Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star forward Kevin Love broke his right hand Wednesday while working out and is now expected to be out 6-8 weeks, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Love is entering his fifth season in the NBA this year and his first in his new 4-year, $60 million contract. He averaged 26.0 points and 13.3 rebounds per game last season in 55 games.

The Timberwolves finished with a 26-40 record last season, 12th in the Western Conference. They dealt with injuries last season too most notably Ricky Rubio’s which will keep him out until December still.

Minnesota made some moves this offseason acquiring Russians Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved as well as Brandon Roy out of retirement. It seems we will not see the full Minnesota roster until well after this season starts.

The Timberwolves are in the same division as the Oklahoma City Thunder and will play each other four times his coming season. The first meeting will be Dec. 20 in Minnesota which means there is a good chance the T-Wolves will have both Love and Rubio by then.

OKC and Minnesota made for some very memorable games last season including a double-overtime thriller in late March where the Thunder won 149-140 despite 51 points and 14 rebounds by Love.

In that game, Kevin Durant had 40 points and 17 rebounds while Russell Westbrook scored a career-high 45 points. Also, J.J. Barea had a triple-double for Minnesota with 25 points, 14 assists and 10 boards.

The Thunder and Timberwolves are forming one of the best up-and-coming rivalries in the NBA. Here’s to hoping we get to see all the big guns playing when these teams meet up four times this season.

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James has established himself as the clear-cut, best player in the NBA. He’s won three of the last four MVP awards and led the league in PER in each of the last five seasons.

LeBron will head into the 2012-13 season as the frontrunner to win the MVP again but that’s not always a good thing. With the MVP award, voters are always looking for a fresh face or better story to win the award even if they aren’t quite as deserving.

We saw this in 2010-11 when Derrick Rose won the award despite being ninth in the league in PER. He led the Chicago Bulls to the best record in the NBA though doing just about everything for that team and it prevented LeBron from winning his third straight MVP.

So while LeBron has a very good chance to lead the league in PER again this season, he has a lesser chance to win his fourth MVP in five seasons.

Here’s a look at five players who have a chance to steal the award from him.

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

Durant has emerged as the consensus second-best player in the NBA. He’s coming off his best season yet in which he led the Thunder to the NBA Finals and he captured his third straight scoring title. He also saw increases in a lot of stat categories including shooting percentage, rebounding and assists. If we see some more all-around improvement from Durant in those areas and the Thunder put together a monster regular season win total, he may very well be in perfect position to win his first ever MVP.

Dwight Howard, Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers made the biggest move of the summer trading for Howard and now they are right up there again as title contenders. Howard has a chance to drastically improve the Lakers and that kind of effect will make him very relevant in MVP talk. He already makes as great an impact as any NBA player in defense. There is a chance though that Howard will miss a large chunk of the season and won’t play until January or February. If that is the case, then his chance at winning are pretty slim.

Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

Paul is as valuable as any player in the league is to their team. In his first season with the Clippers last year, he led them to the second round of the playoffs and was second in the NBA in PER. He proved himself as one of the most clutch players in the league and seemed to single-handedly drag the Clippers to wins at times. In his second season with the Clippers, we could see a big improvement for the team while Paul remains just as efficient. If they are fighting for the top seed in the West late in the season, expect Paul’s name to come up when discussing the MVP.

Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics

Just when we thought the Celtics were going to roll over and die, they went out and had a pretty good offseason putting together a roster that should still compete for a high seed in the East next season. Rondo has continued to progress as a player and led the league in assists per game last season. He may be poised for a monster regular season as the Celtics now totally hand over the reins of the team to him. We’ve seen the Heat mail it in somewhat the last two regular seasons which may leave the door open for the Celtics to challenge them for the top seed in the East. If they do, then Rondo will get a lot of MVP love next season’s end.

Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves

Love has been making some of the biggest improvements of anyone in the league over the past few seasons. Last year he finished fifth in the league in PER and averaged 26.0 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. He has been in a class by himself throwing up numbers like that. The Timberwolves will need to improve their win total by quite a lot for Love to be considered an MVP candidate but if they do make the playoffs, it will be because Love is playing like an MVP.

There has already been a lot of talk regarding the future of USA Basketball. We know that Mike Krzyzewski will not be the head coach although he plans to remain involved with the program to some extent. Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich and Doug Collins are a few of the names rumored as possible replacements.

A lot of the players from the 2012 team are likely to not return in 2016. Kobe Bryant said that this was his last Olympics and a few others may not be back either. Four years is a long time and players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul will all be in their 30’s in 2016.

There has also been some talk of the NBA implementing a 23-under age-limit for future United States basketball teams. It is unlikely though that will come into effect until 2020.

If we look at the 2012 roster, there are a few players who are good candidates to be on the team again in 2016: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis seem the most likely. LeBron and Anthony might be the old guys who decide to give it one more run in what would be their fourth Olympics.

That leaves at least five more roster spots assuming no one else returns. Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin are two of the youngest players who would have been playing on this team. They both missed these Olympics due to injury. If chronic injuries become a growing concern for either, they might not be options in 2016 either. Dwight Howard will still be young enough to be an option as well.

A couple of point guards from the Select Team seem like good options in Kyrie Irving and John Wall. Both were former No. 1 picks which often are invited to the team.

Some other hopefuls from the select team include Kawhi Leonard, Greg Monroe and Paul George. Rookies Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal and Harrison Barnes are likely to be candidates as well.

There is also a very high likelihood that there will be a few players to make the 2016 team that aren’t in the NBA just yet. Some names that come to mind are top recruits Nerlens Noel, Shabazz Muhammad and Jabari Parker.

It’s really hard to tell at this point what the roster may look like in four years but here is what I am projecting:

Point guards: Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving
Shooting guards: James Harden, Paul George
Small forwards: Kevin Durant, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kawhi Leonard
Power forwards: Kevin Love, Blake Griffin
Centers: Anthony Davis, Greg Monroe

I think in 2016, we will make sure to send over a team that has more size than the 2012 team had. Love, Griffin, Davis and Monroe will be a good foursome to have banging down low. Of course, Durant can play a lot of the four as well.

Rose and Westbrook will probably start in the backcourt. Irving is going to be a monster by 2016 and Harden will be in the conversation for best shooting guard in the NBA with George right behind him.

MKG will be the Iguodala of the team. MKG is going to be a very well-liked player at this point and considered a kind of glue guy for this team.

Leonard seems like another guy who a lot of people are high on. He was impressive in his rookie season with San Antonio and is expected to increase his role with them going forward.

Kevin Durant led the way scoring 30 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the game. Durant set a U.S. record for most points scored in a single Olympics in the game and also had the most points ever by a U.S. player in a gold medal game.

LeBron James added 19 points becoming just the second player ever along with Michael Jordan to win an MVP, NBA title and gold medal in the same year.

Team USA was pretty dominant for most of the Olympics but Spain made them work for gold, trailing by just one entering the final quarter. Team USA came out hot in the final quarter and would make the big plays when they needed them down the stretch.

