the rest of the game in a way.

It is still amazing how Durant can score one-on-one against LeBron so much. You just never expect anyone to do it that way on LeBron and it just goes to show how talented Durant is.

LeBron again had a few transition buckets where the Thunder didn’t pick him up quickly enough down the floor. LeBron does such a good job of taking what’s given to him and it resulted in a lot of easy buckets for him in Game 3 since the Thunder weren’t playing their best.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook – 24.3 PPG, 7.3 APG, 7.0 RPG, .412 FG%, .214 3PT%, .778 FT%

Westbrook isn’t going to get the same blame for the Thunder losing Game 2 but he didn’t even play any better.

One of the things that will stick out from Game 3 is Scott Brooks taking Westbrook out at the end of the third and closing the quarter without Westbrook or Durant.

It’s understandable taking Durant out because he had four fouls but that should have meant Westbrook was staying in. The Heat closed out the third 15-3 with the two on the bench and that may very well have lost OKC the game.

Westbrook didn’t end up shooting as much as he did in the first two games and that was unfortunate because the Thunder really could have used him stepping up and having a 30-point game.

Westbrook continues to struggle finishing at the rim and making the best decisions when he is penetrating. He again missed his first three shots of the game which he has done in each game so far in the series.

The Thunder are always at their best when he is aggressive and taking 20-plus shots. He and Durant were both under 20 attempts in Game 3 and it’s hard to imagine them beating the Heat when that is the case.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Dwyane Wade – 22.7 PPG, 6.7 APG, 5.7 RPG, .410 FG%, .000 3PT%, .818 FT%

Wade was very aggressively trying to get his shot in Game 3. He took 22 shots and 11 free throws and didn’t hit a high percentage from the field.

It doesn’t feel like he is a huge concern for the Thunder to contain. He doesn’t feel like the same Wade that could go for 40 on any given night like the past.

Westbrook actually did a pretty good job defending him too which is a good sign for the Thunder going forward in the series.

Wade was most effective as a passer in the pick-and-rolls in the game. He did an excellent job finding the roller to the basket a ton and that really hurt the Thunder.

The Thunder seemed to be playing for the pick-and-pop instead of the roll and the Heat took advantage. We’ll see if the Thunder adjust to this as the series goes on.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden – 11.7 PPG, 3.7 APG, 3.3 RPG, .407 FG%, .333 3PT%, .714 FT%

We’ve seen three games of the NBA Finals and we’re still waiting for James Harden to show up. Harden is far from himself so far against the Heat and that is making things very difficult for the Thunder.

It feels like he hasn’t been able to find where he fits in yet in the series. If he figures it out and starts being himself again it will be great news for the Thunder.

It’s all about getting him going early in the shot clock before the defense is set. He hasn’t gotten a lot of transition opportunities either in the series and that could also help him get going.

Harden has had to guard LeBron a lot in the past two games as well which makes him work that much harder on defense which could also be contributing to his offensive struggles.

He has shown in these playoffs the ability to take over games and the Thunder could really use a game or two like that soon from him.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Chris Bosh – 12.0 PPG, 10.3 RPG, .361 FG%, .250 3PT%, .818 FT%

Bosh has been great for the Heat in these past two games. The energy he has played with and relentless effort getting to loose balls and rebounds has been crucial in the Heat winning.

In Game 3, Bosh was used rolling to the rim a lot more in the pick-and-rolls than just popping and the Thunder had a hard time stopping it.

Bosh will continue to be an important X-factor for the Heat and while at home should produce decently.

The Bigs

One of the biggest issues of this series so far has been the substitution patterns for the Thunder. They are sticking with their main starting five featuring Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka and they continually are getting off to slow starts.

Perkins played well for him in Game 3 and it resulted in him getting 34 minutes while Ibaka played just 22 and sat out the entire fourth.

The Thunder need Ibaka to be their fourth best player to win a title and he’s not that while on the bench in a fourth quarter.

Nick Collison has also lessened his impact on the series since Game 1. He got into foul trouble in Game 3 and needs to avoid that a little more as the series goes on.

The Heat essentially aren’t playing any bigs other than Bosh and Udonis Haslem and it has been working for them. This means the Thunder have an advantage on the offensive glass that they aren’t really taking advantage of.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

Shane Battier finally stopped scoring 17 points per game but still had a decent game for Miami in Game 3.

The Thunder clearly made it a point of emphasis to take away the spot-up shooters in Game 3 and it probably contributed to them giving up so many shots inside the paint.

The Heat are making the Thunder scramble to adjust thanks to great outside shooting and it’s really helping them win this series right now.

Miami shot poorly overall from the outside in Game 3 and that’s part of why they didn’t blow the Thunder out.

OKC is getting some production from Derek Fisher as a spot-up shooter but that’s about it. You can count on Fisher to take and sometimes make the big shot but his minutes should be lessened.

Scott Brooks loves playing him big minutes especially when he hits a shot or two. Fisher should be taken out soon after making a few shots because you know once he’s done that, he’ll start missing. It’s not like he’s going to go off for 20 points while you ride the hot hand.

Prediction

This is a must-win for the Thunder while not so much for the Heat. In these playoffs, the Thunder have always come through in these situations while the Heat have not.

Only twice has the home team in the NBA Finals since 1985 won Games 3, 4 and 5. The Thunder are hardly a candidate for a team to be victim to that.

Game 4 is the one the Thunder will win. This series has seven games written all over it and OKC tying the series at 2-2 is the next step in making that happen.

The Thunder did not play very well in Game 3 and it could give the Heat some false confidence with how they played being enough to give them another win.

The Thunder should play better and if they do, the Heat might not know what hit them.

The Thunder took Game 1 then fell in too big a hole in Game 2 to complete the comeback. Slow starts have been a big issue for the Thunder so far in this series and Miami’s small starting lineups are a big reason why they’ve jumped out to early leads.

The Thunder have actually been pretty impressive in that they’ve even been able to come back against the Heat who are such a good team playing with the lead. Being at home aided in that ability and the Thunder will not have that luxury for the next three games.

The winner of Game 3 in 1-1 NBA Finals series go on to win the series 85 percent of the time. So this is an important game and both teams know it.

Let’s start with …

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant – 34.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, 5.5 RPG, .571 FG%, .444 3PT%, .800 FT%

Durant has played great so far for the Thunder, especially in the fourth quarters. He scored 17 then 16 points in each fourth quarter which is the most by any player in the first two games of the Finals since the merger.

Durant was great all-around in Game 1 defending LeBron well also but in Game 2 took a step back in that department. Too often he and the Thunder defense gave LeBron space in semi-transition looks basically enticing LeBron to drive.

Durant will likely continue to still guard LeBron a lot and will have to be more locked in than he was in Game 2 if he’s going to do a good job.

In the first half of Game 2, Durant got into foul trouble and only scored six points. The Thunder are going to need a lot more from him on the road if they’re going to win any more games. The Thunder starting lineup has been atrocious on offense and if they don’t change it, Durant is the only one who can cure it on his own.

Durant is getting his 34 points per game on 21 shots per game. A lot of people would like to see him shoot more.

The real key would be if Durant could get to the line a little more and put more pressure on the Heat defense. He is attempting just 7.5 free throws per game and only averaging 2.5 assists per game. If both of those numbers go up, the Thunder will start winning with more ease.

Jim Young/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James – 31.0 PPG, 4.5 APG, 8.5 RPG, .457 FG%, .200 3PT%, .905 FT%

LeBron has quietly gotten his so far in these Finals and maybe that is a good thing. The spotlight is coming off him some and more towards the Thunder for their struggles.

Meanwhile, LeBron is getting his 31-9-5 and the Heat successfully stole a game on the road already in this series. What more do you want? Maybe we don’t need to want more but the Heat might need more at some point and LeBron will have to be ready to step up.

It does feel like LeBron could explode a little more in this matchup. It would come by getting to the line a ton kind of like what he did in Game 2 going 12-for-12 from the stripe.

The Heat have gotten great production from their role players so far on the road in this series, something that usually is reserved for home games. If that production drops at all, eyes will shift to LeBron to pick up the slack.

The Heat are at their best right now with LeBron doing everything for them and he’s been able to stick to his all-around attack so far in the series. He hasn’t had to completely focus on a one-on-one matchup with Durant and that is a good thing.

The Heat would like to avoid that and let LeBron keep doing his thing where he does a little bit of everything. That will require players like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to play like they did in Game 2 though.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook – 27.0 PPG, 9.0 APG, 8.0 RPG, .400 FG%, .200 FT%, .750 FT%

So the Thunder lose a game and guess who gets the heat? Of course it’s Westbrook.

While looking at his 27-9-8 line is extremely impressive, Westbrook does have some areas where he can improve and that’s part of being as talented as he is. We’re not comparing your numbers against NBA history. We’re looking at them within the series you are playing in.

Westbrook can and may need to have a gigantic series for the Thunder to win. We have pretty much seen that the Heat can’t matchup with his athleticism so now it’s just up to Westbrook to figure out the best way to hurt the Heat. Two days off from Game 2 should help him.

He is attempting four more shots per game than Durant so far and has even taken more free throws. It would be nice if the Thunder could find a balance where Durant gets more shots but that’s not what this team has been about all year.

Westbrook will continue in this matchup to get a lot of shot attempts and he just needs to start making a few more of them. After two games, he should have a better feel for what works and what doesn’t. The Heat will always be on their heels when covering him and in the long run, that has to be a good thing for the Thunder.

Best case scenario for the Thunder would actually be Westbrook going off while Durant remains an efficient scorer. Westbrook really has the potential for a 40-point game or two in this series and he’s the kind of guy with an attitude made for an “Eff-you” road game.

As long as he starts being more efficient than 40-20-75, the Thunder should be in good shape.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Dwyane Wade – 21.5 PPG, 6.5 APG, 5.0 RPG, .436 FG%, .000 3PT%, .818 FT%

Wade was bad in Game 1 then much better in Game 2. His great start was integral for the Heat winning.

The good news for the Thunder is that they’ve contained him pretty well in the first two games. The bad news is that if he has one of those Wade games where he really goes off, the Thunder might not be able to overcome it.

Like a lot of players, when Wade is hitting his jump shot, he becomes really tough to defend. It feels like he can get his jumper any time too so it’s kind of up to him.

The Thunder really just need to play disciplined defense against him and not go for his shot fakes. This is a focus thing that is harder on the road and the whistles are more likely to go Wade’s way in South Beach.

LeBron asked for Wade’s help in Game 2 and got it. If he’s expecting it for the rest of the series and the Thunder can contain him, they can win a game or two in Miami.

Once again, LeBron-Durant is the key matchup for headlines but the winner of Wade-Westbrook has won each game so far this series.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden – 13.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, 2.0 RPG, .529 FG%, .600 3PT%, .714 FT%

Harden has been pretty quiet so far in this series. His 5-point Game 1 where he got in foul trouble was avoided because of a great effort from Thabo Sefolosha.

Harden came in Game 2 and brought the Thunder back but disappeared some in the second half.

Harden is always the key for the Thunder becoming great and he is the one player of their Big Three with the biggest room for improvement from his current Finals numbers to his usual averages.

We knew the Heat would defend him better than anyone yet, but Harden improved in Game 2 and that is a good sign. The same thing happened for him in the San Antonio series, having a bad Game 1 then figuring them out and bouncing back.

Harden needs to do the same against the Heat. The role players will fade away even more than they have on the road and the Thunder Big Three will have to carry the load even more than usual.

When Harden gets it rolling, he’s like a snowball rolling down a hill. Not even the Heat will be able to stop him. The two games off to watch film are something that Harden can really benefit from.

He has been shooting the ball well and that is great, but it’s when he’s getting to the line that he makes the Thunder the best possible team they can be. He’s averaging just 3.5 free throw attempts per game in the series and he’s capable of going double-digits any night.

He has to attack earlier to hurt this Heat defense. When they are set up, it’s very hard to get into the lane against them. But if Harden can get going early in the shot clock and get into the paint easier, his game could really explode especially because the Heat don’t have any great shot blockers.

Jeff Robertson/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

Chris Bosh – 13.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, .417 FG%, .250 3PT%, .714 FT%

Bosh came off the bench in Game 1 then started Game 2. Consider the Thunder lucky he didn’t start both.

The Heat are obviously better when he starts and he had a pretty big Game 2 with 16 points and 15 rebounds. The big rebound total was more from the Thunder missing a ton than him being dominant but nonetheless, he is by far the Heat’s best big man and played well.

The Thunder shouldn’t have to worry too much about Bosh going off or anything. They can defend him well enough but they just can’t allow him anything easy. If he stays on the perimeter shooting jump shots and isn’t getting to the line, the Thunder have to live with that.

Whoever gets the better of Harden-Bosh, might start to really become a big difference maker here in Miami. The Thunder desperately need Harden to play much better than Bosh to win games. If Bosh is putting up better numbers than Harden, the Thunder probably won’t be winning.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

The Bigs

The Heat have done a great job making “The Bigs” become less of a factor in this series. If they weren’t playing so many small lineups and starting Joel Anthony or Ronny Turiaf alongside Bosh, the Thunder would probably be up 2-0 in this series.

The lineup with Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins for OKC is not working out. The floor spacing isn’t good enough and they aren’t capitalizing on their ability to get offensive rebounds.

Scott Brooks will likely not change his starting lineup unless it becomes extremely obvious that he must after Game 3, which means the Thunder will have to survive when their starters are out there. That doesn’t sound good does it?

This puts more pressure on Ibaka making his jump shot. That is really the only thing that is consistently open against the Heat when the starters are in. He needs to either be making that shot or attacking the glass on offense, he can’t be doing neither.

