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

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

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

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

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

Spruce Derden-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies promised us a great series before it even started. They came through with the series going seven games with a physical playoff style of play in each.

Chris Paul and the Clippers came through on the road in a Game 7 shocking the home crowd in Memphis. The Clippers won Game 7, 82-72 as Paul led the team with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

The Clippers won this game in a way that no one expected too. Their bench rose to the occasion in the fourth quarter scoring 25 of the team’s 27 points in the final period.

The Clippers entered the fourth quarter trailing by one and outscored the home team 27-16 in the final 12 minutes.

Vinny Del Negro gets a lot of heat but credit him for sticking with the right personnel down the stretch. He sat Blake Griffin for most of the fourth quarter and played guys like Reggie Evans and Kenyon Martin instead, two guys the Clippers needed to close out the Grizzlies.

Both teams were shooting poorly in the game but Memphis was the worst shooting 32.5 percent from the field and going 0-for-13 on threes.

Marc Gasol and Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 19 points each but Zach Randolph again did not look like the Randolph from last year as he was held to just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.

The Clippers now move on to play the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Spurs swept the Utah Jazz in the first round and have been waiting awhile to play their next game.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

The Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 95-86 Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in their series.

LeBron James led the Heat with 32 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in 43 minutes on the day he was presented with the MVP trophy before the game.

Dwyane Wade scored 29 points in 40 minutes and the duo of LeBron and Wade combined to go 21-of-24 at the free throw line.

LeBron and Wade had to step up not only because the Pacers came out strong but Chris Bosh went down with an injury late in the first half and did not return in the game.

Indiana played better than most people thought they would but did not come through in the areas they needed to pull off the upset. They gave up 15 offensive rebounds to Miami and Danny Granger went 1-for-10 from the field with only seven points.

The Pacers looked young and inexperienced and the Heat looked like they knew they were going to win the game no matter what. This series will be frustrating for Pacers fans but they could have a window of opportunity if the Bosh injury proves to be more serious.

The Lakers led 3-1 in the series after four games then played very poorly in games 5 and 6 losing each to Denver. The Lakers returned to form in Game 7 and did what they were supposed to do closing out Denver in Staples Center.

The Lakers took advantage of their greatest advantage which was size in Game 7. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum really showed up after essentially no-showing the last two games.

Gasol and Bynum combined for 33 points and 35 rebounds in Game 7 including 20 offensive boards.

Kobe Bryant was relatively quiet in the game scoring 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting but did also have eight assists.

The Thunder have been waiting awhile for this series to start. Oklahoma City beat Dallas in four games and that series ended last Saturday, May 5. The greatest concern for the Thunder is the health of starting center Kendrick Perkins who is still day-to-day and it is unknown if he will play in Game 1.

Game 1 will be Monday night at 9:30 p.m. EST.

Andre Iguodala made two free throws with two seconds left to put Philadelphia ahead.

The Bulls led 78-75 with 25 seconds left following an Omer Asik dunk. Thaddeus Young scored for the 76ers on the next possession then Asik was fouled at the rim with seven seconds left and would miss both free throws.

Iguodala rebounded the second miss and immediately pushed the ball back up court and drove hard right at Asik to the rim and was fouled to set up the game-winning free throws.

The Bulls were obviously not the same without Rose despite having success during the regular season when he was sidelined.

The series was very low-scoring for both teams but the Bulls simply did not have enough people step up with their injuries. Carlos Boozer scored three points in Game 6.

The 76ers win their first series since 2003 and will meet the Boston Celtics in the second round.

The Boston Celtics survived at home in Game 6 against the Atlanta Hawks 83-80 to win the series 4-2.

The Celtics led by two with two seconds left and Al Horford was fouled attempting a layup. He would miss the first and make the second and the Celtics hung on to win.

Kevin Garnett came through with a classic performance. He scored 28 points to go with 14 rebounds and five blocks.

The Eastern Conference second round matchups are now set with the Celtics having homecourt against the 76ers and Miami with homecourt versus Indiana.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost 113-96 in Game 6 to the Denver Nuggets. There will be a Game 7 in this series now.

The Nuggets got off to a great start while the Lakers looked sluggish. Denver scored the first 13 points of the game and never looked back.