Here are the final grades for each Team USA player:

LeBron James – 13.3 PPG, 5.6 APG, 5.6 RPG, 60 FG%, 30 3PT%, 75 FT% – A

LeBron looked like the best player in the world when he wanted to in these Olympics. He came up huge down the stretch of Team USA’s two closest games vs. Lithuania in pool play and Spain in the gold medal game. He silenced any critics with everything he did and has to feel pretty good right now. LeBron showed us nothing new in the Olympics except maybe an overwhelming sense of confidence in everything he did on the floor. He was arguably the most valuable player on the team leading everyone in assists and defending much bigger players for most of the tournament.

Kevin Durant – 19.5 PPG, 2.6 APG, 5.8 RPG, 49 FG%, 52 3PT%, 89 FT% – A

Durant not surprisingly led the U.S. in scoring. He was huge for them in the gold medal game and without his 30, could have easily lost to Spain. His display shooting the shorter three in these games was remarkable. He seemed the most unfair of the Team USA players vs. the international competition. Durant most importantly stepped up his defense as the tournament went on. His length really seemed to bother the international players a lot who aren’t used to seeing someone his size move so agile. Durant produced more consistently than any other player on Team USA in every game and that’s why he deserves just as much as LeBron to be recognized as the team’s MVP.

Carmelo Anthony – 16.3 PPG, 1.3 APG, 4.8 RPG, 54 FG%, 50 3PT%, 79 FT% – A

Anthony made the most noise on this team in their record-setting pool play win over Nigeria. He set a U.S. Olympic scoring record in that game with 37 points and made 10-of-12 threes. It is often said how perfectly Anthony fits into the international game and that was definitely evident again in these Olympics. His shot was on in almost every game as he was less of the isolation player we see him as in the NBA and more of just a catch-and-shoot guy. He came off the bench as Durant started every game but it did not faze him as he embraced the role. Team USA really couldn’t have asked for much more from Anthony.

Kobe Bryant – 12.1 PPG, 1.3 APG, 1.8 RPG, 43 FG%, 44 3PT%, 91 FT% – C

Kobe looked really bad in these Olympics until the medal round when he kind of came alive. Other than Deron Williams, Kobe had the lowest field goal percentage on the team and was a liability on defense as well. He was the old man of this team and that’s exactly what it looked like. He rarely kept up with his teammates on the fast break, never made the right pass when leading a fast break and simply made you start feeling a little sorry for him a lot of the time. Kobe did step up and play better in the medal round and that’s why he isn’t getting an F grade here. The truth is that Team USA would have been much better without Kobe than they were with him.

Chris Paul – 8.3 PPG, 5.1 APG, 2.5 RPG, 51 FG%, 46 3PT%, 50 FT% – A

Paul underratedly had a pretty fantastic Olympics. It was no surprise that he did a good job setting up his teammates in every game and played great defense on opposing point guards, but it was his shooting that really stood out. Paul is a very capable shooter in the NBA but really came through in the Olympics too with his 3-point shot. Deron Williams is considered possibly the better international style point guard but Paul made it clear that Williams is not in his league with his play in these Olympics. Another great job by Paul was that way he let LeBron be the playmaker while on the floor with him, something he is not used to doing in the NBA.

Deron Williams – 9.0 PPG, 4.6 APG, 1.5 RPG, 39 FG%, 40 3PT %, 77 FT% – C+

Williams had a pretty disappointing Olympics for the most part. He was never terrible in the way Kobe was but he definitely underperformed. He could have seen a lot more playing time had he been hitting his shot a little more often. As a result, he ended up barely playing in the gold medal game.

Russell Westbrook – 8.5 PPG, 1.6 APG, 1.6 RPG, 48 FG%, 33 3PT%, 74 FT% – B-

There were some pretty high expectations for Westbrook coming into these Olympics as Kobe and a few others, mentioned that he could play the role Dwyane Wade did back in 2008. Westbrook didn’t do that and playing behind Paul and Williams, he didn’t get a lot of playing time in general. His game is not made for the international style and he didn’t look like he fit in too much. He wasn’t playing point and had the ball much less than he does in the NBA. He made a lot of bad turnovers and didn’t have many assists either. He could have easily played at a level where he demanded more minutes than Kobe but he just didn’t. His greatest value to the team was the pressure defense he put on opposing guards, especially from the weaker teams.

Kevin Love – 11.6 PPG, 0.4 APG, 7.6 RPG, 63 FG%, 36 3PT%, 57 FT% – B+

Love really came on late in the Olympics for Team USA and basically became part of their crunch time lineup. There weren’t many bigs on the roster so the opportunity to find minutes wasn’t hard for Love. All he had to do was rebound, which he did better than anyone else on the team, and make shots, which he struggled with a little. Love clearly didn’t love the FIBA ball and it showed with his low shooting percentages. He still made himself an invaluable part of the team with his rebounding.

Tyson Chandler – 4.0 PPG, 0.4 APG, 4.0 RPG, 70 FG%, 33 FT% – C-

Chandler started every game but only averaged 11.3 minutes per game. He got in a lot of foul trouble and was never anything special on defense either. He was never a liability while on the floor but he definitely underperformed. Even against Spain, when Team USA needed him more than ever to compete with their size, he only played nine minutes. It’s safe to say, Chandler was a huge downgrade from Dwight Howard.

Andre Iguodala – 4.3 PPG, 1.4 APG, 2.8 RPG, 70 FG%, 56 3PT%, 50 FT% – B-

Iguodala didn’t play much either in these Olympics but did a pretty good job while he was out there, you just didn’t notice him much. He shot a high percentage from three but out of a small sample size. He could have been used more in lieu of Kobe for his defense but that was a tough decision Coach K chose to avoid.

James Harden – 5.5 PPG, 0.8 APG, 0.6 RPG, 50 FG%, 30 3PT%, 57 FT% – B-

Harden wasn’t going to play a lot in these Olympics and really didn’t do too good of job in the little time he did play. Whenever he came in, he was going to take a few threes but he only shot 30 percent on them. He had a few really nice dunks but that was about it. With Durant and Anthony shooting so well from distance, there was never a moment for Coach K to look to Harden to come in and provide some outside shooting in a close game.

Anthony Davis – 3.7 PPG, 0.0 APG, 2.7 RPG, 65 FG%, 67 FT% – A

Davis was one of the biggest winners of these Olympics. He got to piggy back on to a team filled with the best talent in the NBA before ever even playing in the NBA, and comes home with a gold medal. Davis was impressive when he was on the floor too. His defensive presence was maybe the best of anyone on Team USA and he clicked very nicely on some lobs with the point guards. He will be a very good NBA player, that’s how you come away feeling about him after watching him play in London.

Mike Krzyzewski gets to ride off into the sunset from his Olympic coaching career, getting his second gold medal and finishing his career as Team USA’s coach with a 62-1 record.

The game was very reminiscent of the 2008 gold medal game. Spain came out playing better than they had all Olympics and trailed by just one point entering the fourth quarter.

Team USA came out great in the fourth though scoring seven quick points. Then LeBron James picked up his fourth foul, came out of the game and Spain remained within striking distance.

When LeBron came back in, he made a backbreaking 3-pointer over Marc Gasol in the same way Kobe Bryant made a huge three four years ago.

LeBron James caps off an amazing year for him that included an MVP, NBA title and now gold medal making him the first player since Michael Jordan in 1992 to do that.