Nick Collison is one of the keys for Oklahoma City. The more minutes he gets, the better for them. He played 21 minutes in Game 1, scored eight points to go with 10 rebounds (5 offensive). In Game 2, he played just 15 minutes, didn’t score and had just three rebounds.

If Collison and Perkins switched their minutes, the Thunder won’t lose any more in this series. It’s that simple.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

Shane Battier is averaging 17 points per game in this series and shooting .692 percent from the 3-point line. Those numbers have to go down somewhat but it’s not as if he hasn’t earned those points by spacing the floor great and getting wide open looks.

The problem is it was supposed to be in Miami when Battier had those games, not in Oklahoma City. Even if he’s not 17 PPG for the rest of this series, he could still be a big factor for the Heat if he keeps playing this way.

The more the Thunder have to think about Battier, the worse. Taking him out of the game starts on offense, making more shots and not giving up so many transition opportunities for the Heat where they can take advantage of switches on defense.

The Thunder could also use more from Thabo Sefolosha and Derek Fisher in terms of making some shots. They were 2-for-10 and 1-for-7 from three combined in Game 2. That’s no help.

Anything they give the Thunder is icing especially on the road and the Thunder may need them to win one or two of these next three.

Prediction

If there was ever a game to pick against the Thunder in this series, this one kind of seems like it. The Heat did their job winning one of the first two and now get to go back home where they should play a little better and the Thunder could be worse.

The Thunder have been one of the most resilient teams in the NBA this season and it’s not easy to beat them twice in a row. They are the more talented team too and if they correct a few of the things they did wrong, should be able to win no matter where the game is played.

The one thing that isn’t happening tonight is the Thunder aren’t blowing the Heat out. You could see the Heat maybe running away with this game or it will be a very close one. If the Thunder keep it close, they have the best fourth quarter player in the league and they won’t be disappointed having to live with what he does late.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. The Miami fans will show up at 9 p.m. EST.

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.

The Thunder won what was an extremely important game for them. Being in their first NBA Finals you expected them to come out and maybe not play their best with all of the excitement.

That’s kind of what happened with the Heat getting out to an early lead too.

In the second half the Thunder really got their act together led by their two stars: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Let’s start with…

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant

All eyes in the NBA Finals are going to be on Kevin Durant and LeBron James. In Game 1, Durant got the best of LeBron as the Thunder win.

Durant guarded LeBron for most of the first three quarters and did a nice job on him.

Durant carried the Thunder on offense to start the game and then finished strong for them with 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Durant went 12-for-20 in the game and got his points pretty easily. LeBron didn’t guard him much in the game either which may have contributed to that some.

The Thunder needed that kind of game from Durant to win Game 1 and they will hope for him to get more help the rest of the series.

Durant does not need to make a lot of adjustments for Game 2. It would be nice if he could continue shooting the ball this well.

Durant can expect better defense from the Heat in Game 2 and expect more pressure. He turned the ball over only twice in Game 1 and will need to keep that number low if the Thunder are going to keep winning games.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James

LeBron wasn’t bad in Game 1 for Miami scoring 30 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists. Durant was just better.

While Durant scored 17 in the fourth, LeBron only scored seven points.

LeBron is going to have to outplay Durant by a significant margin for the Heat to ever beat the Thunder. That’s going to start with LeBron defending Durant more in Game 2.

LeBron started out defending Kendrick Perkins in Game 1 with Shane Battier matched up with Durant. The Heat need LeBron to do a lot of things for them on defense but it looks like now the most important thing will be guarding Durant more.

LeBron was very disruptive against the Thunder pick-and-rolls in Game 1 and if he is guarding Durant more in Game 2, the Heat will sacrifice that defense some.

This should open up more for Russell Westbrook and James Harden to attack and the Thunder need to be ready to take advantage of it.

Offensively, LeBron will simply need to continue scoring 30 or more every game. He is capable of it but it will be interesting to see if defending Durant more tires him out any on the offensive end.

LeBron shot nine free throws in Game 1 so the aggressiveness was there somewhat. He still appears to only attack when he has a definitive advantage and never forces things which is good in some ways but it often feels like he should try and force more.

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook

Westbrook was maybe the biggest reason why the Thunder won Game 1. Durant was great but the help he got from Westbrook was more important.

Westbrook scored 27 points with 18 coming in the second half after he got out to a slow shooting start. Westbrook also dished out 11 assists which is a fantastic number for him.

If Westbrook can keep putting up better numbers than Wade then the Thunder should keep winning. He looked very confident in the second half and needs to carry that over to Game 2.

Dwyane Wade

Wade needs to give the Heat a lot more to beat the Thunder. He scored just 19 points in Game 1 on 19 shots. That wasn’t even close to enough.

LeBron has said that he knows Wade still has some great games left in him and the Heat could sure use one on the road for Game 2 tonight.

Wade didn’t get any easy buckets in Game 1 and shot a lot of jumpers instead. He should come out more in attack mode for Game 2 and if he is getting calls, it will be huge for Miami.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden

Harden only scored five points in Game 1 and it kind of went unnoticed because the Thunder still won. He’s definitely going to need more than five for the Thunder to keep winning games in this series.

There wasn’t a lot for Harden to work with in the pick-and-rolls in Game 1 and he will need to adjust his plan of attack tonight. The Heat try and take the ball out of Harden’s hands in the pick-and-roll and it worked well in Game 1.

Harden needs to try and attack earlier in the shot clock and in transition to get going in this series. Harden got off to a similar slow start in the Spurs series and adjusted fine after Game 1. He should do the same against the Heat.

Chris Bosh

Bosh didn’t start Game 1 and played 34 minutes and scored 10 points to go with five boards. It wasn’t nearly enough for the Heat to win.

It is still uncertain whether he will start Game 2 or not but either way he needs to make a much larger impact if the Heat are going to win.

Bosh seems to only give the Heat spot-up shooting right now and he needs to find other ways to score and be effective.

His real value needs to come on defense. The Thunder scored 56 points in the paint in Game 1 and with Joel Anthony getting little run, Bosh is the only real rim protector for the Heat and needs to do a better job tonight.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The Bigs

The Thunder still have a big advantage in this department in the series even though they didn’t take advantage too much of it in Game 1.

The Thunder had 10 offensive rebounds in Game 1 but are capable of much more with the Heat playing so many small lineups.

Nick Collison had a great first game with eight points and 10 rebounds (five offensive) and the more minutes he gets, the better for OKC.

Perkins does not seem to have much effect against the Heat because he struggles against the pick-and-roll on defense and it allowed for a lot of open threes for Miami.

Serge Ibaka didn’t block a shot for the first time in 45 games for the Thunder. He played well on offense though attacking the rim especially and scored 10 points.

Other than Bosh, Haslem was the only real big to play for Miami and didn’t do much. If somehow he can have a solid night, the Thunder could be in trouble because they should dominate these positions.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

Miami started out Game 1 great with the production of their spot-up shooters. Battier in particular made his first three 3-pointers in the game and finished with four on the night and 17 points.

The Thunder struggled with Perkins on the floor to get out on Miami’s shooters. The Heat did a nice job too of finding them in semi-transition opportunities after Thunder misses.

Derek Fisher and Thabo Sefolosha stepped up nicely for the Thunder when they needed them. They combined for 15 points.

Sefolosha was key on defense guarding LeBron for most of the fourth and containing him nicely. It will be interesting to see if Sefolosha guards LeBron more tonight.

The Thunder always feel like they’re better with Sefolosha closing out games which will be the case if he guards LeBron in the fourth again.

The best Thunder lineup is usually Westbrook-Harden-Thabo-Durant-Ibaka/Collison. They will get the chance to play this lineup a lot with the Heat going small so much.

Prediction

Before the series started, I predicted the Thunder would win the first two games with Game 1 being the toughest. They overcame a halftime deficit to win that one and I think they have an easier time winning tonight.

At home, it’s always hard to imagine the Thunder losing especially because they have been able to come back so many times.

They have blown out a team at least once in each series this year in the playoffs and I think Game 2 could be one of those games for them.

This game is so important too because all the Heat really have to do is win once on the road to get home court advantage and with the next three games being in Miami, the Thunder can’t afford to lose any momentum.

Players other than Durant will need to play well for the Thunder to win and I think they will. We shouldn’t see another slow start for the Thunder and expect a better performance from Harden and the bigs offensive rebounding.

Miami’s best chances will be 40-plus point nights from either LeBron or Wade. It could happen but it seems less likely than the Thunder playing a more complete game.

Even with a win tonight and going up 2-0, the Thunder’s work will be far from over.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

I would just like to say, I love the NBA Finals. This game was absolutely amazing to watch, and I wouldn’t have wanted to do anything else with my time.

In the opening game of the 2012 NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled out a 105-94 victory over the Miami Heat. It was a huge day for the city of Oklahoma City, which was hosting its first professional sports final.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook came up huge in the second half, outscoring the Heat by 18 points. Westbrook and Durant combined for 63 points on 50% shooting.

For the Heat, LeBron James was the one of their “Big 3” to play well. He scored 30 points, while Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh only contributed 19 and 10 points, respectively.

Early in the game, the Heat got out to a sizable lead when Shane Battier made his first four 3-point attempts. Mario Chalmers also produced for Miami with 12 points on 7 shots, to go along with 6 assists.

The Finals continue next Thursday back in Oklahoma City. Durant and Westbrook will try and lead their team to a 2-0 and control of the championship series.

Kevin Durant- A+     36pts/8reb/4ast/1blk

For his first Finals game, Kevin Durant didn’t show any sign of being nervous. With a game high 36 points, he led the Thunder to victory. Early on, Durant helped keep the team in the game while Westbrook was struggling to find his rhythm. A couple huge dunks and 3-pointers by KD got the crowd going as the Thunder extended the lead in the fourth, finally clinching the victory with just over a minute to go. A shooting performance like this will make it hard for the OKC offense to be stopped.

Russell Westbrook- A     27pts/8reb/11ast/1stl

Off to a rocky start, Westbrook found caught his stride in the second half. It looked like last year’s Russell Westbrook was going to show up, taking shots from Durant and all that narrative goodness. Unfortunately for the Heat, Russ drove to the lane with grace and power to get back to 41.6% shooting after a 2-9 start. What was most surprising was his passing tonight. Russ found his teammates often for open looks, leading to 11 assists.

James Harden- D     5pts/0reb/3ast

Fear the Beard was nowhere near present in Game 1. Harden was pretty much invisible throughout the game, partially due to him sitting out most of the second half after picking up four fouls. It also looked like he was very nervous about playing the Finals. His decision making was not the best, which caused him to be very ineffective. On the bright side, the Thunder won while James Harden played his worst game of the playoffs.

Kendrick Perkins- C+     4pts/7reb/0ast/1blk

The Miami Heat lack a strong post presence, so Kendrick Perkins was never going to be all that effective in this series. All we can ask of him is to rough up some of the Heat players and not mess anything up on offense. He made all two of his shots, and grabbed a few rebounds. Good Job, Perk.

Serge Ibaka- B-     10pts/6reb/1ast/1stl

Similarly to Perkins, Serge Ibaka didn’t have much responsibility on the defensive end, especially with Chris Bosh coming off the bench. The Heat took more jumpers than usual, so there wasn’t much opportunity for him to block any shots. On the offensive end, his ability to hit those outside shots spreads out the defense to make room for the guards to create. Pretty average game, overall, for another Thunder young gun.

Nick Collison- A     8pts/10reb/0ast/1stl

I absolutely love Nick Collison right now. He is playing so well, and doing everything he can to give the Thunder the best chance to win. Going into the fourth quarter, he had just seven minutes of playing time. Collison played the entire final period, and was the X-Factor for the Thunder. Tough defense and hustling are his trademarks, and it showed. Nick Collison was all over the court, batting back missed shots to give OKC extra possessions and playing very physically with LeBron James. It was a career performance on the biggest stage for the longest tenured member of the franchise.

Thabo Sefolosha- B+     9pts/1reb/2ast/2stl

Foul trouble may not have been the only reason James Harden didn’t play that much tonight. Thabo Sefolosha was a beast on the defensive side of the ball. Stats cannot define how effective Thabo was in holding down the Heat stars. His aggressiveness led to many of the 24 fast break points. I loved how Thabo played, and hope he continues to limit the Heat to tough baskets.

Derek Fisher- C     6pts/3reb/1ast

Derek Fisher confuses me. Sometimes he performs acts of brilliance, like it was 2004 again. Then again, there are times where he takes terrible shots or turns it over. In the end, he gives the Thunder some experienced minutes as another ball handler.

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 Thunder and the Heat are the matchup the fans wanted. They are the two most talented teams each with one of the two most talented players in the league.

There are a ton of matchups to look at in this series and ton of important factors that will affect who wins.

Let’s start with…

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant and LeBron James are the headline of this series. They are the two best players in the NBA and will be matched up for most of the series. It’s not all about which one is better though.

LeBron is better overall than Durant but Durant has the potential to outplay LeBron on any given night. And on those nights, the Thunder should win.

In the regular season, that’s exactly what happened. Durant outplayed LeBron in the first meeting and the Thunder won 103-87 at home then LeBron outplayed Durant the next time in Miami and the Heat won 98-93.

Durant’s first challenge will be scoring efficiently with LeBron guarding him. LeBron has essentially turned into the best defensive player in the NBA whose strength and power could bother Durant.

Durant needs to not be hesitant on his catch-and-shoot opportunities which should be plenty with the way Miami plays defense. Durant is the best in the league at those kinds of shots and taking them usually helps him find his rhythm.

Durant can get in trouble with LeBron on him when he tries to drive. LeBron will be physical with him and Durant isn’t going to get a ton of calls with LeBron on him. Durant commits most of his turnovers on drives and when he does against Miami, it will quickly turn into points at the other end.