Kobe Bryant missed the shootaround before the game but still played of course. He looked sick but still scored 31 points on 13-for-23 shooting.

Kobe was the only Laker with anything going. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol for the second game in a row were not their usual selves. Bynum scored 11 points and Gasol was 1-of-10 fro the field with three points.

Ty Lawson led Denver with 32 points and made five threes in the game including four in the first quarter. Lawson has been the key for Denver in this series but hasn’t played too well on the road yet.

Game 7 will be Saturday between these teams meaning the Thunder won’t play Game 1 of the second round until Monday. With the Lakers up 3-1 it looked like they would easily move on but now Denver surely has momentum and could easily win this series.

Metta World Peace will return for Game 7 after being suspended for elbowing James Harden. I don’t think anyone looks at this series and says the Lakers could use World Peace and they’d be fine.

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The Los Angeles Lakers lead their first round series with the Denver Nuggets 3-2. They lost Game 5 at home with a chance to close out the series. Denver looked great in Game 5 playing their game and dictating the style of play to their liking.

Kobe scored 43 points in Game 5 including a stretch of three consecutive threes late in the fourth quarter. His symptoms today are vomiting and stomach pain.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum did not look their best in Game 5 and the Lakers will need less from Kobe and more from them to beat this Nuggets team.

If the Lakers win tonight then Game 1 of the second round will be on Saturday in Oklahoma City. All indications however are that the Nuggets should be favored to win tonight at home and force a Game 7 in Staples Center.

Or we could have the potential for Kobe trying to emulate Michael Jordan with a famous “flu game” of his own.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James and the Miami Heat beat the New York Knicks 106-94 Wednesday night to win the series 4-1.

LeBron led the Heat with 29 points, seven assists and eight rebounds. LeBron set the tone early getting to the line eight times in the first quarter and also dishing out five assists in the opening quarter.

LeBron covered Carmelo Anthony for most of the game but Anthony had it going and scored 35 points but needed 31 shots to get those points. LeBron was criticized much for not covering Anthony down the stretch of Game 4 in New York.

Anthony got little to no help though from his teammates. The entire Knicks team looked like quite a mess in Game 5 as it seemed every time down the floor it was nothing but isolation offense.

The Heat will move on to play the Indiana Pacers in Round 2 who beat the Orlando Magic in five games in the first round.

Miami took three out of four from the Pacers in the regular season and while Indiana seems like they could be a tough matchup for the Heat, Miami and LeBron just seem to have their number.

LeBron averaged 26.8 points, 6.5 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 10.0 free throw attempts per game against the Pacers in the regular season.

Spruce Derden-US PRESSWIRE

The Memphis Grizzlies staved off elimination beating the Los Angeles Clippers 92-80 Wednesday night.

The Grizzlies got out to a great start and big lead in the first half with the game feeling a lot like Game 1 when the Clippers came back from a 27-point deficit to win.

Memphis did not give up their lead this time however and relied on Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to lead the way for them.

Randolph scored 19 points to go with 10 rebounds in the game and had 15 points and five rebounds in the first quarter.

Gasol scored 23 points to go with four rebounds and seven rebounds.

Chris Paul’s impact in the game was not its normal noticeable self. He scored just 19 points and dished out four assists.

Mo Williams led Los Angeles with 20 points in the game.

The Clippers still lead the series 3-2 and will host Game 6 Friday night.

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Derrick Rose tore his ACL, Amar’e Stoudemie punched a fire extinguisher and the defending champions got swept.

Without further ado let’s get right into my current Playoff Power Rankings.

1. San Antonio Spurs

They haven’t lost yet and haven’t shown any signs of weakness yet. So there’s no reason to take them out of the number one spot yet.

2. Miami Heat

Going up 3-0 was a great sign for the Heat but the Knicks have really looked terrible other than Game 4. The Heat’s path to the NBA Finals has become as easy as possible now.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

You can’t ask for much more than sweeping the Mavericks. The Thunder are playing their best basketball right now and that’s a scary thing.

4. Los Angeles Lakers

They’re doing what they’re supposed to do now up 3-1 on Denver. They might be the last real contender other than the top three.