Pau Gasol led Spain with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the game.

The U.S. made the plays they needed to down the stretch. It wasn’t the prettiest win. Each team committed 27 fouls in the game and Spain also battled foul trouble with Marc Gasol picking up four in the first half and sitting the entire third quarter.

The U.S. made 15-of-37 threes in the game while Spain wasn’t as good at 7-for-19. Team USA also held their own on the boards outrebounding Spain and getting 12 offensive rebounds.

With the win, the United States capture their 14th gold medal in Olympic basketball history.

Here are grades for all of the players:

LeBron James – 30 minutes, 19 points, 3 assists, 7 rebounds – B+

It wasn’t LeBron’s best game but he came up big when Team USA needed him scoring five points in the final three minutes. The zone Spain mostly played limited what LeBron did on offense as less of Team USA’s offense ran through him. When he picked up his fourth foul late in the game and had to come out, it looked like Team USA might be in some trouble but they survived.

Kevin Durant – 38 minutes, 30 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist – A

Durant passed Spencer Haywood as the all-time U.S. leading scorer in a single Olympics in this game. Getting 30 from him was huge and very necessary for Team USA to pull out the win. By his standards he was a little off on his shot making 5-of-13 threes in the game. He was better scoring all around in this one and got to the line 10 times, making nine. His defense remained solid as well as he got many deflections and held his own down low.

Carmelo Anthony – 21 minutes, 8 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds – C+

Anthony was nothing special in this game making just 2-of-6 threes. He also got into foul trouble and with him not scoring much, Team USA became really dependant on Durant and Kobe to fill it up, which they did. Anthony was great rebounding on defense in the fourth quarter though while matched up with bigger players.

Kobe Bryant – 27 minutes, 17 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds – A

Kobe had been bad for a lot of these Olympics but really looked pretty good in the medal round, including this game. He hit some big shots early and late and shot a solid percentage. He had a few bad turnovers but luckily that didn’t cost the U.S. the game.

Chris Paul – 33 minutes, 11 points, 2 assists, 3 steals – B+

Paul was a little too passive in this game and could have looked for his shot a little more late. He still hit a big three in the third quarter and made a huge driving layup with 53 seconds left to put Team USA up 104-93.

Deron Williams – 10 minutes, 6 points, 1 assist – C+

Team USA could have used another player to step up and hit some outside shots. Williams made both of his 3-point attempts but didn’t do much else. He didn’t play as much as he had been either with the game pretty close in the second half.

Russell Westbrook – 9 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound – C+

Westbrook did not play at all in the second half and didn’t make much of an impact in the first half either. Westbrook is a great NBA player but his game didn’t translate too well in these Olympics within this team.

Kevin Love – 19 minutes, 9 points, 9 rebounds – B

Love’s rebounding was huge and he had three offensive boards but his post defense was basically nonexistent. He couldn’t contain the Gasol brothers really at all and that was a big reason why the game was close.

Tyson Chandler – 9 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound – C

Chandler hardly played again and didn’t even do a good job while he was in as Pau Gasol scored on him a few times. His impact was minimal.

Andre Iguodala – 2 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 turnover – C

Iguodala hardly played too. Even with LeBron in some foul trouble, Coach K went with Kobe playing more minutes instead of some Iguodala.

James Harden – 1 minute, 2 points – C

Harden came in with under a minute to play with the game pretty much in hand. He got fouled twice and went 2-for-4 from the line. Unacceptable.

Anthony Davis – 1 minute, 1 rebound – C

Davis pulled down the final rebound of the game. That has to count for something. Can’t wait to see him in Rio, and the NBA for that matter.

USA vs. Spain is the gold medal matchup everyone wanted to see. The United States are of course the favorites to bring home gold while Spain has always been considered their greatest competition.

Team USA has won all seven of its games in the Olympics so far by an average margin of 35.7 points per game. Spain has been far less impressive losing twice in pool play and looking weak in each of their last two games in the medal round.

The United States has passed some tests so far, beating Argentina twice and surviving a close scare vs. Lithuania but Spain should still be their toughest battle yet.

Here are five reasons why Spain might upset the United States in the gold medal game.

Spain is bigger

Let’s start with the most obvious one here. Spain has a significant size advantage over the U.S. and they intend to take advantage of it as much as possible. Spain starts the Gasol brothers and then brings Serge Ibaka and Felipe Reyes off the bench.

The U.S. will start Tyson Chandler as their only big and use Kevin Love too but mostly plays LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony at power forward. The U.S. has outrebounded their opponents by over 10 boards per game in the Olympics but that is mostly because they are shooting a far higher percentage.

The U.S. is definitely weak inside as we saw in their games vs. Lithuania and Argentina, when they play without a rim protector their opponent will get a lot of relatively easy looks at the rim.

Spain will pound it inside on offense and pack in their zone on defense. This is closer to the international style and they will have an advantage. Mismatches do go both ways though and Team USA will have to make sure they take advantage by featuring their more skilled forwards in positions where they can be effective against slower, bigger defenders.

3-point shooting

Team USA has lived by the three and they’ve won by it so far in the Olympics. They are attempting 36.6 threes per game and making .445 percent of them. That’s off the charts but there is always a chance even for Team USA to go cold from behind the line tomorrow morning.

Durant and Anthony become very important in this regard as they have led Team USA in 3-point shooting. Durant is shooting .558 percent from three in the Olympics and Anthony .525. They are Team USA’s two leading scorers as well.

Spain has been on the opposite end in terms of 3-point shooting success in the Olympics. They’re shooting just .328 percent as a team with some of their best guys really struggling.

Rudy Fernandez is third on the team in scoring and shooting .367 percent. Juan Carlos Navarro is shooting .333 percent and Jose Calderon .348 percent. Even Pau Gasol has been shooting the three for them, making just 5-for-15 in total.

Spain is fully capable though of heating up from three in any game as they showed in the second half of their semifinal game vs. Russia. They will need to do that and pray that Team USA has an off shooting night to pull off the upset.

40-minute game

The games in these Olympics are eight minutes shorter than NBA games. That means there is greater chance for an upset and less time to erase mistakes made early in the game. Spain is more experience playing this style and will surely try and take advantage of it to the fullest mostly by controlling the pace of the game.

Fortunately for Team USA, Spain hasn’t been getting off to great starts lately and will definitely need to if they plan to win the gold medal. Spain should be up for this game more than any other though and we should see a more concentrated effort from them. Pau Gasol admitted himself that Spain has been looking ahead too much in the Olympics so far. That won’t be the case tomorrow.

Team USA has consistently seen teams play their best games against them, at least for spurts. With the game obviously being close early, Spain should show us their best game from the start. We’ve seen Argentina unable to sustain this for 40 minutes but Spain may be able to.

Officiating

The officials haven’t exactly been on the side of Team USA in these Olympics as per usual. The rules are a little different and there are some things that Team USA will simply never get used to. We’ve seen a lot of Team USA players called for traveling or called for very questionable fouls.

You only get five fouls before fouling out in international play and that could play a huge factor. Chandler will be more important than ever in this matchup vs. Spain but he has in every game gotten into some sort of foul trouble. One would expect that to happen again vs. Spain and that could be very bad news for Team USA.