Durant will need to continue with his improved passing especially in the pick-and-roll. Miami is going to hedge hard and double on the pick-and-roll ball handler and it will be crucial for Durant to make the smart pass when that happens and he doesn’t have an opportunity to look for his shot.

On defense, Durant has his work cut out for him…

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James

LeBron won his third MVP this season and has been playing the best basketball of his life of late. He averaged 33.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting .527 percent from the field in the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston.

LeBron is going to need numbers close to that for Miami to beat the Thunder but it won’t be as easy for him. Durant is an underrated defender when it comes to matching up with LeBron. He can bother him with his length and doesn’t have to play as close on him.

The goal for the Thunder will be to make LeBron a jump shooter. They will play him straight up too which will make it harder for LeBron to have his big assist nights which usually come when he sees a lot of doubles.

If LeBron gets out on the break a ton and gets easy baskets that way, it will spell trouble for the Thunder. All easy baskets for LeBron need to be limited by Oklahoma City for them to win. Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison know this and will be fouling hard every chance they get when LeBron is open inside.

For Miami to beat the Thunder, LeBron has to put him a stat line close to 32-10-6. Anything less and the Thunder should have the advantage.

LeBron does everything for this Heat team and while that is impressive, it will be harder for him to do so in the Finals when he is matched up with Durant. So much of LeBron’s energy will be spent on stopping Durant or scoring on Durant that it could make his overall impact less.

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook

The Thunder were able to beat the Spurs in six games with Westbrook not being the scorer he was all season long. Westbrook averaged 23.6 points per game in the regular season but just 18.2 in the Western Conference Finals. Westbrook did become more of a point guard against the Spurs averaging 7.3 assists per game.

With Mario Chalmers matched up with him, Westbrook will have to assume more of a scorer’s mentality against the Heat. He is at his best aggressively looking for his midrange pull-up jump shot and he should be able to get that shot a lot when Chalmers is on him.

If Westbrook can start hitting that shot, it will open up the rest of his game and likely force Dwyane Wade to start covering him. Wade did a nice job on Westbrook in the regular season but if he has to expend energy on defense, it will take away from his offensive production.

Turnovers are still probably the biggest concern with Westbrook though. While he has improved in this department, he is still capable of big turnover games when he becomes frustrated. Miami is the wrong team to do that against so staying under control and taking good, calculated shots will be extremely important for Westbrook.

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

Dwyane Wade

While LeBron has been on a tear this season and in the playoffs, Wade has had a drop in his production. Wade averaged 21.4 points per game in the Boston series and shot just .444 percent from the field.

Oklahoma City has a much better cast of defenders to throw at Wade than Boston did. Things will become more difficult for him and if he has a bad series, Miami may have no chance.

There is a lot of talk surrounding the LeBron-Durant matchup but it’s really Wade vs. Westbrook that may be more important. If Westbrook has better numbers than Wade, can you really imagine the Heat winning the series?

Wade has improved his post game this season and that’s where he could really hurt the Thunder. If Westbrook or James Harden is forced to try and handle Wade in the post, it will be really tough on the entire Thunder defense.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden

The Beard has taken the next step toward stardom as the Thunder have been taking the next steps toward becoming a champion. Harden has increased his output in the playoffs too and has not shied away from the big moment when OKC has called on him.

Harden is always important for the Thunder and their second unit and that won’t change in this series. In the regular season, Shane Battier often guarded Harden and did a very good job on him, reading his moves and anticipating passes and getting deflections. If Battier draws the assignment of Harden, expect things to be difficult for him.

Harden should be able to figure it out though and the further this series goes on, the better he will get. That’s what we saw against the Spurs. Harden attempted zero free throws in Game 1 of that series then figured out their defense, adjusted and started getting back to the line.

One area where Harden can struggle is on defense. We saw him have his troubles against Kobe Bryant two series ago and in crunch time, he may have to guard Wade some. Wade can hurt Harden with his back to the basket in a similar way that Kobe did and that may be a tough thing for the Thunder to overcome at times.

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

Chris Bosh

Bosh got injured in Game 1 of Miami’s series with Indiana and didn’t return until Game 5 against Boston. He played great in the final two games of that series and was a big reason as to why the Heat won.

If Bosh isn’t 100 percent, the Heat will have a near impossible time beating the Thunder in the Finals. Bosh needs to be hitting his spot-up jumpers which will pull Serge Ibaka away from protecting the paint and he also needs to be active on the boards.

Bosh is also going to be the Heat’s last line of defense a lot of times as Miami will play small a lot in this series. If Bosh is unable to make it hard on Durant, Westbrook and Harden to attack the rim, Miami will be in trouble.

The Bigs

The Thunder have a big advantage against Miami in how physical their big men are. Perkins and Ibaka will look to bang and crash the glass at will against a slim Miami frontline. If they can help the Thunder produce double-digit offensive rebound games, it will be a big advantage for the Thunder.

Ibaka and Perkins will also have a lot of opportunities to score like they did in Game 4 against the Spurs. Miami will want to take the ball out of the hands of the pick-and-roll ball handler which will open up lanes for Ibaka and Perkins. If they are active and look to score they could play a huge factor in the series.

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

The spot-up shooters from both teams could swing a game or two in this series. Miami relies on spot-up shooting much more than Oklahoma City and will definitely have to hit their open threes to win games.

The Thunder are very used to defending spot-up shooting after playing six games against the Spurs so they should be able to do a decent job against Miami in this department.

Derek Fisher is the X-factor in terms of a spot-up shooter for the Thunder. We know Scott Brooks will play him crunch time minutes and the opportunities will be there for him to hit big shots, which he’s done before.

Prediction

This series is going to be a close one. Both teams are very good with stars on the roster and neither should get blown out in any way.

Home court advantage will be huge for the Thunder. It is hard to imagine them losing a game at home but with the Finals and its 2-3-2 format, there will be a lot of pressure for the Thunder to win both of the first two games.

Miami could be drained from the Boston series but the Thunder have never been to the Finals before so we might see some overexcitement from them early on in Game 1. You don’t want to get behind the Heat because they are the best team in the NBA at playing with a lead, although the Thunder can come back on anyone behind their home crowd.

I think the Thunder win the first two at home then Miami comes back to tie the series 2-2. I think the Thunder pull out Game 5 on the road then Miami hands Oklahoma City their first home loss of the playoffs in Game 6.

That will set up the ever epic Game 7 in Oklahoma City.

My money’s on the Thunder.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder are down 0-2 to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals but get a chance to bounce back in the series at home tonight for Game 3.

The Thunder have always played much better at home than on the road and that has a lot to do with how great their fans and home crowd always is.

The Thunder can use all the help they can get as they are up against the hottest team in the NBA right now. The Spurs haven’t lost since April 11 and have won 20 straight games, tied for the third longest streak in NBA history.

The Spurs traditionally made their championship runs behind a great defense but this year it’s their offense that is leading the way, especially in this series. The Spurs have shot 60.2 percent in the last five quarters of this series and the Thunder haven’t had an answer for them.

OKC showed a small glimpse of how to stop the Spurs’ offense as they furiously tried to come back in the fourth quarter of Game 2. The Thunder played a small lineup switching every pick-and-roll and forced a lot of deflections and tougher shots than the Spurs were used to.

The Thunder will have to bottle up that energy for most of a game if they want to slow down the Spurs’ offense.

But Scott Brooks elected to play Derek Fisher with that small lineup instead of Thabo Sefolosha and it really held the Thunder back. If Fisher continues to get bigger minutes than Sefolosha, the Thunder will continue to not reach their potential in this series.

The other worry is that the Thunder big three played pretty well in Game 2 and they still lost. Kevin Durant scored 31, Russell Westbrook scored 27 and James Harden scored 30. It wasn’t enough.

Durant has put up huge overall numbers but has been quiet in the fourth quarter scoring just a total of 10 points so far in the two games. He’s not LeBron so it’s not that big of a deal though.

Westbrook will be the key in Game 3 though as Durant and Harden have figured out how to be efficient, Westbrook has yet to.

Westbrook will need to be aggressive taking his midrange pull-up jump shot. He hasn’t been hitting it so far in this series and it has turned him into the reckless rim attacker that OKC doesn’t want to see.

The Spurs are defending the pick-and-roll in a way to allow for the midrange pull-up to be available too. Harden adjusted in Game 2 and it resulted in a big game for him. Westbrook needs to do the same to help the Thunder turn the tide in this series.

The Thunder will continue to play small and do so with Serge Ibaka. That was an adjustment in Game 2 that was obvious and worked better than when the Thunder went small in Game 1 with Kendrick Perkins instead of Ibaka.

Perkins is not made for this series. The Thunder traded for him last year to get by the Lakers. Against the Spurs, the Thunder would be better off with Jeff Green since they are playing small ball.

Perkins is the Thunder’s best post defender but the Spurs aren’t even posting up. They’ve taken just seven shots on post-ups so far in this series and made only two.

The Spurs are doing almost nothing but pick-and-rolls and that’s where Perkins struggles because he doesn’t move well laterally. The Spurs have made 23-of-37 shots in the pick-and-roll in the first two games. Ibaka and Nick Collison do a much better job than Perkins defending those plays.

Tony Parker torched the Thunder in the pick-and-roll in Game 2 scoring 34 points on 16-for-21 shooting.

The Thunder have too slowly been making adjustments in this series and that’s part of why they are down 0-2. Coming back home should help but they need a complete game every night to comeback in this series.

The Thunder can’t afford to take a step back on offense and need to play better defensively. It wasn’t going to be easy to beat the Spurs but now it feels closer to impossible.

Soobum-Im-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder have fallen 0-2 in the Western Conference Finals to the San Antonio Spurs, most recently losing 120-111 Tuesday night.

Durant scored 31 points to go with five rebounds and five assists in the game but scored only four points in the fourth quarter.

“We lost,” Durant said. “There’s no moral victories for us. We’re upset about the loss.”

The Thunder trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter while the Spurs were simply putting on an offensive clinic.

The Thunder finally came alive in the fourth quarter especially on defense and would cut the deficit to as little as six points.

The Thunder showed in the fourth quarter of Game 2 how they can beat the Spurs and they showed in the first three quarters of Game 1. Those are good things but not good enough for this team.

“We’re not here to try to make it a close game or make it a good fight,” said Russell Westbrook who scored 27 points to go with eight assists and seven rebounds in Game 2. “We’re here to win.”

The formula that worked for the Thunder in Game 2 was a small lineup consisting of Westbrook-Fisher-Harden-Durant-Ibaka. It’s what brought them back but you still felt like Scott Brooks could have made one more adjustment to play Thabo Sefolosha instead of Derek Fisher.

Fisher has a history of hitting big shots and truthfully has been big for the Thunder in the playoffs but he was 2-for-11 from the field in Game 2 and the Thunder could have used another athletic wing like Sefolosha on the floor at the end.

The Thunder also went small in Game 1 in the fourth quarter only without Serge Ibaka. The Spurs scored 16 of their 39 fourth quarter points in the paint in Game 1 and afterwards Brooks said he regretted not playing Ibaka down the stretch.

The Thunder have shown signs of how to beat the Spurs but they will need to put together a full game to pull off a win in this series. The Spurs are just that good.

Soobum-Im-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder led the San Antonio Spurs 71-62 after three quarters and looked well on their way toward stealing Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on the road.

Then the Spurs came back. Their offense came alive and the Thunder’s became stagnant, looking like the isolation-heavy late-game offense they’ve been criticized for in the past.

The Thunder losing the game mostly had to do with allowing 39 points in the fourth quarter. But they weren’t playing their best defensive lineup as Serge Ibaka sat the entire fourth and they still could have won the game or kept it closer had they executed down the stretch themselves.

The Thunder started the fourth small and finished it the same way with Kevin Durant playing the four. They begin the fourth with Fisher-Harden-Cook-Durant-Collison. So basically, no chance against the Spurs’ pick-and-roll as Durant and Harden really don’t enjoy rotating over.

The Thunder begin the quarter trying to get Harden going who was struggling up to this point. They run his pick-and-roll play from the right wing on the first two possessions. He makes a pull-up jumper on the first then on a very similar situation, tries to drive at Tiago Splitter and picks up a charge on the next play.

The Spurs are defending the pick-and-roll by allowing the ball handler to freely come off the pick and sagging into the paint to prevent them getting a good angle to attack the rim. The Thunder did not see this kind of defense against the pick-and-roll in the first round and weren’t sure what to do at times it seemed.

Harden found himself open for a lot of midrange jumpers, a shot he rarely takes. Harden only attempted 1.1 shots per game from between 10-to-23 feet in the regular season. This helped result in Harden pressing and forcing contested layups over prepared bigs.

On the next possession, the Thunder post-up Durant on the left side about 12-feet out. This is the only time they would do this in the quarter. Durant finds Collison cutting in the paint here but Collison misses a tough shot at the rim.

Stephen Jackson was guarding Durant the entire fourth quarter and is getting a lot of credit for the way he defended him. It was a lot like how he defended Dirk Nowitzki back in 2007 when the Warriors knocked of the Mavericks in the first round. He was getting up into him closely and allowing Durant to attempt to drive left.

Durant is much worse driving left when he is looking to attack the rim. He always prefers to drive right to get a layup. When Durant goes left, he is much more efficient going for a pull-up or stepback jump shot.

Russell Westbrook now checks in for Daequan Cook as the Spurs are now within five points.

Westbrook has also been relatively struggling at this point in the game. They run a play where Durant comes up from a downscreen to pick for Westbrook at the top of the key. This usually leaves room for Westbrook to look to attack on this play but Tony Parker defends it well and contests a Westbrook pull-up that he misses.