5. Los Angeles Clippers

They’re up 2-1 with a chance to go up 3-1 at home tonight. This series is very close though so things could change soon. You have to give the Clippers credit though.

6. Boston Celtics

All looked lost when they went down 1-0 and Rajon Rondo was suspended for Game 2. But Paul Pierce saved the day and the Celtics are looking pretty good now.

7. Memphis Grizzlies

They are down 2-1 but if they can win tonight they’ll win home court back. If they can get by the Clippers we all know what they did to San Antonio last year.

8. Indiana Pacers

They’ve rebounded nicely from the Game 1 loss and it will look really good if they close out the Magic at home in five. The only problem is they have to play Miami in the next round.

9. Philadelphia 76ers

They’ve really taken advantage of the Derrick Rose injury winning the last three games of this series. This team was playing really well at the beginning of the season and they’re looking like that again now.

10. Atlanta Hawks

They’ve been a mess lately. When they lost Game 2 without Rondo they probably lost the series.

11. Chicago Bulls

If they can look strong again and win Game 5 they have a chance to come back in this series. People were still talking about them making the conference finals without Rose right after the injury.

12. New York Knicks

They finally won a game when it looked like they were going to get swept. Now we’re hearing Linsanity may return for Game 5. You never know.

13. Denver Nuggets

They blew a great opportunity last night to even the series. Now it looks like they may lose in five.

14. Orlando Magic

It was a valiant effort but when you have to go to Big Baby for a fadeaway 15-footer in the clutch, you know you’re in trouble.

15. Utah Jazz

I mean you’re not that bad, it’s just that you’re playing the Spurs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11:38 – Dallas up 81-71

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

10:56 – Dallas up 81-73

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

10:11 – Dallas up 83-73

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

9:29 – Dallas up 86-76

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

9:00 – Dallas up 86-76

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

Here are his last two buckets.

8:33 – Dallas up 86-78

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

8:07 – Dallas up 86-80

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

7:26 – Dallas up 86-83

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

6:39 – Dallas up 86-85

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

6:05 – Tie game 88-88

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

5:33 – Dallas up 91-90

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

5:16 – Oklahoma City up 92-91

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

4:37 – Oklahoma City up 92-91

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

4:05 – Oklahoma City up 94-91

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

3:34 – Oklahoma City up 94-91

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

3:00 – Oklahoma City up 96-91

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

2:30 – Oklahoma City up 98-93

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

2:01 – Oklahoma City up 100-95

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

1:27 – Oklahoma City up 100-95

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

0:48 – Oklahoma City up 100-95

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

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

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

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

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

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that starting center Kendrick Perkins suffered a right hip muscle strain in the Thunder’s Game 4 victory in Dallas Saturday night, as confirmed by an MRI.

Perkins was injured during the first quarter of Game 4 and did not return to the game. He is currently listed as day-to-day.

With the Thunder sweeping Dallas they will have as much time off as possible before their second round series begins.

The Thunder will await the winner of the Lakers-Nuggets series. The Lakers lead the series 2-1 and will play in Denver for Game 4 Sunday night.

Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

The New York Knicks will not be swept by the Miami Heat in the first round of these playoffs. The Knicks won Game 4 89-87 to send the series back to Miami.

Carmelo Anthony scored 41 points in the game and was 15-for-29 from the field.

LeBron James led Miami with 27 but went 9-for-21 from the floor.

Amare Stoudemire returned to the Knicks starting lineup after missing Game 3 because of the fire extinguisher incident. He looked good despite wearing a pretty large bandage on his left hand and scored 20 points to go with 10 rebounds in the game.

The Heat haven’t looked their best in the last two games in New York in this series and that’s kind of been their thing this year playing much worse on the road.

You can’t imagine the Heat losing a Game 5 at home but if they do and they have to go back to Madison Square Garden the series will become interesting if nothing else.

Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

The Chicago Bulls are missing Derrick Rose. A lot.

The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Bulls 89-82 in Game 4 Sunday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the team with the best regular season record in the conference. After losing Game 1 in which Rose played, the 76ers have gone on to win the next three games.

They’re doing it with defense too. The Bulls scored 103 points in Game 1 but scored just 92 in the Game 2 blowout, then 74 and 82 in Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia.