Team USA players don’t get star treatment either overseas. LeBron and Durant will be asked to defend Spain’s post players some and will be vulnerable to some easy foul calls. If one or both of them has to sit on the bench more than normal, Spain will have that much better of a chance to pull off the upset.

Kobe

Kobe is probably Spain’s best chance for beating Team USA. Kobe has been for the most part pretty horrible in the Olympics although he has been better in the last two games. We know that Kobe will be shooting in the gold medal game and if he’s not hitting, that will put Team USA in a tough spot.

Coach K will more than likely play Kobe at least half of the game and probably more and he will have him out there during crunch time, if there is one. Kobe has the potential to shoot Team USA out of the game or Spain into the game if he looks like the Kobe we saw in pool play.

The same goes for Anthony as well. Both he and Kobe are going to take shots, probably a lot of bad ones, and if they’re not falling, Spain will be that much closer to Team USA.

The margin for error will be the smallest for Team USA tomorrow morning. They’ve been able to overcome their imperfections so far but Spain is the real test.

Team USA led 47-40 at halftime after Manu Ginobili hit a three to end the first half. Ginobili came out strong from the start but slowed down late, finishing with 18 points in the game.

The U.S. shot 53.1 percent from the field and made 18-of-42 threes. They pulled away from Argentina again much like their last meeting with a big third quarter led by LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Spain beat Russia in their semifinal earlier today and hasn’t looked great so far in these Olympics but still should be considered the toughest test yet for Team USA.

Here are grades for the U.S. players:

LeBron James – 29 minutes, 18 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds – A

LeBron played another brilliant game doing a little bit of everything. Coming off the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic history in the quarterfinals vs. Australia, LeBron flirted with another one today. He went 8-of-12 from the field and was excellent finding open shooters all game long.

Kevin Durant – 27 minutes, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks – B+

Durant led the U.S. in scoring thanks to his five 3-pointers, four of which came in the third quarter. Durant was better again with his interior defense and picked up a few blocks. He really didn’t look to be shooting well early in the game before getting a few to go down in a row in the third.

Carmelo Anthony – 22 minutes, 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists – B+

It was Anthony’s turn to put on the 3-point show in the second half of this game. He hit a few in a row and then a really deep one reminiscent of Durant’s the last time Team USA played Argentina. He made a few nice extra passes that he normally doesn’t which resulted in a little more balanced of a game in this one.

Kobe Bryant – 19 minutes, 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals – B+

Kobe did his work at the beginning of this game after doing it in the second half of the last one. He came out hot making three 3-pointers in the first half and was pretty quiet after that. You know Kobe is going to take shots no matter what. He’s good when they’re going down but has been terrible when they’re not.

Chris Paul – 26 minutes, 10 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds – A

Paul just plays so good every game. He went 2-of-3 from deep and that’s just gravy with him. He had a pretty high assist total too as he always makes the smart play.

Deron Williams – 20 minutes, 6 points, 6 assists – B

Williams only shot 2-of-7 from deep which puts him well below Team USA’s average shooting percentage on threes. Coach K tried to use him more as Argentina played a lot of zone and Williams didn’t do anything special. The six assists were nice though.

Russell Westbrook – 9 minutes, 7 points, 1 turnover – B

Westbrook played with good energy again and was a little more under control in this one. All three of his baskets were nice. The first came on a good drive in the first half. Then he hit a three in the second half and got one of his patented pull-up jumpers to go down too. He came up lame with what appeared to be a leg injury late in the fourth. It didn’t look too serious and for a guy who has never missed a basketball game in his life, it’s hard to get worried.

Kevin Love – 16 minutes, 9 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block – A

Love was very big today especially with his work on the glass getting four offensive rebounds. As Team USA continued to shoot the three when seeing zone, Love was there to help get them second shot opportunities whenever he was in. He was 0-for-2 shooting the three himself but his impact was hard not to notice.

Tyson Chandler – 12 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds – B

Chandler didn’t play much again but did just fine while he was out there. He had a nice slam in the second half from a Paul feed and was his usual solid self on defense. Picked up three fouls though.

Andre Iguodala – 11 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist – B

Iguodala found out last night he was being traded to the Denver Nuggets so maybe he felt a little weird for the game. He played fine while he was out there though and had a nice highlight reel alley-oop finish from Paul late in the game.

James Harden – 5 minutes, 3 points, 1 steal – B

I could have sworn Harden hit two threes in this game. One of them rolled around the rim some and may have been credited to Love for a tip-in. His shot looked good and he even had a nice block in transition from behind on a player.

Anthony Davis – 4 minutes, 1 rebound – C

Just very little garbage time for Davis again and he didn’t touch the ball.

The United States is 6-0 so far in these Olympics winning games by an average margin of 37.3 points per game. They have been dominant but not perfect or without flaws.

The Team USA roster isn’t exactly the one envisioned by Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski. They are small without Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh or LaMarcus Aldridge and also missing a few other stars in Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose.

The only three bigs on the roster for Team USA are Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis. Chandler has been barely playing largely due to foul trouble, Love has emerged of late and Davis only sees the floor in garbage time.

It has resulted in a lot of Team USA’s players playing out of position, mainly LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony who are playing the four and five positions primarily.

We’ve seen a lot of different lineups and rotations so far from Coach K as he still sometimes seems to be looking for the right grouping of five guys.

Team USA has done fine despite this so far and has won games because of their superior depth and talent. Now in the semifinals and playing Argentina for the third time in as many weeks, and Spain or Russia looming as a gold medal matchup, the United States may need to shrink their rotation some and find their best lineup.

What is the best 5-man lineup for Team USA?

We know it’s not the starting five of Paul-Kobe-LeBron-Durant-Chandler. They’ve gotten off to a few slow starts and with Chandler barely playing and Kobe’s struggles, this surely hasn’t been their strongest group.

The first sub is always Anthony coming in for Chandler as Team USA immediately goes small. This isn’t their best lineup either because Kobe, who hasn’t gelled well with this team at all, is still out there.

It’s usually Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook who enter next for Paul and Kobe. Now we’re getting warmer. Williams is arguably the better international point guard than Paul and Westbrook has been an upgrade from Kobe in a lot of instances as well.

But Team USA is still pretty vulnerable inside when Anthony and Durant are out there together and it’s not as if they work so great together on offense either. You probably only need one of them on the floor at a time, simply to focus more on defense.

Love is the final piece here and next sub in. He usually comes for Durant or LeBron at this point but Team USA’s best lineup definitely involves Durant and LeBron on the floor together.

Of the lineups that have played a good amount of minutes together so far in these Olympics, Team USA’s best is Paul-Williams-LeBron-Durant-Love.

The combining of Paul and Williams works well and Paul simply is playing at a higher level than Westbrook right now, fitting in more with the team too. Love has been a beast on the glass of late too, really establishing himself as a force down low while LeBron and Durant are good enough to hold their own on bigger defenders as well.

That is the best lineup we will see from Team USA going forward. The challenge for Coach K will be seamlessly removing Kobe from the floor to go with a lineup like this in crunch time. It probably won’t happen and Kobe and/or Anthony will be on the floor instead of Williams or Love.