The Thunder try and get Westbrook going again on the next possession and let him isolate at the top of the key. He misses a wild runner going to his left. Westbrook is always better when able to play on offense under control and look for his pull-up. The Spurs enticed him to attack the rim a lot in Game 1 and he became out of control and inefficient.

The Thunder get a rare second half transition opportunity next but Harden doesn’t take advantage and charges on Gary Neal. Harden didn’t have a ton of room here and it was clear Neal was prepared for Harden to eurostep to his left. He anticipated it to draw the charge. Harden was out of rhythm all game and should have seen to eurostep to his right and would have finished the layup.

On the next possession, Westbrook misses another erratic layup attempt going to his left. The Thunder decide here to try and go back to Harden some in the pick-and-roll.

Harden runs a pick-and-pop with Durant and passes Durant which he almost always does on this play. Harden is pretty much never looking to drive when he runs the pick-and-pop with Durant. He may not like the angles he gets because Durant never really sets a solid screen and just pops.

Durant ends up having to isolate again with Jackson doing a good job of crowding him beyond the 3-point line. Durant tries to clear some space and catches Jackson with an elbow and the foul is called on Durant.

The Thunder do not go to Harden as the ball handler in pick-and-rolls the rest of the game now with 7:41 left and the score tied at 73.

The Thunder try Westbrook getting a pick from Durant at the top of the key twice more over the next three possessions. Westbrook is in driving mode now and the Thunder do end up scoring twice off his passes.

The Thunder then have two possessions where the play turns into a Durant isolation when that wasn’t totally the design of the play. This is when the standing around and lack of ball movement really begins.

Durant isn’t even inefficient when this happens and he got fouled a lot in the quarter which isn’t all bad but it seemed to affect the Thunder offense in that they were now just standing around watching. Westbrook and Harden knew they didn’t have it and were completely deferring to Durant.

The Thunder were forced into nothing but half court offense down the stretch and with Harden not playing well, it became a huge issue. They weren’t getting stops so they weren’t getting fast break opportunities and since they were playing so small, they weren’t getting any offensive rebounds either.

This is when people say the Thunder hurt because they don’t have someone to post-up. It’s not that they don’t have someone, it’s that they don’t go to him in the post. Durant had an advantage over Jackson inside and they only posted him up once. Jackson was doing a nice job on Durant but fouled him four times in the quarter.

The Thunder should have posted up Durant even though he’s not totally comfortable down there yet and that isn’t their identity yet. It was an adjustment that would have countered the way Jackson was defending Durant and could have gotten Durant a few more trips to the line and kept the game within striking distance.

The Thunder did not adjust though in the fourth quarter whether it was posting Durant up or bringing back Ibaka. The adjustments will have to wait for Game 2 and if they don’t come then, this series could end up being a short one for OKC.

From the Chris Paul madness that opened the season through the tantrums of Andrew Bynum and up to the inexplicable 7 game series against Denver it’s been on display all year long. Which is exactly why OKC needs to be nervous.

First off let’s just start with the two biggest elephants in the room. Well, really just one elephant because Mamba is a stealth predator capable of taking down a sizeable foe like an elephant with one deadly strike.

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant are the headliners in a series rich with drama. Some are calling it the passing of the guard in the Western Conference. But everyone was writing off KB24 as over the hill last year. All the dude did was go out and nearly take another scoring title this year.

KD got the crown for top point producer and honestly should have taken his first MVP award too. But being overlooked in the West is nothing new. How Bryant only has one to his name is a mystery. Such is life when all people see you as is a scorer.

Durant’s all around game has improved but scoring is still what he does best. Bryant has the edge because he can affect the game in ways Durant just can’t.

Kobe is a killer of the highest degree who gives full effort every night. And if the game is on the line there’s only one closer that’s proven himself with a career’s worth of big shots in bigger game. Bryant also can adapt his game to any scenario. Shifting from scorer to facilitator has become common for Kobe this year. He too deserved some MVP love but we all knew the hype machine was going to crank out another trophy for the LeBrom collection.

While we’re on the topic of hype nothing is more over-hyped than the so-called Kendrick Perkins effect.

I’ve seen Perk go toe-to-toe with the Laker bigs in those two Finals battles when he was sporting that ugly green jersey and here is what I know for sure. He is a very good low post defender that throws his size around and intimidates with his presence.

But he’s got an offensive game that makes Dikembe Mutombo cringe and is almost a complete non-factor on the boards considering his size and the position he plays. All that talk of Perkins bringing toughness to a team is just hot air. That means nothing if Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are going for double-doubles each night.

What that presence in the post does for the Lake Show is allows them to control the tempo which is OKC’s greatest asset.

Slowing the Thunder roll takes Russell Westbrook’s greatest weakness (half court hoops) and puts it on display for the world to see.

With the game being played at L.A.’s pace the points in the paint battle looms large. For a team like OKC that lives and dies by perimeter scoring that become problematic. As we just saw against Denver athletic and active bigs like Serge Ibaka can cause problems for the Lakers but over the course of a seven game series true post game always overcomes the genetic lottery.

If the Thunder can’t get out and run then all that James Harden front running gets put on the back burner. Plus he’s got to contend with Metta World Peace again. It goes without saying this will be the matchup that will be the most talked about after elbowgate. I don’t in any way endorse the actions of the ironically self-named World Peace but his defensive approach is more intimidating than his MMA.

Don’t overlook that last meeting between these two teams either. Some want to just chalk that OT thriller up to late season indifference but something clicked for the Lakers in that game. Yes, the Thunder ran away from the Lake Show in their previous meetings. But as we all know when the Lakers feel like they’ve got something to prove or are painted into a corner they tend to come out with an intensity few teams can match between the determination of Kobe and the harassing nature of Metta.

And yes, there is the added element of Derek Fisher facing his former team. That too is being oversold. D-Fish and all his intangibles are nice for barbershop talk but the reality is he’s a defensive liability that doesn’t play like a true lead guard any longer.

Now I’m not going to go Bynum and push the easy button on this one. The Thunder is a legit title contender for years to come. This just isn’t the year they get their hands on that Larry O’Brien. Everyone pays their dues and now is OKC’s time. I don’t see any way for the Lakers to win this one in less than seven games. Which means you’ll just have to endure a heart-breaking loss in your crib. Take your medicine and we’ll see you again next season.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 95-79 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 31 points in the game and got off to a great start with 15 in the first quarter.

The Thunder led 50-41 at halftime and started the third quarter off great.

Russell Westbrook led the charge knocking down three straight jumpers in the first five minutes of the third. Westbrook after a slow start finished with 20 points in the game.

Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha made back-to-back 3-pointers with 5:53 left in the third to put Oklahoma City up 66-50. The Thunder led 75-57 after three.

Derek Fisher and Daequan Cook gave the Thunder a solid lift off the bench combining for 19 points and five three pointers.

Fisher made a driving layup with 10:41 left in the game to cap a 15-1 run and give the Thunder an 83-58 lead.

Dirk Nowitzki struggled all night going 6-for-15 from the field for 17 points and also picked up a technical foul in the first quarter.

The game felt like a changing of the guard in the West. The Thunder have improved greatly this year and getting by Dallas while they are not the same team as last year is a big step for them.

Now up 3-0 the series seems a lock but you never know. This Dallas team however never seemed to totally have it this season and trying to fight back from down 3-0 seems very unlikely.

Game 4 will be Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Yet again, the Dallas Mavericks held a lead in the final minute of the game. They led 97-96 before the Thunder hit four free throws.

Jason Terry hit a layup when down three, James Harden followed with two more free throws and the Mavs ended up with a shot to tie it with the shot clock off.

Terry missed two long 3-pointers at the buzzer and Oklahoma City held home court as they won Game 2, 102-99.

The game started out unusually as Kendrick Perkins scored seven of the Thunder’s first nine points. It looked like they were going to blowout the Mavericks during the second quarter when they took a 16-point lead.

Dallas brought the lead down to seven by halftime and took a lead just over four minutes into the third. From then on out it was a dogfight.

The refs called a very tight game; there were 54 total fouls, incredibly unusual for a playoff game. OKC shot 39 free throws to Dallas’ 32.

This series heads to Dallas for Game 3 on Thursday at 8:30 local time.

Kevin Durant- B     26pts/10reb/1ast/2stl

Very similarly to Game 1, Durant struggled to hit jump shots. Shawn Marion is a very solid wing defender, and has help Durant to just 34.1% shooting so far this series. Being the scoring champ, Kevin Durant is not going to shoot poorly forever, so it is a good sign that the team is winning despite his performances.

Russell Westbrook- B+    29pts/2reb/2ast

Westbrook played well on both sides of the ball tonight. He was put on Jason Terry and he shut him down for the most part. On offense, Westbrook was able to get to the rim and get fouled as well as hit the mid-range jumpers.

Kendrick Perkins- A-     13pts/6reb/1blk

I was really surprised by the beginning of the game. Perkins actually scored, and it was with efficiency. He ended up with 13 points on five shots. The Mavericks went small, which forced the Thunder to not play Perkins on Dirk that much. In 27 minutes, Perkins played some solid defense to go along with the weird scoring output.

Serge Ibaka- D     2pts/4reb/1ast/1blk

There wasn’t much to take from Ibaka’s game this time. He didn’t play all too much, and didn’t have an impact when he did. Again Ibaka struggled guarding Nowitzki out on the wing. He only blocked one shot and grabbed four rebounds to go with his two points. Not the best game for the young big man while he gains playoff experience.

James Harden- A     15pts/7reb/5ast/3stl

So far in this series, James Harden has taken 20 free throws, and only 14 field goal attempts. The Mavericks have not figured out how to prevent him from getting to the rim due to their lack of size in the paint. Harden is has been the X-Factor in these game by finding ways to score, even if he’s not hitting his shots.

Rest of the Thunder- B+

Finally the bench got it going. James Harden was the only bench player to score in Game 1, while in Game 2, the non-Harden bench scored 17 points. Derek Fisher led the way with 11 of his own, including a late 3 and a buzzer beater at the end of the first half. Fisher showed flashes from his previous playoff accomplishments, and he looks to continue to contribute positively to another title run. Nick Collison was assigned the task of stopping Dirk Nowitzki for most of the game. He was doing very well until fouling out with nine minutes left in the game.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder dodged bullets down the stretch on their way to a 102-99 Game 2 win over the Dallas Mavericks to take a 2-0 first round series lead.

Dirk Nowitzki missed a wide-open 3-pointer with the Mavericks leading 97-96 with 1:13 left in the game.

The Thunder then got bailed out on their next possession at the end of the shot clock with Jason Terry committing a bad foul on Kevin Durant. Durant made both free throws to put the Thunder ahead 98-97.

Dirk would get another good look on the next possession down on the left block with Serge Ibaka switching on to him. Dirk went to his patented stepback one-footed jumper and did not get the friendly roll, not the roll that Durant got in Game 1.

James Harden would make all four of his free throw attempts in the final 25 seconds to close the door on the Mavericks. Harden finished the game with 15 points, was 2-for-7 from the floor but 10-of-10 at the line.

Durant had another tough shooting night going 5-for-17 but still scored 26 points thanks to 14-for-16 at the line and pulled down 10 rebounds. He also had seven turnovers in the game.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook carried the load again for the most part with his midrange game clicking again. He scored 29 points and had just two assists.

The Thunder had just 13 assists as a team but went 37-for-39 from the free throw line.

The Mavericks were hitting from three in Game 1 but tonight made just 5-of-23 attempts. Dirk led the team with 31 points and made all 11 of his free throw attempts.

The Thunder went small again a lot in the second half and fourth quarter with Derek Fisher on the floor instead of Ibaka. Fisher scored11 points in the game including a big 3-pointer to put the Thunder ahead 92-88 with 5:26 left in the game.

Dallas wasn’t able to exploit the Thunder going small as much because they went small too with Dirk at the five and a lineup with Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Delonte West.

The Thunder certainly have passed the test in these first two home games, grinding out close victories in both. They started defeat straight in the eyes twice and rose to the occasion each time. This is something that didn’t happen last year for them.

The series is not over though. Dallas is ready to go back home and defend their homecourt and wait to come back and steal one in Oklahoma City.

Game 3 will be played on Thursday night and the game will again be on TNT.

The Thunder lead Dallas 57-50 at halftime behind 15 points from Russell Westbrook and 14 from Kevin Durant.

Dirk Nowitzki is again looking like 2011 Playoffs Dirk with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Dirk had some chippy moments in the first quarter as well with Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins.

The Thunder went on a 21-4 run starting with 1:22 left in the first quarter and led 42-27 with just under seven minutes to play in the half. Dallas fought back some when Dirk checked back in.

Derek Fisher helped give the Thunder second-unit a nice lift scoring eight points on 4-for-5 shooting.

Jason Terry who was very hot from the start in Game 1 didn’t score until the final 30 seconds tonight and has just three points.

The Thunder are executing pretty well overall tonight and if they can turn up the defense some in the second half they should be able to come away with the victory. This game feels like the only way they’d let it slip away is if they suddenly went cold from the field.

A 2-0 lead heading to Dallas will be extremely important for the Thunder in this series.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Late in the first of what was expected to be among many playoff games for the Oklahoma City Thunder, they found themselves down seven points.

The defending champion Dallas Mavericks led 94-87 with two and a half minutes remaining in the final quarter. After that point, the Thunder held the Mavs to just four free throws, and forced two turnovers.

A fierce Serge Ibaka dunk while getting fouled gave the Thunder a one-point lead. Dirk Nowitzki took back the lead with two free throws with nine seconds left.

The Thunder set up Kevin Durant with isolation on Shawn Marion. Durant drove to the basket, pulled up from 15-feet out and released what would be the final shot of the game.