Luol Deng was the player who needed to step up the most in Rose’s absence but has scored just 24 total points in the last three games of the series.

Rose’s greatest value that he brings to this Chicago team is being able to create his own offense and in the regular season that’s not as important but it evidently is huge in the postseason for this team.

Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder are so far the only team to sweep their opponent in the first round this year as they did so last night in Dallas behind a huge fourth quarter from James Harden.

The Thunder are certainly playing excellent basketball right now and look as much like title contenders right now as they ever have.

Harden has really taken his game to another level and that’s what was going to need to happen for the Thunder to take that next step as a team.

The Spurs are up 3-0 in their series against the Jazz and look like they will sweep Utah by all accounts. The Spurs still seem to pose the greatest threat to the Thunder in the Western Conference.

The Lakers are up 2-1 against the Nuggets and lost Game 3 in Denver. Los Angeles should still win the series and if they do so, Metta World Peace will be returning to the lineup in Oklahoma City.

That should be interesting.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden took his game to another level Saturday night in Game 4 of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first round matchup with the defending champion Dallas Mavericks.

The Thunder completed the sweep of the Mavericks winning 103-97 and outscoring Dallas 35-16 in the final quarter.

Harden scored 15 of his playoff career-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and also had five assists, five rebounds and three steals in the game. Everything went through Harden in the fourth as he completely took over.

Oklahoma City trailed 81-68 entering the fourth quarter and Harden got hot quick. Down 86-73 with 9:29 left in the game Harden would score seven straight points and then find Kevin Durant open for a 3-pointer as the Thunder went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to three with 7:26 to play.

The Thunder continued their comeback in the next two minutes to take the lead behind a 3-pointer and three dunks.

Dirk Nowitzki made two free throws to cut the Thunder lead to 100-97 with 33 seconds left in the game only to see Harden respond again.

The offense continued to go through Harden until the very end. Harden isolated and scored on a layup with a second left on the shot clock and 10 seconds left in the game to put the finishing touches on the Thunder win.

The other Thunder players stepped up their games inspired by the elevated play of Harden.

Durant started making threes when he came back in the game in the fourth and finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

Russell Westbrook struggled shooting on the night going 3-for-12 with 12 points but came up with a big steal from behind on Dirk that led to the fast break dunk for Serge Ibaka that gave the Thunder their first lead of the fourth with 5:16 left in the game.

Ibaka had the task of guarding Dirk for most of the night after Kendrick Perkins went down with a strained right hip in the first quarter and did not return.

Dirk scored 34 in the game but the Thunder defense rose to the occasion when they needed to, to get stops.

After Ibaka fouled out with just over two minutes left, Durant came up with three huge defensive rebounds and was noticeably more engaged on defense.

The Thunder once again look they are growing up in this series. It was another game that Dallas had in the bag and could have easily won but the Thunder never gave up.

They’ve played this way all season too and their ability to carry that into the playoffs and trust Harden to be the catalyst down the stretch has to make you think this team is a real contender this year.

Dallas is the first defending champ to be swept in the first round since Miami in 2007 lost 4-0 to Chicago.

The Mavericks were not the same this year and were clearly waiting for this summer to make some more moves.

Credit the Thunder for playing hard every game in this series and gutting out three really tough, close wins.

Oklahoma City will now await the winner of the Lakers-Nuggets series in the second round. The Lakers currently are up 2-1 but did lost Game 3 last night in Denver.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins suffered a right hip strain in the first quarter of Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks and will not return to the game.

The Thunder lead Dallas 26-24 after one quarter. Perkins had two assists and two rebounds in the quarter and has been the player assigned to cover Dirk Nowitzki the most this series.

Perkins has done a nice job on Dirk but Nick Collison traditionally does the best job on Dirk and certainly will play more minutes with Perkins out.

The Thunder have gone small a lot in this series playing Kevin Durant at the four and inserting Derek Fisher into the lineup. Expect to see that again tonight.

Oklahoma City is looking to sweep Dallas tonight and the Mavericks have come out tonight a lot better than they did in Game 3. The defending champs obviously won’t go down without a fight.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder will have a chance tonight to sweep the defending NBA champions in the first round.

The series was tight through two games in Oklahoma City but the Thunder really came together in Game 3, blowing out Dallas on their home floor and taking the commanding 3-0 series lead.