The best lineup for Team USA is perhaps one we will never see and is totally different from the identity they’ve shown so far in the Olympics. It involves and basically highlights Davis in at center.

Davis has been a monster in the little time he has played swatting shots like nothing and rebounding very well too. He has also really meshed with Paul and the other guards, rolling to the rim and finishing alley-oops.

Team USA would be at their best going Williams-LeBron-Anthony-Durant-Davis. They’d have plenty of size and could use Williams running the point as well as LeBron. This would free up LeBron a little more to get out and run on the wings, really maximizing the potential of Team USA’s transition game.

It’s fun to think about different lineups with Team USA and this one in particular, but we probably won’t see it at all, even if it might be their best look. Instead, Team USA will have to try and win gold not with, but despite someone like Kobe, while more deserving players in Love and Davis watch from the sidelines.

The United States did not come out looking their best but were very impressive in the fourth quarter, going on one of their signature runs outscoring Australia 35-16 in the period.

The U.S. took 46 threes in the game and made 19, which is the third-most 3-point makes they’ve had in a game in the Olympics.

Australia hung around due to another big game from point guard Patty Mills who scored 26 points and made four threes.

Here are the grades for each Team USA player:

LeBron James – 30 minutes, 11 points, 12 assists, 14 rebounds – A+

LeBron had maybe his best game of the Olympics so far getting the triple-double and doing a little bit of everything for Team USA. He has really played well in these past three games after coasting in the first three. His 12 assists ties Michael Jordan and a few others for the most ever in a U.S. Olympic basketball game.

Kevin Durant – 25 minutes, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals – B

Durant was mainly just a spot-up shooter in this game making 4-of-9 threes. Shooting 44 percent from three is fine but for Durant, it felt like he struggled. He missed a few shots driving and didn’t get to the line at all. His defense was better again getting two steals and some deflections as well.

Carmelo Anthony – 20 minutes, 17 points, 4 rebounds – B

Anthony played a pretty normal game for him. He was nothing special from deep going 2-of-7 and has really just become a guy who does nothing but try and score when the ball finds him. There’s nothing wrong with that because it’s his role on this team.

Kobe Bryant – 20 minutes, 20 points, 3 assists, 2 steals – B+

Kobe continued his awful play in the first half going 0-for-3 with zero points. You started to feel bad for him as it seemed he couldn’t do anything right. Then he really heated up in the second half, making six threes and finishing with 20 points. His threes come with a grain of salt though which requires him to take the 25-foot, contested heat check whenever he hits one or two. Team USA will need him at least making his jump shot going forward in the medal round.

Chris Paul – 27 minutes, 7 points, 3 assists, 4 steals – B

Paul didn’t do too much in this one partly because LeBron really dominated as the team’s distributor. Paul was only 1-for-4 from deep too and didn’t exactly lock up Australia’s guards on the other end the way he is capable of.

Deron Williams – 22 minutes, 18 points, 3 rebounds – A

Williams came up big in the first half for the U.S. scoring 13 points. Tonight he was the example of Team USA’s depth showing that they have so many players who can get it going scoring. With Paul not hitting his shot so much, it was nice for Williams to step up.

Russell Westbrook – 11 minutes, 6 points, 1 assist, 4 fouls – C

Westbrook got in foul trouble and didn’t play much. He was out of control for the most part again and not in any kind of rhythm. When he has space and can show off his athleticism, he is at his best and in the international game, there’s less room for him. The foul trouble limited his effectiveness in being one of Team USA’s best on-ball defenders.

Kevin Love – 21 minutes, 10 points, 11 rebounds – A

Love was great again and with Chandler not doing much, he is becoming very key for this team. His work on the glass was relentless as always but he did not hit any threes. He should continue to see more minutes especially if Team USA sees Spain in the gold medal game.

Tyson Chandler – 9 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds – C+

Chandler barely played again because of some foul trouble and was his usual self while on the floor. He caught a few nice lobs which were pretty but that’s about it.

Andre Iguodala – 8 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound – C+

Iguodala didn’t play much either which was a little surprising coming off a very good game vs. Argentina. He hit a three while he was in and probably would have played more if Williams didn’t have the hot hand or if Kobe never got going. Team USA’s defense wasn’t great again and having Iguodala on the floor would help that out some.

James Harden – 4 minutes, 7 points, 1 assist – A+

Harden couldn’t have been better in four minutes, finishing on the break with two highlight slams and making a stepback three as well. It would have been nice to see him get more minutes with this team but it’s just not going to happen except in blowouts.

Anthony Davis – 3 minutes, 0 points, 3 rebounds – C

Davis just played a few minutes in garbage time and went 0-for-3 from the field. Come on bro.

The U.S. led by just one at halftime 60-59 as Argentina was doing a lot of what Lithuania did to the U.S. in the first half.

Manu Ginobili was on a tear scoring 16 points on just five shots as Argentina shot 56 percent from the field.

In the third quarter, Team USA came out a different team especially on the defensive side of the ball. LeBron James had a look in his eye scoring nine quick points then Kevin Durant took over.

Durant hit five threes in the third quarter and scored 17 points as the U.S. outscored Argentina 42-17 as a team. Durant capped off his memorable third quarter performance with a three from about 32-feet that was very reminiscent of Rucker Park.

Team USA again looked vulnerable at times but when they turned it on in the second half they showed why they are the team to beat in these Olympics.

Here are the grades:

LeBron James – 21 minutes, 18 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds – A

LeBron was quiet in the first half as not a lot of the offense was running through him but he really asserted himself in the third quarter. He has taken over when he has needed to for this team in these Olympics and did it again today. He had to sit though midway through the third after picking up his fourth foul. He got called on a few really bad fouls in the game.

Kevin Durant – 22 minutes, 28 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals – A

Durant was magnificent in the third quarter not only by hitting five treys but on the defensive end he was as active as he ever has been. That led to a lot of Team USA’s offense as they pulled away. Durant wasn’t too bad in the first half either scoring 11 points and hitting three 3-pointers. Durant’s shooting performance in the third quarter may have been more impressive than what Carmelo Anthony did vs. Nigeria.

Carmelo Anthony – 13 minutes, 5 points, 5 rebounds – C

Anthony didn’t have it tonight going just 1-for-6 from the field but his one make was a big three to end the third. He got a little cheap shot from Argentina point guard Campazzo after making the trey he was hit below the belt and it started a little scrum between the two teams.

Kobe Bryant – 21 minutes, 11 points, 1 assist – C-

Kobe just seems to not fit in much with this team. He randomly started pushing the ball down the court out of control twice in the third quarter and it just felt weird. He shot 3-of-10 in the game and is still struggling with the different ball it seems. The fact that he’s probably going to be on the court in crunch time of a close game may not be a good thing for Team USA going forward.

Chris Paul – 25 minutes, 17 points, 6 assists, 3 steals – A

Paul was great in the first half hitting four threes and did his job pretty much perfectly the rest of the game too. You can’t hardly ever complain about Paul and when he is making threes he is just that much better. He really hounded Campazzo on defense too who had to play most of the game with Prigionni missing the game with an injury.

Deron Williams – 15 minutes, 5 points, 3 assists – C

Nothing special from Williams tonight as he was 2-for-7 from the field. Paul played much better and got the bulk of the minutes. Team USA will need Williams to step up and shoot better from three as the games continue.