The ball arced towards the rim; it hit the back of the iron and bounced for what seemed like forever. Eventually, to the fans delight, the ball dropped through the net, giving the Thunder the 99-98 lead.

The Mavericks failed to get a shot off as the buzzer sounded.

After as close of a game as it gets, the Thunder took a 1-0 series lead. The first round continues on Monday for Game 2 in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant- B+     25pts/6reb/4ast/4blk

The reigning scoring champ came up in the clutch for the Thunder like he has all season. Durant did not shoot all that well throughout most of the game, but when it mattered he hit the shot that mattered most. Shooting just 10-27 from the floor did not deter KD from taking shots late in the game. It’s unlikely he continues to shoot poorly in the series, which will help the Thunder avoid close games late.

Russell Westbrook- A     28pts/4reb/5ast/3stl

As expected, Russell Westbrook played really well in this matchup. The Mavericks don’t have the defense at the guard position to contain Westbrook, and it showed. He was able to shoot over 50% while navigating through the Dallas guards. On another note, Westbrook did turn the ball over five times, but that can be expected when he handles the ball as much as he does. Look for Westbrook to continue to play well throughout the series.

James Harden- A-     19pts/6reb/3ast/1stl

It looked like the Mavericks didn’t know how to defend James Harden. Unfortunately the same can be said for Harden guarding Jason Terry. The battle of 6th men turned out to be pretty even. Terry scored 20 to Harden’s 19, both very efficiently (Harden had 7 FGAs, Terry 10). One of the reasons James has been so good this season was because he got to the line often. This game was no different as he attempted 10 free throws, making 9 of them.

Serge Ibaka- B     22pts/6reb/1ast/1stl/5blks

Quite the unusual game for Ibaka. On defense he did manage to block five shots, but was pretty poor in guarding Dirk. He still struggles outside of the paint, and may not be put on him for a majority of the series. Oddly enough, Ibaka was pretty dominant on offense. He scored 22 points on 9-12 shooting, including a 3-pointer to end the first half. Also he showed flashes of post moves that we really haven’t seen all season, which was a nice surprise. A performance like this, offensively at least, is what the Thunder need to win this series.

Kendrick Perkins- A     0pts/8reb/1stl/1blk

Looking at that statline you wouldn’t think Perkins played well. That was definitely not the case in Game 1. I actually love that he didn’t score, it’s not what the Thunder want or need him to do. He played BEAUTIFUL defense on Dirk down the stretch, one of the biggest reasons OKC won the game. Hopefully Perk is guarding him whenever he is in the game, because if he can shut down Dirk for the most part, the Thunder won’t have a hard time winning.

Rest of the Thunder- C

Only five members of the team scored, all starters except for Perkins, adding Harden. Thabo Sefolosha, Nick Collison, Derek Fisher, and Daequan Cook all played fewer than 20 minutes and had little offensive impact. Thabo spent put in some solid defensive minutes on JET and Delonte West while Collison did the same with Nowitzki. Nazr Mohammaed, Royal Ivey, Lazar Hayward, and Cole Aldrich didn’t see the floor.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

It’s been quite a season for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Coming off a Western Conference Finals berth, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were looking to take the next step as they gained another year of experience.

The lockout halted all basketball action for a while until the new CBA was settled. Finally, ten teams including the Thunder, opened up the season on Christmas Day relieving the six-month wait for basketball fans across the country.

The excitement in Oklahoma City was greater than it has ever been. For the first time since moving from Seattle, this franchise was a favorite to represent the West in the NBA Finals. They got off to an incredible start, winning 16 of their first 19 games and solidifying themselves as championship contenders.

The Thunder hit an early speed bump when backup point guard Eric Maynor went down for the season with a torn ACL. An already shaky bench situation was thrown for a loop. Reggie Jackson had to suffice as Westbrook picked up more minutes.

The season went on and the Thunder won more games. Then Thabo Sefolosha went down for around six weeks, forcing Daequan Cook to start while James Harden continued to come off the bench.

Both Durant and Westbrook gained All-Star nominations, with Harden just missing out. The Thunder went into the break at 27-7 and were on their way for the #1 seed in the conference.

A 7-5 start once the season resumed brought the team back down to Earth. Wins against the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls in an eight-day period were the peak of the season. Kevin Durant looked like the MVP and the Thunder were settled in the top spot in the West.

Unfortunately, they lost their next three games leading to a 7-7 finish in which they ended up as the #2 seed in the conference. Still, 47 wins in a shortened season isn’t half bad and the Thunder have a great shot at making the NBA Finals.

Their road to the Finals begins on Saturday against either the Denver Nuggets or defending champion Dallas Mavericks, whom they beat 2-1 and 3-1 in the season series, respectively.

Now let’s give these guys some grades.

Kevin Durant- A+     28.0pts/8.0reb/3.5ast/1.4stl/1.2blk   26.2 PER

Having established himself as one of the elite players in the league with many individual awards, Kevin Durant is ready to take his achievements to a team level. He quickly turned the Thunder into a legit Finals contender with an MVP-type season.

Unless Kobe Bryant scores 38 or more points tonight, KD will win his third straight scoring title, and will most likely be selected to the All-NBA team again.

He set career highs in rebounds, assists, and FG%. What really made this season different for Durant was his improvement defensively. His isolation defense is ranked 20th in the league, at 0.57 points per possession compared to 0.74 last season.

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

The main reason that Durant most likely will not win the MVP is because of LeBron’s defensive advantage. Even so, the gap is closing, with his athleticism and length Kevin can be a top notch defender which will lead to a few MVPs and hopefully some NBA titles.

Quite possibly the high point of the season for the Thunder star was scoring a career best 51 points against Denver in February. He had four 40+-point games to go along 18 double doubles. Missing that elusive triple double, Durant came within three assists three times.

Now, all of these stats and awards will mean nothing if the Thunder get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. Basketball is a team game, and Durant will need to be a leader to take his team all the way.

Russell Westbrook- A     23.6pts/4.6reb/5.5ast/1.7stl   22.9 PER

Another great season for Russell Westbrook. Coming off a playoff run where he gained a lot of criticism for his shooting tendencies, Westbrook put that all behind him and played wonderfully.

He was rewarded with a second straight All-Star appearance while he continues to improve his play.

Shooting the ball at a higher rate, he raised his FG% 15 points. Although this led to a pretty significant drop in his AST%, his turnover rate dropped from 15.9 to 14.2.

As Westbrook continues to cutback on the turnovers, his play will get much better and more efficient. The Thunder run one of the most isolation dependent offenses in the league, which will lead to a lower Assist/Turnover ratio. Just over thirteen percent of the plays run are isolations, usually by Durant, Westbrook, or Harden.

For a point guard on one of the top teams in the league, you would think it’s surprising that Westbrook only had four games with double-digit assists, and none with more than 11. Honestly, I don’t see that as a problem for the Thunder. They are going to score at any rate, and he is really more of a shoot first point guard.

What to look for from Westbrook going into the playoffs is how spread out the scoring is. The Thunder will be under a huge spotlight due to their star power, and people will pay attention to how many shots he takes in relation to Durant. As long as they are both in the upper teens-20s, and are making shots, it shouldn’t be a problem.

James Harden- A     16.8pts/4.1reb/3.7ast/1.0stl   21.1 PER

Five days ago the Thunder were in great shape going into the playoffs. Nobody was injured and the players were getting ready to make a playoff run. Then Harden took an elbow to the head from Ron Artest (he was suspended 7 games), missing the final two games of the season while recovering from a concussion.

Now, Harden is cleared to play in the first round, but concussions are always a touchy subject. It’s hard to tell how effected a person is by a hit to the head, whether they can play to their full ability or not. We’ll see how he reacts to the injury when he plays this weekend.

Besides this unfortunate incident, James Harden has had an incredible season. After a great showing in last year’s playoffs, he was met with expectations of becoming that third All-Star caliber player for the Thunder.

He did just that.

Harden is a shoe-in for 6th Man of the Year, along with being a candidate for Most Improved Player. He could start for pretty much any team that isn’t the Heat, Lakers or Spurs, but coming off the bench is what the Thunder need from him. When Durant and Westbrook are out of the game, he gives the team multiple ways to score.

For a while now I have been saying that James Harden is the best passer on the Thunder. He is able to run a quality offense with what little offensive talent the Thunder bench holds, and is given the point in many clutch situations.

Once Eric Maynor went down, Harden was on his own in the backcourt. He either assisted or scored a majority of the points while the bench unit was in the game. Nick Collison was the only other person on the bench to play significant minutes and be productive.

Averaging 16.8 points while shooting 49.1%, Harden just missed out on an All-Star berth. Surely he will make plenty in the future if he keeps on improving at this pace.

In just his third season in the league, Harden has become one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA. His points per possession of 1.12 ranks seventh in the league, his .660 TS% is the best for a backcourt player in the league’s history. True Shooting percentage incorporates FG%, 3P% and FT%, which means he gets to the charity stripe often, and can hit shots from anywhere on the court with consistency.

A prime example of his efficiency is the stat line Harden put up against the Phoenix Suns eight days ago. In one of the most exciting games this season, James Harden scored a career high 40 points on just 17 shots. He hit five of eight 3-point attempts, and all 11 free throw tries.

This type of play is the reason why he will be the X-Factor for the Thunder going into the playoffs. If Durant or Westbrook struggle, they can count on Harden to score and take over the game if necessary.

Serge Ibaka- B+     9.1pts/7.5reb/0.4ast/0.5stl/3.7blk   19.0 PER

IBLOCKA!

You may have heard this a bit this year. Serge Ibaka has become the blocking king of the league. Averaging close to four blocks per game, he became the first person to block 241 shots since Marcus Camby in 07-08, and that’s even with the shortened season.

The breakout game for the 22(???) year old big man came on a day where the Thunder had two 40+-point scorers. Ibaka collected his first triple double by blocking 11 shots to go along with 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

When someone is that dominant in the paint, they usually get looks for Defensive Player of the Year. Certainly people will give Serge votes, but it’s not time for that, yet. He really needs to improve all of the other parts of his defensive game, including pick and rolls, guarding smaller players, and not biting on pump fakes.

What I was really impressed with was Serge’s production on the offensive end. He may have dropped around a point per game from last year, but that really isn’t what matters with all of the scorers on the team.

The way he advanced his game was by adding more ways to score. His post moves are improving at a nice rate, and he has found a mid-ranged jumper. He hit shots from 16-21 feet at 45.5%, up from 41.8% last season. With more practice, his shot selection will improve, increasing his FG% and scoring average.

Against some of the smaller teams, we have seen Ibaka’s minutes go down under 20 due to his struggles guarding players outside the paint. With more time, he will be fit to play 30+ minutes every game.

We will see what Scott Brooks does once the playoffs start. Will he trust Ibaka to play a majority of the game with the season on the line?

Kendrick Perkins- C     5.1pts/6.6reb/1.2ast/0.4stl/1.1blk   8.7 PER

I don’t have a problem with Kendrick Perkins starting and only scoring five points, IF the only shots he gets are off offensive rebounds and the occasional wide open dunk. The worst thing the Thunder can do, is give the ball to Perk in the post, because he has ZERO post moves. It’s painful watching it.

Now on the defensive end, Perkins is really good. He is a solid pick and roll defender, and very good in isolation. That is how the Thunder will get the most out of the former Celtic. Keep him out of the offense and let him do his thing on defense.

This season, Perkins only scored double digit points eight times this year, with all but two of them coming after March 22nd. He also led the league with 13 technical fouls.

Kendrick Perkins doesn’t fill up the stat sheet, but he is still an above average NBA player, and is an able start for a championship contender.

Thabo Sefolosha- B     4.8pts/3.0reb/1.1ast/0.9stl/0.4blk   9.8 PER

Thabo played about just under 2/3 of this shortened season. His foot hindered him; he missed six weeks at the end of January into early March. The Thunder’s defense was affected by his absence, as Sefolosha is one of the premier wing defenders in the league.

Against smaller, faster teams, like the Nuggets, Sefolosha plays a more important part. When he is in along side Durant, Harden, and Westbrook, the Thunder’s defensive rating is better than normal at 1.01 ppp.

Thabo can hit 3-pointers at a nice rate. He shot 43.7% from beyond the arc, shooting 1.7 per game. His FT% is also in the upper 80s, so he isn’t a problem late in close games.

Defense wins championships, so Thabo will be an integral part in the Thunder’s run to the Finals.

Nick Collison- B+     4.5pts/4.3reb/1.3ast/0.5stl/0.4blk   12.1 PER

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

I have really enjoyed watching Nick Collison come off the bench. He has good chemistry with James Harden, and is a stickler on defense.

When the bench comes in, the main offense run by the unit is either Harden isolation, or the two-man game with Harden and Collison. He may not score much, but he is very effective in running a system and helping players get open shots. Evidenced by his 121 offensive rating (basketball-reference).

I like to think Collison is a similar player as Joakim Noah. He may not have the same talent, but they play the same type of game. Both players have high motors, will do the dirty work necessary to be a factor in the game. Every team needs that guy who hustles 100% of the time, and Nick is that guy for the Thunder.

Daequan Cook- C-     5.5pts/2.1reb/0.3ast/0.4stl/0.2blk   9.2 PER

The thing with PER is, it only takes into account quantifiable stats. So the only defense it uses is blocks and steals, that’s why Perkins and Sefolosha have a lower PER, their defensive skills are more than just statistics.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Daequan Cook. He is nowhere near a quality defensive player, and really isn’t even that good on offense.

Cook is supposed to be a 3-point specialist, that is why, of his 5.2 shots per games, 4 of them are 3-pointers. The best 3-point shooters are in the mid-40% range, above average shooters are in the upper-30s. Generally, if you are only on the team to make 3′s, you should be in one of those two categories.