Kevin Durant came alive in Game 3 after two tough shooting nights at home he made 11-of-15 shots in Game 3 and scored 31 points. He started off great scoring 15 first quarter points and making three 3-pointers.

If Durant can have another game like that it might be too much for this Mavericks team to overcome.

Russell Westbrook has continued to play at a very high level in this series as he just seems to not be challenged enough on offense. He is getting to the spots he wants to very easily for his pull-up jumper and hitting it at a high clip in the series (5-for-9 in Game 3).

Durant and Westbrook aren’t two players who are going to take it easy because their team is up 3-0. They haven’t taken a game off all season. So unless the Mavericks can improve drastically and you have to imagine their motivation will be lacking, look forward to this series not returning to Oklahoma City.

Dirk Nowitzki played two very tough games in the first two averaging 28 points in each but didn’t come up as his usual clutch self in the ends. The Game 3 loss felt like a crushing one for him and a changing of the guards in the West.

Last year’s Thunder team probably isn’t up 3-0 in this series. Winning those first two games then coming out the way they did in Game 3 is new to this year. The team is growing up and doing so in the playoffs, the most important time.

There were questions surrounding the Thunder heading into the playoffs and the Mavericks even looked like a team that could upset them or give them a very tough series. It’s clear now that the Thunder hold their destiny in their own hands. They have the talent to go all the way and if they can keep playing at this level they just might.

The game tonight will tip at 7:30 p.m. EST on TNT.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder had one of their most impressive wins of the year last night beating Dallas 95-79 to take a 3-0 lead in the series.

The Thunder squeaked by with victories in Games 1 and 2 despite poor shooting nights from Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitzki getting looks in the clutch.

It all came together last night for the Thunder though with Durant starting out hot scoring 15 in the first quarter and making three threes then Russell Westbrook coming on strong in the third quarter.

Durant made 11-of-15 shots last night and 4-of-6 threes for his 31 points. He made all four of his shot attempts from 16-to-23 feet as well.

Westbrook hit 2-of-5 threes and knocked down 5-of-9 16-to-23 footers to get his 20 points.

When Durant and Westbrook shoot like that they become the best team in the league.

We’ve seen through three games of this series Westbrook completely locked in on offense. His pull-up jumper has been money and Jason Kidd has done nothing to slow it down. Whether or not Westbrook is hitting that pull-up is a great litmus test to see how good of an all-around game he will play.

When the Thunder played their best basketball during the regular season it was largely because Westbrook was so efficient with his midrange game. When he started to miss that shot and force drives to the rim the Thunder started losing.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

It’s weird that a player as gifted athletically as Westbrook is really better off not attacking nearly as much as we’d normally call for a player like him to, especially in the playoffs.

But within the constraints of the Thunder’s personnel when Westbrook is aggressive by getting his jumper instead of attacking the Thunder are a much better team.

The same goes for Durant in a sense. When he is looking to create off the dribble and post-up and driving into the paint for contact, the team isn’t necessarily at their best. Durant as a catch-and-shoot guy and running off screens looking to immediately pull on an open jumper is when he becomes deadly.

That’s the thing about these two. The fact that they are so great all-around and can do multiple things is why they are All-Stars and looked at as some of the best players in the league. But now in the playoffs when they can’t feast on poor defenses is when they need to hold back in a way and settle for jump shots.

It sounds crazy telling a team like the Thunder to settle for more jump shots but I’m only talking about their two best players.

James Harden needs to turn into an animal when it comes to attacking the paint.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Harden has killed Dallas so far driving and looking to score. He’s attempted 26 free throws in three games against Dallas and made 23. He’s only shooting .375 percent from the field but it hasn’t matter because of his ability to drive.

And if you look at the Thunder during most of the regular season it’s Durant and Westbrook that do most of the driving while Harden will tend to be more comfortable shooting a lot of threes (I say more comfortable and I realize that Harden really started attacking more this season).

I said before the playoffs started that it would be very important who the Thunder played in the first round in determining how far they go in the playoffs. It was going to have to be a team that made them play good basketball to beat them.

When I saw they would be playing Dallas I was pretty worried about the potential upset but assuming the Thunder get by Dallas (and they definitely should now) it is going to be good for them in the long run.