Russell Westbrook – 19 minutes, 4 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds – B-

He would receive a C grade if not for his nasty dunk in the fourth quarter. Westbrook was out of control for the most part again going 1-for-8 from the field but his dunk was such a perfect exclamation mark on the game. His defense against Argentina’s weak guards was pretty good too.

Kevin Love – 15 minutes, 13 points, 9 rebounds – B+

Love quietly had a very nice game for Team USA going 5-for-7 from the field and grabbing four offensive boards as well. His confidence has grown of late and he is becoming a more integral part of this team which is good with Tyson Chandler not playing all that well.

Tyson Chandler – 12 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds – B

Chandler wasn’t as bad as he has been lately in this one and was the only real defensive presence for Team USA in the first half. The defense Team USA played in the second half showed why they won’t need to rely on Chandler to play a lot of minutes in the future. Chandler was in foul trouble again though and mostly takes up space on offense.

Andre Iguodala – 20 minutes, 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists – A

Iguodala played his role perfectly today. He got some scoring on not a lot of shots, always made the right pass and rebounded. When he plays like this he will get minutes and deservedly so.

James Harden – 9 minutes, 7 points – C+

Harden didn’t play until garbage time in this one and was fine while he was out there. He hit 1-of-2 threes and went 3-for-5 from the field.

Anthony Davis – 8 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block – C+

Davis also didn’t play until garbage time and had less alley-oop dunks than usual.

Team USA had their first legitimate scare of the Olympic so far as Lithuania led the game in the fourth quarter with seven minutes to play.

The United States were coming off an 83-point victory vs. Nigeria two days ago and perhaps them not be challenged so far in the Olympics had something to do with this game being so close.

Now that the games are starting to get serious for Team USA, it’s time to seriously grade each player for them:

LeBron James – 35 minutes, 20 points, 5 rebounds, 0 assists – A

LeBron was quiet early in this one very much like he has been all Olympics so far. He hasn’t been needed to do much for Team USA so far but really stepped up in the fourth quarter vs. Lithuania. LeBron scored nine of Team USA’s final 12 points effectively shutting the door on any hopes Lithuania had of pulling off the upset. LeBron surprisingly didn’t have an assist in the game but that may have had a lot to do with the U.S. shooting so poorly from three in the game.

Kevin Durant – 28 minutes, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists – C+

This wasn’t Durant’s best game and we are seeing him turn into more of a one-dimensional player on this team, becoming just a catch-and-shoot guy from behind the 3-point line. There’s not a lot wrong with that as he made 4-of-7 threes vs. Lithuania but he has kind of struggled scoring in other areas. Durant also was taken advantage of inside a few times by Lithuania and since he is being asked to play a lot of power forwards and centers that is not a good thing.

Carmelo Anthony – 25 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds – B

Anthony was coming off a fantastic game against Nigeria in which he set a U.S. Olympic record with 37 points and made 10-of-12 threes in the process. Anthony continued his hot shooting early in this one but then cooled off later. Much like Durant, Anthony has struggled with his defense inside and it was a weakness of this team that Lithuania revealed in this game. Overall it would be nice to see Anthony as committed on defense as he is on offense to get a better grade.

Kobe Bryant – 20 minutes, 6 points, 1 assist – C

Kobe really struggled shooting in this one going just 1-of-7 from the field and didn’t play very well on defense either. He often bit on pump fakes by Lithuania players at the 3-point line leaving the rest of the defense at a disadvantage. Sometimes Kobe just seems to not really fit in with this team being the old man of the group and the ball of course almost always stops when he gets his hands on it.

Chris Paul – 28 minutes, 7 points, 6 assists, 4 steals – A-

Paul was pretty good in this game and very good late. He was one of the most clutch players in the NBA last season and when he has the ball in his hands late with this team, good things always happen. He made a great play in transition late to find Durant for an easy dunk. He struggled a little from the field and was 1-for-4 on threes but other than that was great.

Deron Williams – 23 minutes, 12 points, 2 assists – B

Williams wasn’t the most efficient in this game ever but the 12 points he did contribute despite needing 12 shots to get them were valuable. With Team USA settling for so many threes in these Olympics, Williams is always a good guy to have on the floor and he made a pair of treys in this one.

Russell Westbrook – 14 minutes, 7 points, 2 rebounds – C

Westbrook was out of control and out of rhythm even more so than usual against Lithuania. Not being able to roam freely all over the floor like he does in OKC has made him very much less effective in the Olympics. He made some bad decisions on offense and defense in this one and really can play a lot better for this team. His strengths were not taken advantage of in this game and it made up seem like kind of a waste when he was in.

Kevin Love – 12 minutes, 7 points, 8 rebounds – C

Love really struggled from the free throw line going 3-of-8 and seems to not be in love with the FIBA basketball. He works so hard though and led the team with eight boards. Team USA needed him too in this one being one of the only actual big men on the roster. For Team USA to win gold and beat teams like Argentina and Spain, Love will have to play well and give them a little more than he did today.

Tyson Chandler – 8 minutes, 1 point, 1 rebound – D

Chandler has done very little for this team so far in the Olympics and hasn’t seen a lot of playing time despite starting every game. He went 1-for-4 from the free throw line in this one which makes him a liability to have on the floor on offense. Coach K has elected to go with smaller lineups and sacrifice the interior defense that he provides because of this. It would be nice to see him playing better and getting more minutes because Team USA may need him especially if they play Spain in the medal round.

James Harden – 4 minutes, 3 points, 1 steal – B

Harden barely played in this one and did make one very good play in his short time on the floor, making a steal and finishing at the rim with an and-1 layup. He won’t get a ton of minutes in close games for Team USA especially with him shooting not so great from three so far in the Olympics. He missed his only 3-point shot attempt today.

Andre Iguodala – 3 minutes, 1 rebound, 3 fouls – D

Iguodala got in early but picked up three very quick fouls and never came back in. Coach K likes him and will continue to use him in some spots. Team USA honestly could have used him more in this one since he is one of their best defenders on the perimeter and a good rebounder. Nothing much more to say about him vs. Lithuania though.

via @Ahmadab

Team USA blew out Nigeria 156-73 Thursday afternoon setting an Olympic Basketball record for points scored in a game. Carmelo Anthony has set a U.S. Olympic scoring record with 37 points, making 10-of-12 3-pointers.

Team USA has had plenty of highlights in the game most notably this dunk by Russell Westbrook on the fast break with the feed from Kevin Love.

Westbrook scored 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the game and there was a point in the third quarter where he looked like he wanted to catch Anthony in points.

Kevin Durant quietly scored all 14 of his points in the first half and made four threes. Kobe Bryant also was hot in the first half netting 16 points and a pair of threes.

Team USA finished the game going 29-of-46 from three in the game and shooting 71.1 percent from the field. Team USA had 38 assists in the game as well.

The United State will play Lithuania in their next game Saturday.

Team USA won its first two games beating France 98-71 then Tunisia two days ago 110-63. Nigeria won its first game vs. Tunisia 60-56 then lost to Lithuania 72-53.