Daequan Cook shot just 34.6% from range this year. That is not good. It’s not even like he just had a down year, he is a career 36.5% 3-point shooter.

When Thabo went down, and Cook had to step in and start, that’s when it got bad. There was a stretch of six games in the middle of February, where Cook made 4 of 34 attempts from beyond the arc. That is not good.

His minutes will be way down for the playoffs. I would be surprised if he got more than 10 minutes in any game that isn’t a blowout.

Eric Maynor-        pts/ reb/ ast/ stl/ blk   PER

In case you couldn’t tell, talking about Eric Maynor makes me sad. He was one of the best backup point guards in the league, and was really fun to watch. He would’ve helped this Thunder team out a bunch, by taking some of the load off James Harden with the bench unit, and also spelling Russell Westbrook at times.

Most of all, if Eric Maynor had not torn his ACL after nine games, the Thunder WOULD NOT HAVE DEREK FISHER. More on that coming later.

We can only sit and wait until next year to see Maynor play again. It should be a joyful time, and very Fisher-less.

Nazr Mohammad, Royal Ivey, Reggie Jackson, Cole Aldrich- C

This bench unit was not very productive this year, outside of Harden and Collison. Reggie Jackson was getting some minutes until Fisher showed up. He showed some skill, but apparently not enough, as he hasn’t played much since the Thunder brought in the 5-ringed veteran.

Nazr Mohammad appeared in most games, yet had minimum impact. He scored just 2.7 points and grabbed 2.7 rebounds.

These guys won’t get more than five minutes in any playoff game, barring injury, and shouldn’t have an impact on how the Thunder’s season turns out.

Derek Fisher- D     4.9pts/1.5reb/1.4ast/0.6stl/0.1blk   5.9 PER  (20 games for OKC)

Halfway through writing my feelings on Derek Fisher, I decided to quit and save it for another time. It was getting too long, and it needs to be justified.

So I’ll just give some quick little notes on Derek Fisher’s season with the Thunder.

The positive impact Fisher brings to the team is purely his veteran leadership. He has been to the NBA Finals multiple times, and if the Thunder happen to end up there this season, that’s where he will help.

On the court, Fisher has not played well at all. He shot 34.3% from the floor on 5.4 shots. Any respectable player, playing over 15 minutes a game, should be shooting much better. That isn’t even that good for a 3-point%.

His defense isn’t much better. Fisher gets beat by quicker guards all of the time, and doesn’t have much to give on the defensive side of the ball.

I’m not a fan of giving Derek Fisher minutes, but if Coach Brooks isn’t going to play Reggie Jackson, then somebody has to do fill that backup PG spot, and it might as well be him.

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

It was a career night as James Harden returned to Arizona, where he played college ball for Arizona State (boo!).

Harden scored his career best 40 points on just 17 shots as the Thunder take out the Phoenix Suns 109-97.

The Suns had four technical fouls, by Steve Nash, Sebastian Telfair, Robin Lopez and Coach Alvin Gentry.

Jared Dudley led the Suns with 21 points. No one else scored more than 13.

The Thunder continue their quest for the 1 seed Friday in Sacramento.

 Kevin Durant- B+     29pts/11reb/5ast/2blk

Going for his third straight scoring title, Kevin Durant got his due scoring 29 points in a game where it was all James Harden. He added 11 rebounds and a couple blocks in a big win that keeps the Thunder in the race for home court.

 Russell Westbrook- D     15pts/6reb/5ast/2stl

Westbrook struggled throughout the game, even getting benched for a while during the second half. He only played 31 minutes and shot at a 37.5% clip. It seemed like Russell, along with the rest of the team, just took a backseat tonight.

 Serge Ibaka- C     9pts/3reb/1blk

In just 18 minutes, Ibaka couldn’t have much of an impact on the game. He garnered just one block and only grabbed three rebounds. The Suns are a generally small team, so having Ibaka in there wasn’t helping them on the defensive end. Once he works on his perimeter defense, he won’t have to be taken out in these situations.

 Kendrick Perkins- B     5pts/9reb

The Thunder big men have not been a factor on the offensive end this year, but what they do is lock down the paint. Marcin Gortat, who scored 28 points in their last meeting, could not hit anything tonight. Thanks to the effort from Perkins and Ibaka, the Suns were forced to take their game to the perimeter, where they shot 6-20 from 3-point range.

 James Harden- A++     40pts/7reb/3ast/4stl

WOW! James Harden showed why he is going to be one of the premier 2-guards in the NBA for years to come. He was hitting on all cylinders tonight. Leading the league in TS% from the guard position, Harden scored with incredible efficiency. One of the main reasons he is able to take over a game is his ability to get to the free throw line. He made all 11 of his attempts from the charity stripe, to go along with seven rebounds and four steals. Great games like these from Harden are the reason the Thunder will be so dangerous in the playoffs.

 Rest of the Thunder- C+

I can’t stand Derek Fisher right now. He took seven shots and didn’t come close on any except for the one he made at the end of the first half. He’s in there to be a veteran and not make mistakes, not take shots he isn’t going to make. Nick Collison ended up playing more minutes than Serge Ibaka, and played well. A high motor guy who isn’t afriad to set a screen and take charges is a player that all championship teams need.

Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Even though it was much closer than it should’ve been, the Oklahoma City Thunder are one step closing to securing home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined 78 points, so you would think they should win big.

Unfortunately, with James Harden struggling after sitting out yesterday, the Wolves’ bench outscored the Thunder’s, 54-18. The Thunder were able to hold on, winning by a score of 115-110.

They next play in Los Angeles on Monday, against the Clippers.

Kevin Durant- A+     43pts/7reb/1ast/1blk

Another MVP-like performance for the Thunder superstar. Durant scored with crazy efficiency. He scored 43 points on just 23 shots. His offense tonight makes up for bit of his defense that was lacking from this game. Against much better teams, this defensive effort will not cut it.

Russell Westbrook- A     35pts/1reb/8ast/2stl

People will complain that, yet again, Russell Westbrook took more shots than Durant. This isn’t as big of a problem as people make it out to be. He is going to get his shots, because he is just so good at creating his own. What gets overlooked is that fact that Westbrook has eight assists tonight. So, Russell, keep on shooting.

Serge Ibaka- B+     8pts/12reb/2ast/5blk

With 5 blocks and 12 rebounds, Ibaka did well for the most part for the Thunder. The bad part? Blocks are not the only thing that is good for defense. Ibaka has really struggled this year when the other team’s PF plays on the wing. Teams like the Rockets, Nuggets, and Timberwolves have an advantage against the Thunder when they go small, because of Ibaka. He is still young, and has plenty of time to improve, but this may cause problems come playoff time.

Kendrick Perkins- C     2pts/10reb/1stl

Typical Perkins game. Played some solid defense, was terrible on offense, and grabbed a few rebounds.

James Harden- F     6pts/4reb/3ast/1stl

Oh wow was this game ugly for Mr. Harden. Coming off sitting out a game, Harden struggled to find the bottom of the net. He made just one of his 11 field goal attempts, including eight 3-point tries. Lucky for him, his two star teammates picked up the slack for his lack of scoring.

Rest of the Thunder- C-

Nick Collison is one of the only bright spots for the rest of the Thunder this season. He, along with Thabo Sefolosha scored 19 of the 27 points from the non-Harden bench and Thabo. Derek Fisher gave the Thunder 20 minutes, but failed to score and only managed one assist. The Derek Fisher experiment seems to have failed so far, and I’m not surprised at all.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook stole the show tonight with this thunderous alley-oop finish in the second quarter on lob pass from Kevin Durant in transition.

The dunk electrified the crowd and set the tone for the rest of the night as Oklahoma City cruised to a 115-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Durant led the team with 29 points and nine rebounds and needed to play just 30 minutes. Durant also turned the ball over seven times.

Westbrook scored 22 points to go with five assists and six rebounds. The two combined to shoot over 50 percent from the floor and needed to as the Thunder were without James Harden for the night.

The Thunder turned the ball over 23 times and gave up 17 offensive rebounds when they played the Kings two months ago. Tonight, Oklahoma City committed just 14 turnovers and gave up eight offensive rebounds while crashing the glass themselves with 16 offensive boards.

Kendrick Perkins led that charge with a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 11 rebounds – five offensive.

DeMarcus Cousins tried to get established early but Serge Ibaka wouldn’t let him as he blocked seven shots on the night. Cousins scored just nine points and was 3-for-14 from the field.

Derek Fisher and Daequan Cook shot well in Harden’s absence combining for 27 points. Cook hit three threes and had 13 points while Fisher scored 14, though Jimmer Fredette was covering him most of the time.

The Thunder (43-16) play tomorrow night in Minnesota (25-35) in what will be the first of five in a row on the road for them. Kevin Love suffered a concussion against the Denver Nuggets and likely won’t play tomorrow night or at all the rest of the season.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

When Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook struggle, the Thunder aren’t going to win against quality teams like the Los Angeles Clippers.

They combined to shoot 10-35 from the floor, for 44 points.

Oklahoma City was leading throughout most of the game until they scored just 18 points in the 4th quarter. Durant hit a 3-pointer with 32 seconds to go to tie it up at 98, but Chris Paul followed with a layup to put the Clippers up for good.

The Thunder drop their 16th game of the season, which is tied with the Spurs in the loss column for first in the West.

Oklahoma City continues their chase for the #1 seed on Friday, when they face the Sacramento Kings.

Kevin Durant- C+     22pts/9reb/3ast/2stl

That last shot by Kevin Durant wasn’t the best available, but he loves that shot. Surprisingly, the Clippers managed to play quality defense against the MVP candidate, which goes against everything said about them this season. In the playoffs, Durant won’t have more than a game or two like this, so there isn’t much to worry about.

Russell Westbrook- D     20pts/4reb/7ast

Going up against on of the best defenders among point guards, Westbrook struggled to make shots. He shot more free throws than he did field goals, and had four turnovers. Not a very good game for Westbrook, overall.

Serge Ibaka- B+     12pts/7reb/1ast/3blk

Ibaka has been one of the bright points of this Thunder team throughout the season. He doesn’t seem to have many bad games, and is a consistent presence in the paint. He, along with Perkins and Collison, held Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to just 24 points.

Kendrick Perkins- C     8pts/5reb/3ast/2blk

My HUGE pet peeve with the Thunder offense is that they, for some reason, think that giving the ball to Kendrick Perkins in the post, is a good idea. In no game, should he get nine shots. Otherwise, his defense was fine, and didn’t get in the way too much on offense.

James Harden- A-     17pts/5reb/2ast/1stl

After a little sloppy play early in the game, Harden settled in and was a good for the rest of the game. He hit 50% of his shots, and got to the free throw line seven times. It seems like the players are still recovering from the tough game in Miami.

Rest of the Thunder- B-

Derek Fisher managed to hit a couple shots early in the game, but didn’t play much in the second half. Nick Collison has become one of the best screen setters in the game, giving the Thunder open shots. Overall, it was not a very well played game by the Thunder, and they were still in it all the way through. They’ll be a top two seed in the West, so these games don’t mean too much right now.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder snapped their three-game losing streak beating the Toronto Raptors 91-75 Sunday night.

The Thunder led Toronto 58-55 with 6:05 left in the third quarter and would then go on a 24-0 run that lasted into the fourth quarter. The Thunder starters did not have to play in the final period.

Kevin Durant led the way for Oklahoma City scoring 23 points and making 4-of-6 threes. Russell Westbrook looked like he might be on pace for a triple-double early and finished with 15 points, six assists and six rebounds.

The Thunder bench was the difference in this one, along with the fact that the Raptors might have the worst roster in the NBA. James Harden, Nick Collison, Daequan Cook and Derek Fisher were all plus-16 or better while on the floor.

Harden had only five points through three quarters but turned it up in the fourth and finished with 17 points and four assists. Collison was a beast on the glass with nine rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end. Cook had his highest scoring output since early March with eight points including two treys.

The Thunder were going through a tough stretch losing their last three games and they really didn’t look all that great tonight. They scored just 91 points which is right around what they’ve been averaging in their losing streak. The Thunder also committed 16 turnovers in the game tonight.

Three-point shooting helped Oklahoma City out tonight as they made 10-of-23 attempts. On defense they held Toronto to 37.2 percent shooting with Serge Ibaka spearheading the attack with five blocks.

The Thunder (41-15) will travel tomorrow to play in Milwaukee (28-28).

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Derek Fisher got his standing ovation and a video montage, and the Oklahoma City Thunder got another win over a championship caliber team in the Los Angeles Lakers.

Surprisingly, Fisher only played 11 minutes against his former team, when he played over 15 in each of previous four games.

The Thunder started off terribly, they showed little energy and got outrebounded by eight in the first quarter.

After a little better performance in the following period, and a Serge Ibaka jumper at the buzzer, the Thunder went into halftime with only a five point deficit.

Then, Russell Westbrook went off. He scored 17 points in the third quarter, including a long three as time ran out, to give the Thunder a 78-68 lead going into the fourth.

Los Angeles had no answer for Westbrook, as he scored 36 points in the 102-93 win for Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant- B-     21pts/11reb/5ast/2blk

Kevin Durant struggled early tonight. He couldn’t find the bottom of the net, missing his first eight shots. Durant picked it up a bit in the second half and ended up with 21 points and 11 rebounds. He also picked up a technically, after complaining about a foul called against him.

Russell Westbrook- A+     36pts/1reb/6ast/2stl

Westbrook carried the Thunder to a victory with his 36 points, 27 of them in the second half. He showed his speed by blowing by Laker defenders for easy layups. The best part about Westbrook’s night was that he only had one turnover. Turnovers have big a big problem for him this year, and limiting teams to only a few fast break points is key to the Thunder’s success.