Had the Thunder been matched up with Denver and Durant and Westbrook were able to dominate by attacking I don’t think it would have been as good for them.

The way the Thunder trio played last night was perfect. If they play the rest of the postseason with the same mind sets and agendas then they will hit their potential.

Will it be enough though to beat the San Antonio’s and Miami’s of the world? Well, that is going to come down to how many midrange jumpers Westbrook makes.

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.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant leads the way with 21 first half points as the Oklahoma City Thunder lead the Dallas Mavericks 50-41 at halftime of Game 3.

Durant came out hot scoring 15 in the first and making three 3-pointers.

Russell Westbrook has reversed roles with Durant tonight struggling from the field going 3-for-11 with eight points.

The Thunder got out to a great start and an again frustrated Mavericks team picked up two technical fouls on Dirk Nowitzki and then head coach Rick Carlisle arguing calls.

Oklahoma City led 32-26 after one and would lead 48-33 with 3:51 to go in the second quarter.

Dallas has played a matchup zone with some decent success so far in this game. It’s not really a traditional zone as they do a lot of switching and matching up but it gave the Thunder some trouble early in the second as Oklahoma City settled for too many 3-pointers early in the shot clock.

The Thunder settled down and figured it out some and were able to increase their lead.

Dirk and Jason Kidd lead Dallas with 10 points apiece.

Dallas is shooting 36.8 percent from the field and has attempted four more free throws than the Thunder so far. The Thunder didn’t attempt a free throw in the second quarter.

The Thunder will need to get back to the line some more in the second half to make sure they win. This would obviously be a huge win and probably mean that the series is over. The Thunder have come out strong and really shouldn’t waste what’s already been a good shooting night from Durant.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder will go into Dallas tonight with a chance to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. They did well surviving the first two games and coming away with victories.

Kevin Durant struggled mightily shooting in the first two games with a 10-of-27 showing in Game 1 and 5-for-17 mark in Game 2.

One would thing Durant has to improve a lot on those numbers tonight. He has gotten a lot of looks and taken mostly jump shots. His teammates did a good job of playing well to help the Thunder win despite his low shooting nights but now on the road Durant will have to start knocking down those looks.

Russell Westbrook has been great so far leading the Thunder in scoring. He really has his midrange pull-up working which is always the test for how well he is playing. As long as he can keep that going tonight his entire game will continue to click.

Dirk Nowitzki has averaged 28 per game so far in this series but he just doesn’t seem as dominant as last year. It is still a journey to figure out who will guard him in the post. Dirk seems to have Serge Ibaka’s number and Kendrick Perkins has had some success.

Nick Collison seems to do the best job against Dirk but he does give up a lot of height. The best lineup for the Thunder when it comes to defending Dirk might be Collison and Ibaka on the floor together which seems to never happen.

James Harden has played very well in the first two games of the series and is leading the Thunder in assists. But Harden always tails off some on the road so we will see if he can continue to be aggressive with the ball tonight or if his game seems more subdued.

A key for Dallas will be making three-point shots. Dallas has the personnel to convert open threes so it will be on the Thunder’s watch to play hard defense for the entire shot clock and hustle hard to get out and contest ever shot. The Thunder have done well in this department in the last six quarters of this series.

The Thunder obviously don’t have to win tonight being up 2-0 but it is quite the opportunity to go up 3-0 against the defending champs. A loss wouldn’t be devastating but we’ve seen how Dallas can take over control of a series after winning a game and the Thunder need to avoid that at all costs.

Dirk received an incidental elbow from Serge Ibaka after making a jump shot and then gave Ibaka a bump running back down the court. A few plays later, Dirk was shoved around some by Kendrick Perkins underneath the rim and then lost his cool throwing an elbow at Perkins after the play.

The Thunder have gotten under Dirk’s skin and they got the Mavericks and head coach Rick Carlisle complaining about the officiating.

But have the Thunder been too physical with Dirk? Have they been dirty?

Absolutely not.

Carlisle doesn’t seem to think so but I see nothing wrong with how Oklahoma City has played Dirk. You have to get physical with him and it’s not like they’re getting away with much. Dirk has gone 20-for-21 from the free throw line in two games so far against the Thunder. The officials really tightened things up last night especially in the second half as the teams combined for 71 free throw attempts in Game 2.