Kevin Durant has led the U.S. in scoring through two games averaging 17.5 points per game to go with 9.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. The U.S. is shooting .521 percent from the field as a team and .360 percent from three while holding their opponents to .374 percent shooting and .229 percent from beyond the arc.

Nigeria is led by former NBA player Ike Diogu who is leading the team averaging 12.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in the Olympics. New Orleans Hornets forward Al-Farouq Aminu is averaging 11.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game for them.

Nigeria will be another tune-up game for Team USA who will win the game easily. Nigeria is possibly a step up from Tunisia but still nowhere near the level of a team with a chance to upset Team USA.

Nigeria is shooting just .286 percent from the field so far in pool play and has made just 3-of-29 threes. They also only have 12 assists as a team compared to 55 for the U.S.

One of the players for Team USA that has stepped up since the Olympics have started is Kevin Love who is second on the team averaging 15.0 points per game. Everyone on the roster has gotten a lot of playing time so far because the games haven’t been close but Love has made the most of his minutes.

Russell Westbrook is averaging 10.0 points per game and James Harden 7.5, although still struggling from three making just 2-of-7 so far.

In their last game, head coach Mike Krzyzewski subbed in an entire new five after a few minutes and slow start vs. Tunisia. It sent a message to the starters and was a reminder of how deep this team is.

Krzyzewski then started those five bench players the second half and they played very well. We can expect to see Krzyzewski taking advantage of the team’s depth maybe more so that he had planned for the rest of this tournament.

The United States is the only undefeated team left in their pool right now with France upsetting Argentina two days ago. The battle for the second seed will be between France, Argentina and Lithuania while the U.S. should cruise to the top seed.

Nigeria would have had an outside chance to advance to the medal round had they upset Lithuania in their last game. Now it looks like they may not win another game.

Tunisia lost its first game against Nigeria and now is looking like they may not win a game in these Olympics. Tunisia is playing in its first Olympics ever and fell behind 29-10 to Nigeria early in the game. They rallied back to down 49-47 with 5:14 left in the game but was not able to finish the comeback.

Team USA was not really challenged by France. France has some NBA players on its roster led by Tony Parker and Nicolas Batum but they were no match for the United States’ depth.

“We played a very good game against an outstanding team,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski told USA Basketball.com after the game. “France is so well-coached and in (Tony) Parker, they have as good of a guard as there is in the tournament. I thought we did a good job defensively. We share the ball. We assisted on 27 of our 31 buckets and we rebounded the ball very well. Overall, it was a good first step or us, beating an outstanding French team.”

Kevin Durant led the U.S. with 22 points in that game and made three 3-pointers as well. Durant looked good but his coaches and teammates are actually calling for him to shoot more on this team.

LeBron James played the role of facilitator against France scoring only nine points but dishing out eight assists.

Kevin Love played well for really the first time with this team. He played 14 minutes and scored 14 points to go with three boards. With this team’s lack of size possible being an issue down the road, Love stepping up will be of great benefit. Love should be able to play a lot again against Tunisia today.

Listen to Andrew Kennedy talk USA Basketball on The John Ackeren Show

Russell Westbrook had nine points, four rebounds and three assists against France. James Harden scored five points in 14 minutes of action.

Westbrook hasn’t really found his rhythm yet on this team. The entire team though is a little hesitant playing how they usually do in the NBA and are being more passive. That doesn’t vibe with Westbrook and he needs to be more assertive to contribute more for this team.

Harden should see more time again today. He hasn’t really gotten it going from three yet in any game and we’ll see if he can find his shooting touch today.

Amine Rzig played the best game for Tunisia scoring 18 points in 24 minutes and making 4-of-5 threes.

Tunisia turned the ball over 19 times against Nigeria which is a high number that will only go up when they play the U.S. today. One of the great strengths of the U.S. is the pressure they can apply on opposing backcourts with Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook.

Look forward to a lot of fast break opportunities for the United States today as they should easily cruise past Tunisia.

Tunisia is pretty reliant on shooting from the outside too and went 8-for-23 from three against Nigeria while only shooting five free throws. Don’t expect the Tunisians to get the same looks from three they did in their first game and we may see their number of made threes go down against the U.S.

The game will tip at 5:15 p.m. EST and will air on the NBC Sports Channel.

A few members of the 2012 Olympic USA Basketball team were asked to come up with a starting five including themselves and four other members from the 1992 Dream Team.

Chris Paul, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love were asked this question and all answered about the same. All of them picked Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley. Harden, Westbrook and Love chose Larry Bird as well while Paul took David Robinson.

Almost none of these starting fives make sense if you had to play this game, mainly because Bird really shouldn’t have been picked by any of these players. It seems everyone loves forgetting how past his prime Bird was in 1992.

These current players are also very affected by the fact that Barkley and Magic are on T.V. these days and don’t remember some of the other options that would have made sense like Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing or Scottie Pippen.

The question really is: If you could combine the 1992 Dream Team and 2012 Olympic Team, what starting five would you ultimately put out on the floor?

PG – Magic Johnson
SG – Michael Jordan
SF – Kevin Durant
PF – LeBron James
C – Patrick Ewing

It’s really tough to go wrong with any combination. Jordan and Durant are probably the most obvious ones because Jordan was the best player ever and Durant’s game is so perfect for international play with the short 3-point line.

I like LeBron at the four because he can handle that spot and it gives the team more versatility. It may actually make more sense though to move LeBron to point instead of Magic and start Barkley or Malone at the four.

Magic is just so perfect on team with multiple scoring options so it’s hard to consider not starting him.

And here is who I’d have coming off the bench as the second 5-man lineup:

PG – John Stockton
SG – Clyde Drexler
SF – Scottie Pippen
PF – Charles Barkley
C – David Robinson

That’s right. The ultimate team would have a 10-man rotation with only two players coming from the 2012 team.

The toughest decision was Drexler over Kobe Bryant. Kobe is just too old right now and these teams are all about getting out in the open floor. Drexler has the advantage in ’92 over Kobe now in that department so that’s why I went with him. Plus, Kobe would hate coming off the bench in general so he’d probably refuse to even play on the team.

Now there’s only one thing to do: fire up NBA 2K12 and play with this team.

Kobe Bryant was asked if he thought the 2012 Olympic Team could beat the ’92 Dream Team and said, “I think we’d pull it out.” In describing the potential matchup, Kobe said the ’92 team would have an advantage inside but that their wings were a lot older.

Charles Barkley responded to Kobe’s comments a little more confidently.

“I just started laughing,” Barkley told The Mike Missanelli Show. “How old is Kobe Bryant? He’s 34? And he’s calling us old? At the time, we were only like 28, 29. Michael Jordan and me were the same age. We were both 29. Other than Kobe, LeBron (James) and Kevin Durant, I don’t think anybody else on that team makes our team.”

So what would happen if these two teams did played? How would each player do and which team would win?

The game would obviously be played with FIBA rules. These rules have affected the more recent U.S. Olympic teams and the rules would affect this game somewhat but it wouldn’t be as drastic since both teams are comprised of NBA players.

Both the ’92 team and this year’s team take advantage of their ability to pressure other countries’ guards in the backcourt. That wouldn’t happen in this matchup and the pace would resemble more closely an NBA game.

Let’s go through the matchups.