Serge Ibaka- B-     8pts/9reb/1ast/3blk

Not the best game for Serge Ibaka. There wasn’t much offense from him with his eight point showing. His defense was good for the most part, but because of Perkins playing really well, and the Lakers going somewhat small, Ibaka only got 19 minutes on the floor. Still he managed to block three shots and grab nine boards.

Kendrick Perkins- A     12pts/8reb/2blk

Again, Perkins had a nice game for the Thunder. He has been picking up his overall play recently, adding some offensive moves and scoring for the Thunder. Now I don’t think relying on him is ever a good idea, but it’s nice to get some production on both ends of the floor. On the defensive end, he along Nick Collison and Ibaka forced Bynum to work for his baskets; they played tough solid defense after the sloppy first quarter.

James Harden- C    9pts/2reb/4ast/1stl

Harden played the three at points in the game, which meant Metta World Peace was guarding him. This led to him struggling on the offensive end of the floor. Last game against the Lakers, Harden got in Kobe’s face after a big game. This time around he talked a bit after an early 3-pointer, but the Lakers’ lead shut down any attempts to talk trash by Harden.

Rest of the Thunder- B+

Thabo Sefolosha played some really nice defense on Kobe, forcing him to go 7-25 from the field. After a rough first half for Nick Collison, he really picked up his effort and defense, holding down the paint in his 20 minutes. Collison was a big factor in the Thunder’s rebound advantage, pulling down eight total, five on the offensive glass. Nazr Mohammed added four blocks, most of them on one possession.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (4-game winning streak)
107.8 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
100.2 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
95.8 Pace (6th)
57.4 True Shooting % (1st)
51.6 Rebound Rate (4th)

Lakers (1-game winning streak)
102.4 Offensive Efficiency (11th)
99.3 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
92.8 Pace (20th)
53.3 True Shooting % (7th)
52.6 Rebound Rate (2nd)

It’s not going to be easy for the Oklahoma City Thunder to make it five straight tonight in Staples Center taking on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Oklahoma City has been playing some of its best basketball all season of late but the Lakers have been too since acquiring Ramon Sessions, an actual point guard.

The matchup tonight will also be the first time Derek Fisher plays against the team that traded him away a few weeks ago. Fisher doesn’t get a ton of minutes for the Thunder but expect him to be up for the challenge tonight while he’s out there.

The Lakers have had an issue all season containing point guards and while adding Sessions helps their offense, defending Russell Westbrook will be no easy task tonight. Westbrook is putting up career-high marks shooting the ball this season and has been especially efficient in the past week or so.

The last time these teams met we saw James Harden accept the challenge of taking on Kobe Bryant and he did admirably at it. The Thunder are not scared of the Lakers and Bryant so expect the same attitude tonight. If Oklahoma City can get Bryant to thinking it’s personal he may shoot the Lakers out of the game tonight.

In the past we’ve seen Kevin Durant struggle with Metta World Peace and his physical defense but this season we are seeing Durant get past those types of things on his way toward an MVP-caliber campaign.

The firepower of the Thunder will be a tough match for the Lakers but the size and rebounding Los Angeles has will also present problems for Oklahoma City. The Thunder have been up to any challenge lately and going on the road to play the Lakers will be an impressive win if they can pull it out.

Steve Dykes-US PRESSWIRE

The Thunder are playing their best basketball of the season right now. In their last game they beat the Miami Heat 103-87 and tonight they go on to the road to beat Portland 109-95.

Oklahoma City looked like the best team in the West tonight while Portland looked like a bunch of guys who haven’t been getting much run lately. The Thunder did anything they wanted and got good looks every possession it seemed.

In the first half, Oklahoma City shot 65.9 percent from the floor and led 65-48. Kevin Durant and James Harden did not miss a shot in the first two quarters and had a combined 26 points. Harden also had five assists.

It was the Russell Westbrook show in the next half and especially the third quarter when he put on quite a display scoring 10 points in a three minute span making five straight field goals.

Last game we saw Westbrook struggle some in his matchup with Dwyane Wade but tonight whatever defense Portland put on Westbrook was irrelevant. He finished with 32 points to go along with eight assists, seven of which came in the first half.

Durant finished with 25 points and Harden had 21. Harden has scored 40 points in his last two games and gone 12-of-14 from the field.

Oklahoma City’s offense has been on another level lately. They scored 149 points against Minnesota last week, shot 66.7 percent in the first half versus the Miami Heat and tonight shoot 57 percent for the game in Portland. Their assists are up and turnovers are down.

Serge Ibaka anchored yet another solid defensive attack tonight for the Thunder, blocking six shots and pulling down 12 rebounds.

Scott Brooks spoke of how much better the Thunder look defensively when they simply get into their defensive stances. The return of Thabo Sefolosha and signing of Derek Fisher may be helping this because the change in their defensive intensity these past few games has been noticeable better.

Oklahoma City (38-12) will be off tomorrow night before traveling to take on the Los Angeles Lakers (30-19) in Staples Thursday night. The game will air on TNT at 10:30 p.m. EST.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

In a potential Finals preview against the Miami Heat, the Oklahoma City Thunder played like a championship team tonight.

The Thunder moved the ball much better than usual tonight, and involved everyone on the team.

The game was close through the first quarter then the Thunder got going, and went on a run that led to an 11-point halftime lead.

The Heat only managed to get within eight points the rest of the way, as the Thunder cruised to a 103-87 win over one of the NBA’s premier teams.

Oklahoma City heads to Portland on Tuesday to face the Trail Blazers.

Kevin Durant- A+     28pts/9reb/8ast/2stl

Against the MVP-frontrunner, Durant showed the nation why he should also be considered for the award. Coming just shy of his first career triple double, he led the team to a victory over the preseason favorite to win the Finals. Durant got the ball moving, which is rare for the Thunder, a team that runs isolations as much as possible.

Russell Westbrook- C     13pts/3reb/6ast/3stl

It seems like every national TV game, the Thunder have to have somebody that has an off night. Tonight that was Russell Westbrook. He shot an abysmal 4-16 from the floor, scoring just 13 points, along with four turnovers. Part of the reason for Westbrook’s struggles was the fact that he picked up his third foul halfway through the second quarter.

Kendrick Perkins- A     16pts/6reb/2ast/1stl

What a wonderful game for the Thunder big man. Perkins recorded his season high in points, the most he’s scored since January 10^th, 2010, with the Boston Celtics. This is the first time he has had back-to-back double digit scoring games all season.

Serge Ibaka- A     19pts/10reb/1ast/1blk

For really the first time in a while, the Thunder had TWO big men score effectively. This is what the Thunder have been lacking to become a complete team. Ibaka’s jumper is starting to look automatic, and his inside defense is great as usual.

James Harden-B     19pts/3reb/6ast/2stl

Harden was great at some points, and not so much at others. When he was cast of the point guard, he facilitated well, moving the ball and involving everyone. To go with those six assists were a career high seven turnovers. If there is one team you don’t want to turn it over against, it’s the Miami Heat. You need to force them to beat you in the halfcourt, and giving them free points on fast breaks isn’t going to do that.

Rest of the Thunder- C

We didn’t see much of the bench, which should also happen once the playoffs come along. Derek Fisher played another 18 minutes, doing absolutely nothing, and Nick Collison gave the Thunder his usual hard work in his 19 minutes. When it comes down to it, the Thunder will have to play Durant and Westbrook 40+ minutes in the playoffs to get it done.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (2-game winning streak)
107.5 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
100.3 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
95.9 Pace (5th)
57.2 True Shooting % (1st)
51.4 Rebound Rate (5th)

Heat (4-game winning streak)
106.6 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
96.6 Defensive Efficiency (3rd)
94.3 Pace (12th)
56.2 True Shooting % (2nd)
51.2 Rebound Rate (7th)

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat will play for the first time this season in what is most likely going to be a preview of this year’s NBA Finals.

The Thunder are currently the number one seed in the West with the Heat slotted as the two-seed in the East behind only Chicago. Both teams are also near the top of nearly every efficiency category.

They are the two best offensive teams in the NBA and when you have six of the best individual scorers it’s not hard to see why. Both teams boast a Big Three that is averaging right around 70 points per game.

Both teams are thus very similar in their makeup with Miami probably holding the edge in experience.

The Heat hold a significant edge over the Thunder in getting offense from spot-up shooting attempts, which is where the Heat get most of their offense. This is no surprise with LeBron James being one of the top passers in the NBA and the Heat roster surrounding him with a ton of spot-up guys.

The Thunder rely mostly on isolation and pick-and-roll opportunities. This basically means that the defense knows what’s coming but the Thunder are so talented it doesn’t matter. The Heat can match their talent tonight so we’ll see if the Thunder are able to get the same scoring looks as usual.

The Heat also go into the post a lot more than the Thunder and they do it with James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. James and Wade are the two most efficient post scorers in the NBA this season.

Kevin Durant and James will likely be guarding each other all game long. I think both give each other trouble on defense. James holds a big weight advantage over Durant and Durant is so long and underrated on defense that he can bother some of James’ looks as well.

The Thunder have a cast of bigs they can throw at Bosh but Bosh does most of his damage on pick-and-pops. Expect Serge Ibaka to not defend well enough on Bosh and for Nick Collison to be called upon for a lot of minutes.

Russell Westbrook won’t always be matched up on Wade but will from time to time, especially if the Thunder go small with Derek Fisher on the floor. It is amazing how much bigger Wade is than Westbrook and Wade will go to the post if this matchup occurs and likely abuse Westbrook.

Westbrook will be on offense however the toughest cover for Miami. Mario Chalmers and Wade are good defenders but Westbrook will be able to get looks all night. He’s been hitting his pull-up jumper lately and will need to be on with that shot tonight for the Thunder to win.

Both teams play a lot of up-tempo ball but in this matchup it may turn into more of a half court setting. Both teams will surely be up for the game so expect defensive intensity to appear playoff-like.

At home the Thunder should have a slight edge over the Heat but it is their toughest matchup. If they’re making the open jump shots they should get, then they can win. Otherwise, Miami may be walking out of Chesapeake Arena with the victory tonight.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Wow. There are not enough adjectives in the English language to fully describe how awesome ThunderWolves was last night.

For the second time this year, the Thunder were involved in a game where there was a 50-point scorer, a 40-point scorer (two this time), and someone with a triple double.

Kevin Love scored a career and franchise-high 51, JJ Barea has 25 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

Russell Westbrook netted a career-high 45 points, followed by Kevin Durant with his second 40+ point game this season.

The game was highlights by three 3-pointers, the first by Durant with 3 seconds to go in regulation to take a three point lead. Kevin Love answered immediately, sending the game into overtime with a three of his own.

Then in the first overtime, Durant came up in the clutch again, hitting a game-tying three with 10 seconds left in the first extra period. The Thunder seemed to have all of the energy in the world, driving past the Wolves defense to pull out a nine point victory in 2OT, 149-140.

Minnesota was playing their last game of a seven game road trip, where they went 2-5, falling farther behind in the playoff race. Oklahoma City won two games in a row for the first time since March 7^th.

The Thunder have a day to rest, before Miami comes to town for a potential NBA Finals preview.

Kevin Durant- A+     40pts/17reb/5ast/3stl

There isn’t much of a race for MVP, with LeBron James having a historically amazing season, but Kevin Durant is doing all he can to get his name in there. This is only the 13^th time in league history that a player had at least 40/17/5, and the first since 2007.

Russell Westbrook- A+     45pts/4reb/6ast/2stl

Westbrook seemed to have all of the energy in the world, out there. In the second overtime, he was driving past a tired Wolves defense for easy layups, and giving the Thunder the energy they needed to finally pull away. Russell shot with wonderful efficiency, going 61% from the floor, and making all nine attempts from the line. This may have been the best game Russell Westbrook has ever played.

Serge Ibaka- B     8pts/9reb/2stl/5blk

Because of the Wolves smaller lineup, Coach Brooks decided to go small for a majority of the game. Serge only played 25 minutes of a 58 minute game. Still, the Thunder big man managed to block five shots, and grab nine rebounds.

Kendrick Perkins- B+     12pts/5reb/0ast/0blk

I was very surprised with Perk last night, for the first (and only third this season) time since February 10^th he scored more than 10 points. Making a contribution on the offensive end is very rare for Perkins, but it was nice to see. Along with Ibaka, Perkins got limited minutes due to the size of the Timberwolves.

James Harden- A     25pts/6reb/6ast/1stl

I love that Harden was given control of the ball late in the game. This is becoming more of a regular thing for the Thunder, and it usually turns out well. Harden has been a better passer than Westbrook, and can also create for himself. Harden scored his 25 on just 17 shots, and co-led the team in assists with six. Harden’s passing has really helped the bench get more involved in the scoring for the Thunder.

Derek Fisher- D-     5pts/2reb/3ast/1stl

Man, did Fisher annoy me this game. It seemed like he wanted to take every big shot like it was the 2004 Western Conference Playoffs. He was 1-10 before he finally made a meaningless 3-pointer at the end of 2OT. As I stated in the Fisher roundtable, he shouldn’t come near the ball in clutch situations, and the very next day, the opposite happens. I don’t understand why he was given 36 minutes, when Reggie Jackson DID NOT PLAY. Honestly I would have rather had Royal Ivey out there; at least he makes shots occasionally. Ahh, the Derek Fisher Experiment is going to be the end of me.

Rest of the Thunder (pretty much just Nick Collison) – B+

Collison played a great game, and is showing why he deserves 20 minutes a game. Harden and Collison make a good duo off the bench, and are really improving over the course of the year. Not Ibaka, not Perkins, but Nick Collison was left in the game during overtime. The Thunder trust him to do his job, and not make any crucial mistakes when on the floor. He scored 11 points, along with three of each, rebounds, assists, and steals.