“That was a physical, intense, hard-fought playoff basketball game,” Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said after the game. “I’m proud of our guys the way they battled at first there at the start and we finished up playing tough, hard, defensive-minded basketball.”

If you’re Dirk, the defending champion and Finals MVP, you can’t expect to not be played so physically. That’s how he’s been defended his whole career and that’s how people have had success defending him.

It’s not like Kendrick Perkins is a rookie or something either. He’s been around and people know what he does. He uses his elbows a little more than most, sets moving screens and gives you that extra nudge when it’s not entirely necessary. It doesn’t feel good but it’s not dirty. It’s just how he earns a paycheck and it is also extremely important for this Thunder team.

The series is going to go back to Dallas now and expect Dirk to get a few more calls than he did in Games 1 and 2. That will be a tough thing for Oklahoma City to overcome for sure. Remember last year in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Dirk went 24-for-24 from the free throw line.

Things will change some when the series shifts to Dallas, hopefully it’s not too drastic though.

I take a look at the Game 2′s last night and give my thought on Rajon Rondo’s suspension and Amare Stoudemire’s injury. I break down if the Knicks have a chance to comeback in their series and how the Thunder have done so far against the Mavericks.

You can also download the podcast here.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The series is getting chippy.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder came back to win Game 1 at home against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night thanks to Kevin Durant doing this.

Durant struggled in the game however going 10-for-27 from the field for 25 points.

The Thunder relied more on Russell Westbrook and his midrange game which was on point. Westbrook scored 28 points to lead the Thunder but his best work was his defense on Jason Terry in the fourth quarter.

Terry was 8-of-9 from the field with 20 points in the first three quarters before Westbrook switched on to him and held him to 0-for-1 shooting and 0 points in the fourth.

Dirk Nowitzki came alive in the fourth after a slow start and the Mavericks were truly looking like the team that win the NBA title last season. Nowitzki scores 11 points of Dallas’ final 13 points but Kendrick Perkins slows him down in the final minutes to help allow the Thunder to come back.

Oklahoma City played with a much better defensive intensity in the second half and they will need to repeat that in the first half of Game 2 to ensure another victory.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Serge Ibaka played great offensively with 22 points but can the Thunder expect that again from him tonight?

Durant will need to be more efficient and Westbrook will need to continue hitting his jump shot. But the Thunder need to get to the line more too only attempting 20 free throws in Game 1.

Westbrook only attempted one free throw and when he’s hitting his jumper sometimes becomes more one-dimensional in his approach. He needs to find a better balance with attacking and looking for his jump shot.

Dallas made 10-of-22 three-pointers and they shouldn’t shoot that high of a mark in Game 2 tonight.

It felt like Dallas played great and Oklahoma City was scrambling to get back in the game Saturday night. It is then very fortunate the Thunder are able to pull out the win and be in position to go up 2-0 tonight.

James Harden continues his strong play against Dallas in Game 1 with 19 points and 9-of-10 free throw shooting. He is the key for this Thunder team to go far in the playoffs and will be especially vital in this matchup with Dallas.

Kendrick Perkins would guard Nowitzki the rest of the way.

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

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

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

Perkins’ value was realized tonight and it was huge.

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

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

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

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

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

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Thunder have been slow starters quite often this year and that was the case tonight in the first playoff game of the year against the defending champs.

Kevin Durant started the game 0-for-4 but he Thunder were still close with Dirk Nowitzki starting the game 1-for-6.

Jason Terry gave the Mavericks a lift when he came into the game making his first six shots on his way to a 14-point first half.

Russell Westbrook carried the offense early for the Thunder. At the half Westbrook leads the Thunder with 13 points while Durant has 12.

Serge Ibaka scored 11 points including a three-pointer at the end of the first half, his first of the season. Ibaka and Durant each blocked two shots as well.

The Thunder are allowing Dallas to shoot 48.8 percent from the field so far and have attempted just five free throws compared to 11 for Dallas.

James Harden has scored 10 points in his first game back since the Metta World Peace elbow.

The Thunder seem to reliant on the jump shot thus far with the Mavericks allowing them space and enticing the attempt. Oklahoma City needs to get into more sets and attack the Dallas defense.

The game feels very similar to what these teams did last year in the Western Conference Finals and that is not a good sign for the Thunder.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19)
107.1 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
100.0 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
95.7 Pace (5th)
56.7 True Shooting % (1st)
51.4 Rebound Rate (5th)

Dallas Mavericks (36-30)
101.0 Offensive Efficiency (20th)
99.7 Defensive Efficiency (8th)
93.6 Pace (16th)
52.7 True Shooting % (15th)
49.3 Rebound Rate (20th)

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks will play Game 1 of their first round series tonight at 9:30 p.m. EST. It will be a rematch of the Western Conference Finals last year that the Mavericks won in five games.

The Thunder finished the season as the second seed in the Western Conference behind the San Antonio Spurs after looking like they were going to be the top seed for much of the season. The last three seeds in the Western Conference standings were decided in the final few games of the regular season and the Thunder drew Dallas while Denver got the six-seed and Utah the eight-seed.

Dallas was definitely the worst possible team to draw in the first round. While they had a down season compared to last year and aren’t the same team – no Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea or Caron Butler – they are still the defending champions and not the easiest matchup for the Thunder.

This year the Thunder won three out of four in the regular season against the Mavericks.

Here is how the Thunder offense stacks up against the Dallas defense.

Kevin Durant averaged 25.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game against Dallas. Russell Westbrook averaged 22.8 points and shot .392 percent from the field against the Mavericks. James Harden averaged a line of 14.3-5.0-5.0 against Dallas and also struggled from the field at .390 percent.

Dirk Nowitzki averaged 22.5 points and shot .443 percent from the field in four games against the Thunder this year.

Nowitzki was of course the NBA Finals MVP last year but hasn’t been exactly the same player this regular season. He got off to a slow start and was admittedly out of shape. His game started to come around after some rest and he looked better.

Nowitzki is still one of the best post-up players in the NBA today but his shooting numbers dropped somewhat this season.

Oklahoma City will play Nowitzki straight up without a double so he will have his chances to get going against them. Last year by the time Dallas got to the West Finals against the Thunder, Nowitzki had already been playing the best basketball of his career in those playoffs. It may be tougher for him this year to immediately turn it on with the playoffs starting today.

Nowitzki killed the Thunder in Game 1 of last year’s series. He scored 48 points and went 12-of-15 from the field and 24-for-24 from the free throw line. That set the tone for the series.

While Dallas has lost Chandler and Barea this year, it was really Nowitzki who killed the Thunder last year and that’s why this won’t be the easiest matchup again this year.

Dallas isn’t scared of Oklahoma City either. They induce a ton of turnovers from the Thunder and just look like super veterans playing young kids at times.

Here is how the Dallas offense stacks up against Oklahoma City’s defense.

It must not also be overlooked how the Thunder have improved this year.

Harden only averaged 13.0 points per game in the playoffs last year. It was his coming out party and he was great but not the same Harden he is this season. He has taken on a much larger role with the team this year and has improved all-around.

Harden is extremely important against Dallas too because Westbrook struggles against them turning the ball over and Harden is a much better decision-maker with the ball.

Harden was only in his second season last year but there was a moment during the final game of that series when it looked like the Thunder had figured out how to beat Dallas.

It was by using Harden as the ball-handler and playing Westbrook and Durant off the ball. They have had great success this season doing that as well and it is when the Thunder are truly at their best and exploiting the strengths of everyone on the floor to the fullest.

These are back-to-back possession from the Thunder with Harden as the ball handler and Westbrook scoring two times in a row as a cutter. This is how the Thunder can really hurt the Mavericks putting them in this kind of position to try and defend Westbrook.

The Mavericks are going to show a lot of zone against the Thunder in this series for sure. The Thunder have much improved this year against the zone and are one of the better teams in the league playing against it.

Durant is the best zone offensive player because of his ability to shoot the three so easily over people.

The Thunder should win this series. They are the better team this year and have come a long way since last season.

It will be especially crucial for the Thunder to protect homecourt in the first two games because you know the Mavericks will be looking to steal one of those games.

Series prediction: Thunder in 6 games.