The Thunder cut that deficit to three with just over 30 seconds left then made a great defensive stop to force a turnover and give themselves a chance to tie the game and send it into another overtime.

With 16.1 seconds left and trailing 129-126, James Harden inbounded from half court for the Thunder. The play had Kevin Durant set up at the right (near) elbow, Russell Westbrook on the far wing, Derek Fisher in the far corner and Nick Collison on the near block.

From this set up the Thunder could have done a number of things. Earlier in regulation, Durant already hit a three in the final seconds after isolating at the top of the key and taking Anthony Tolliver off the dribble. Minnesota was probably expecting that again.

Durant comes to the ball and receives the inbound from Harden. Instead of isolating his man, Durant hands back to Harden who takes his dribble to the top of the key as Durant fades to the right wing.

Collison comes up to set a back screen on Durant’s man who is playing him very close and isn’t in good position to see Collison coming until it is too late. Kevin Love, who is guarding Collison, has a lot of space between him. With Harden at the top of the key there is still a chance that the Thunder may be going for a quick two, so Love can’t sell out on helping Durant.

This is a mistake as Harden delivers a perfect feed to Durant in the corner and Love is late getting too him.

Standing at 7-foot tall, Durant only needs a moment to get a clean look at the rim and stroke the three that would tie the game and send it into another overtime.

I like this play by the Thunder mainly because of the fact that they actually ran a play instead of just relying on isolation scoring. With Harden coming to the top of the key and time still remaining for the possible quick two, the set was designed nicely for Minnesota to not really know what was coming.

Harden is very good at the type of pass he hit Durant with which is the same pass he signaturely pulls off on the OKC skip pass play between him and Daequan Cook. Westbrook may not have been the right guy to make that pass and was a better decoy threat on the opposite wing playing off the ball.

Brooks did a good job in the overtimes using Harden’s playmaking ability to help win this game. Harden and his passing is going to be a crucial ingredient for any type of playoff run the Thunder can potentially pull off later this year.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 149-140 in double overtime in what might have been the best game in the NBA this season.

The Thunder won despite a career-high and franchise record 51 points from Kevin Love to go along with 14 rebounds and the game-tying three-point shot with 1.0 second left in regulation to send the game into its first overtime.

Oklahoma City got a career-high of 45 points out of Russell Westbrook and 40 points from Kevin Durant who also pulled down 17 rebounds in 52 minutes of action.

Durant dueled from deep with Love at the end of regulation and the first overtime. Before Love’s game-tying trey with a second left in regulation, Durant drilled a stepback bomb from straight away 25-feet to put the Thunder ahead 116-113.

The Thunder trailed by five with 46 seconds left of the first overtime following a breakaway dunk by Anthony Tolliver. Westbrook scored on a runner with 36 seconds left to cut the deficit to 129-126. Then Durant provided perfect pick-and-roll help defense on Love in the paint forcing a traveling violation.

With 10 seconds left, James Harden found Durant in the right corner for the game-tying three to send this game into another overtime.

It was all Thunder in the second overtime, outscoring Minnesota 20-11 with Westbrook leading the way. Russell refused to fatigue scoring nine points in the final overtime and everything coming from strong drives to the rim.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Down the stretch, Scott Brooks elected to go with Derek Fisher and Nick Collison alongside Durant-Westbrook-Harden. Fisher couldn’t buy a basket and was 2-for-11 from the floor and 1-for-5 on threes in the game. Collison plays hard but every now and then you can’t help but notice his undersized frame costing the Thunder on the 50-50 rebounds they easily consume via Serge Ibaka.

In the final overtime, the Thunder offense ran through Harden and executed with the same poetic feel that Harden brings to the floor every night. Harden put together a great all-around game tonight scoring 25 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.

It should be mentioned that in Ricky Rubio’s absence the Minnesota Timberwolves called upon 47 minutes of J.J. Barea tonight and he came through with his first career triple-double notching 25 points, 14 assists and 10 boards.

The Thunder have yielded many great box scores this regular season. It is yet to be decided if this is a good thing or not. One thing is certain and that is that the Thunder are the most exciting team in basketball this year.

Oklahoma City (36-12) is off tomorrow and then will square off in possibly their toughest test yet hosting the Miami Heat (35-11) Sunday night.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The big news these last few days for the Oklahoma City Thunder was the signing of veteran point guard Derek Fisher. Fisher played in his first game with the Thunder last night against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Thunder were in need of a solid backup point since the Eric Maynor injury and Reggie Jackson hasn’t exactly been exceeding at the job. Fisher brings with him a lot of experience, five championship rings and leadership.

How will the signing play out? The staff at Thunderous Intentions is here to break it down.

We know one area the Thunder weren’t strong at this season was a backup point guard. How much does Derek Fisher help this?

Andrew Kennedy: I think he helps a lot. The Thunder were getting basically nothing from Reggie Jackson’s minutes and it seemed like kind of a weakness for OKC. While I don’t expect much scoring or assists or even great defense from Fisher, I do think it is a significant upgrade.

Cody Brees: Since James Harden will be the primary ball handler with the second unit, the backup point guard for the Thunder is mostly a spot up shooter. Fisher is having a down year only shooting 33 percent from behind the arc this year. But that is an improvement over Reggie Jackson’s 22 percent.

Blake Potash: The impact Fisher may or may not have will not be on the court. I think Reggie Jackson has been better than Fisher this year, especially on the defensive end. Things shouldn’t change much for the Thunder at the point guard position.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

How big of an impact do you think Fisher will make in terms of intangibles, experience and in the locker room?

AK: This is going to be the biggest impact that Fisher will bring to the Thunder. I think having him in the locker room has to help players like Russell Westbrook and I think his experience and leadership will have a positive effect on the entire team.

CB: I believe this will be the biggest impact Fisher makes, if he truly buys into the Thunder team. The Thunder’s best players are still very young, with no real teacher at the guard position. You noticed the impact Kendrick Perkins made on the defensive end on and off the court with his championship experience. Hopefully Fisher can provide some of the same.

BP: I would like to think Fisher is going to help a bit with this young locker room. He has been a part of a championship atmosphere, and knows the mentality of an NBA Finals contender. Generally I’m not the biggest fan of bringing in veteran leadership, it only helps in certain situations, but after last nights’ game, it looks like it may work out.

How many minutes should Fisher play?

AK: This is the area where I am a little concerned with the Fisher addition. I can totally see Scott Brooks loving him a little too much and playing him 18-20 minutes when he should be playing 15 or less. And once the playoffs come around, Westbrook should be playing 40-plus minutes which means unless Fisher is going to be playing alongside Fisher, we shouldn’t see more than 10 minutes a night from him.

CB: Regular season I wouldn’t mind him playing around 15 minutes once he learns the system. I think in addition to the backup point minutes, I would love (really, really love) for him to take some minutes away from Cook when the Thunder play small. Once the playoffs roll around we will see how well he is doing, then decide how much we want him playing.

BP: 10-15 minutes. With Daequan Cook now out for a few weeks, Fisher should take all of his minutes, and some from Royal Ivey and Reggie Jackson. Jackson’s play warrants as many minutes as Fisher, but it looks like Coach Brooks will give the veteran a majority of the minutes behind Westbrook.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Will we see Fisher playing crunch time and will that be a good thing?

AK: I think in some games we will see him playing crunch time obviously when the Thunder decide to go small, which they do a lot in the fourth quarter. Before it was Daequan Cook who played alongside Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka. We’ve yet to really see Westbrook out there with another point and it will be interesting to see if it’s a good match. I personally like Westbrook playing off the ball some and if that is the case with Fisher in, it may be a lineup that works well for the Thunder.

CB: Only if the Thunder go small, and there is an un-athletic guard on the court. The Thunder go small a lot at the end of games, so I wouldn’t be surprised there, but against teams like the Lakers and Clippers with multiple athletic guards I wouldn’t expect to see him much.

BP: Hopefully not. Fisher should be nowhere near the ball with the game on the line, leave that to the Durant, Westbrook, and Harden.

Are the Thunder significantly better with Fisher?

AK: I guess the jury is still out here. They probably aren’t significantly better but are improved overall. I really like the move overall and think it will benefit the Thunder in multiple ways as the season progresses.

CB: I would say no. I am not even sure if they are better with Fisher at this point. Fisher is having a terrible year. He is 54th among point guards in PER. That being said, Jackson is only .5 better. On paper the improvement is minimal. In the locker room will be the most significant improvement.

BP: I would say they are marginally better, at best. The Thunder are a pretty solid team at the moment, and didn’t need to make any moves to remain the favorite in the West. If Fisher can keep the player’s heads in the right direction going into the playoffs, this will have been a successful transaction.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Following the big news that Derek Fisher was coming to town, the Thunder run over the Los Angeles Clippers 114-91.

Durant led the way with 32 points on just 18 shots.

Surprisingly, Scott Brooks gave Fisher 20 minutes after joining the team today, also getting a standing ovation when entering the game for the first time.

The Thunder shot 54% from the floor, and went 21-22 from the charity stripe.

They continue their three-game stretch at home when Minnesota comes to town on Friday.

Kevin Durant- A+     32pts/9reb/5ast/2stl

Another MVP-esque game for the Thunder’s superstar. Durant was very efficient tonight, getting to the line 11 times, making them all, and only taking 18 shots. He had an advantage, due to the Clippers’ lack of defensive ability, with Nick Young having to guard him at times. Durant used his postgame very well, getting fouled and hitting jumpers over smaller opponents.

Russell Westbrook- B+     19pts/3reb/4ast

Russ started off hot for the second straight night, hitting his first three shots, and scoring nine first quarter points. The real story tonight though, was Westbrook’s defense on Chris Paul. He held the All-NBA point guard to just 13 points.

Serge Ibaka- A     15pts/8reb/3blk

I’m really loving Ibaka’s play as of late. He is doing everything right on both sides of the ball. Serge added another three blocks, which isn’t unusual and also helped hold Blake Griffin to his lowest career point total, 7. He is also getting much better on the offensive boards, which helps get some key points in the paint that the Thunder lack.

Kendrick Perkins- A     6pts/8reb/1ast/1blk

Finally, here’s a game where I don’t have anything bad to say about Kendrick Perkins. He played wonderful defense on the Clipper bigs, and made all three of his field goal attempts. I want to see this more often out of Perk. Well I have one bad thing, he got another technical, but it’s Perkins, what can you do?

Thabo Sefolosha- B     5pts/3reb/1ast/1stl

The Thunder got 15 more quality minutes out of Thabo tonight. Sure Randy Foye caught fire in the first half, but you can’t really blame a defender when someone shoots lights out. Thabo added a 3-pointer and two free throws, and you have a solid game.

James Harden- B+     10pts/6reb/5ast/1stl

While James Harden didn’t score that much, he did dish out five assists. He has been a very good passer, maybe the best on the team, and is involving the rest of the second unit.

Rest of the Thunder- A

The bench unit played a great game tonight. Maybe it was because of Derek Fisher, maybe not. They scored 26 points, including back to back Lazar Hayward 3’s, and seven from Nazr Mohammad. Fisher got most of Daequan Cook’s (who has been ruled out for 2-3 weeks) and Reggie Jackson’s minutes, and played some solid ball. Nineteen minutes was a little more than expected for his first time out, but I was not disappointed with Fisher’s play.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City got their act together tonight beating the Los Angeles Clippers at home 114-91.

Derek Fisher suited up for the first time with the Thunder after signing with the team earlier today. In 19 minutes Fisher scored five points and the Thunder were plus-12 with him on the floor. Fisher’s impact was noticeable in the defensive intensity he brought to the court and offensive awareness via swift ball movement.

It was the first meeting between the teams since Jan. 30 when the Thunder lost in Los Angeles and Blake Griffin had his famous dunk on Kendrick Perkins. I wouldn’t say the Thunder took that personal and were out to prove a point against the Thunder tonight but they did look the best they have in awhile tonight.

Early they set the tone getting a lot of looks at the rim and converting them. Posting Kevin Durant with Nick Young matched up with him was the emphasis in the first quarter. If not for hot three-point shooting from the Clippers early, the Thunder would have run away with the game sooner.

Durant had one of his better games of the last few weeks notching 32 points and nine rebounds and making all 11 of his free throw attempts.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Sharing was prevalent from the Thunder tonight as the Clippers threw a lot of zone at Oklahoma City and the Thunder responded with the appropriate ball movement foil. Oklahoma City had 20 assists in the game with Durant and James Harden leading the team with five apiece.

The Clipper’s two all-stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin didn’t have their best stuff tonight. Paul had just 13 points and 10 assists and was 3-for-12 from the field. Griffin scored a career-low seven points and went 3-of-11 from the floor.

Randy Foye, who was benched in the Clipper’s last game versus Indiana, was the lone bright spot for the squad heating up from deep early and scoring 16 of his 23 points in the first half.

The Thunder dominated the glass in this one as the Clippers did not register a rebound until around five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Oklahoma City held a 49-31 advantage on the glass and snagged 14 offensive rebounds in the game.

Oklahoma City improves to 35-12 on the year and they will host Minnesota (23-24) Friday night for their next game.

“We are excited to add Derek to the Thunder and believe his experience and abilities will make a positive impact with our team,” Thunder GM Sam Presti said in a press release. ”He is someone that will enhance our roster’s current and future development on and off the floor through his knowledge, professionalism and approach to the game.”

Fisher will likely get some run tonight with the second unit and possibly play some with the starters. It will be interesting to see the blend and if his impact is anything of significance for the team with the best record in the Western Conference.

Fisher surrendered his entire 2012-13 salary to secure his buyout with the Houston Rockets.

He was just recently seen entering the building for tonight’s game. The Thunder have waived Ryan Reid to make room for Fisher.