David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone vs. Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin

This is the most obvious advantage for the ’92 team. Their size advantage would be tremendous and it probably would prove impossible for this year’s team to overcome.

Looking at the rosters it feels like Chandler would have to try and play the entire game for the 2012 team. Love and Griffin would have no chance against Robinson-Ewing-Malone.

The ’92 team definitely gets a huge edge here and would get a ton of second-chance looks and be able to run much more of their offense in the post.

Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin vs. Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook

These are the backup wings that would get the most run. Let’s assume that Bird, Laettner, Iguodala and Harden don’t play much in this matchup.

This one is a little closer and maybe a tossup between the two teams. All four of these players should be effective in this game but not enough to swing the game either way.

Westbrook may have the most trouble because he will be playing the two-guard for the 2012 team and matching up with Drexler or Jordan will be very tough for him.

Carmelo could be effective on offense playing the four but would have trouble on defense and rebounding.

Mullin went 14-for-26 on threes in the ’92 Olympics so would be pretty automatic if left open. Drexler’s specialty would be an automatic two points on the fast break.

Magic Johnson, John Stockton vs. Chris Paul, Deron Williams

Magic was past his prime in ’92 but not by that much. Stockton was realizing his though so the ’92 team would have another advantage here.

Magic would be a huge mismatch problem of course and whenever Paul was on him he would probably take him into the post. This would be near impossible for the 2012 team to contend with.

If Magic has to try and guard Paul then that’s not a great thing for the ’92 team though.

Magic’s personality would win out though. When you envision this matchup you envision him dominating, talking trash throughout the game and picking up a ton of assists.

This one is close but an advantage again for the ’92 team.

Charles Barkley vs. Kevin Durant

Barkley and Durant won’t necessarily be guarding each other in this matchup but their effect in the game would be similar. Both would score a lot of points, possibly leading their team in that department.

Durant might be the best international style player ever and would be a really tough matchup for the ’92 team especially with the shortened 3-point line.

With the 2012 team’s lack of size, Barkley would feast on them down low. Barkley will struggle with whoever he has to guard though on the 2012 team.

This one is a tossup too. The point being that these two would both underrated-ly dominate in this game and score a ton.

Scottie Pippen vs. LeBron James

LeBron is obviously the better player but Pippen is probably the best shot at guarding him. In this setting, LeBron is not his usual dominant self and defers more than ever to teammates so Pippen should be able to do a decent job on him.

LeBron might be asked to do other things like guard Barkley or Malone or even Magic at times.

This one is closer than you think but the edge has to go to the 2012 team.

Michael Jordan vs. Kobe Bryant

This is really what this matchup would come down to. Not because they are the two best players but because you know if somehow these two were able to go at it like this, they wouldn’t hold anything back.

The matchup is really not close at all. Kobe is a shell of himself while MJ was at the peak of his powers in ’92. Even Kobe in his prime vs. this MJ would have no chance.

It would be the coolest part about this matchup though watching MJ and Kobe isolate on each other. Jordan would torch Kobe though and shut him down on the other end.

The 2012 team should probably put LeBron on Jordan but there’s no way Kobe would allow that by backing down from the challenge so get ready for Jordan doing pretty much whatever he wants while Kobe has a nice 6-for-19 shooting night or something.

This is where we stand. At the end of the day no one is beating the Dream Team. They are the best basketball team ever assembled and having the best player ever playing in his absolute prime is a big reason why.

We’ll never truly know what would happen though but it’s always fun to think about.

The 2012 team will kick off their exhibition games tonight at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN vs. the Dominican Republic. The London Olympics begin July 27.

James Harden, Blake Griffin and Andre Iguodala were the last three players to make the final cut for Team USA. Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis were the final three cut and will serve as alternates for the team.

Jerry Colangelo revealed that there were nine players who were locks to make the team a week ago: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.

The Oklahoma City Thunder become the first NBA team ever to send three players from their roster to play for Team USA in the Olympics.

Harden made the final cut, beating out Gordon in what was a close decision.

“I think he surprised people,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. “Two months ago he was on the radar screen, but not shining brightly necessarily. Given the opportunity, he finished so strongly this season, he gave us something to really sit back and think about. He has size, he has length at his position.

“Defensively, he’s more than adequate,” he continued. “He comes up with a lot of loose balls, a lot of steals and he is a scorer. And by the way, he can also shoot it. I think there’s a little bit of a difference between the two. Tough choice we had to make, Eric Gordon, James Harden. Harden deserved it for the reasons I mentioned and we expect him coming off the bench as he did and he’s accustomed to and to play whenever he’s called upon.”

Durant was an obvious choice for Team USA. Durant did not make the team four years ago and was one of the last cuts back then when he was only 19 years old.

“Well first of all, this young man was born to play the game. He’s a coach’s dream,” Colangelo of Durant. “He has great character, he has great passion for the game. And then his skills are off the charts. He plays with such enthusiasm that it’s difficult to keep him off the floor and in the World Championships he just rose to another level.”

Westbrook became a no-brainer when players like Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade pulled out of the Olympics because of injury. Westbrook was a part of the 2010 World Championships team with Durant.

“No, there isn’t [a more explosive player],” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I love Russell. It’s an honor to coach him. He is such a versatile player and as good an athlete as there is on this planet playing basketball. He plays with an abundance of energy and courage. I’m a big Russell Westbrook fan.”

The Miami Heat were the only other team that could have also had three players make the roster. Four years ago, LeBron, Wade and Chris Bosh were all on the team and that was when it was rumored they decided to all try and play together when the time came.

The Olympic Games begin July 27. The first game for Team USA will be July 29 against France. Team USA will play five exhibition games before the Olympics start with the first one being July 12 vs. the Dominican Republic.

Here is the final roster:

Over the past few months, potential hopefuls for the final roster have been dropping like flies. Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will all not be playing this year.

Team USA will still have a pretty good roster and will be the favorites to win the Gold Medal. Jerry Colangelo announced last week that nine of the 12 roster spots were already secured.

Those nine players are: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Blake Griffin is also a lock now to make the final roster leaving two spots to be fought over between four players: Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Eric Gordon and James Harden.

It is likely that the final two spots will be determined by two position battles: Gay vs. Iguodala and Gordon vs. Harden.

Gay vs. Iguodala

Both played on the 2010 World Championships team. Gay played some center for that team while Iguodala was the perimeter defensive specialist.

Looking at the 10 locks for the roster now, 3-point shooting seems like something the team would want to add. Gay is a better 3-point shooter than Iguodala by far but the versatility that Iguodala brings might give him an edge too.

Gay has more size but it is not significant enough. I believe Iguodala will make the team instead of Gay because Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski will want more versatility.

Gordon vs. Harden

This is a great battle between two of the best young shooting guards in the NBA. Gordon has had slightly better numbers throughout his career so far but Harden really came on last season.

Gordon didn’t play much last season and is dealing with some issues this offseason about wanting to leave New Orleans. Harden is working on an extension with the Thunder and would join Durant and Westbrook as the third representative from the Thunder, which could work against him since they like to spread out these kinds of honors.

I think Harden gets the nod at the end of the day. His game is really tailored to the international style and I think Colangelo is really partial to him.

If Harden makes it then the Thunder would be the only team in the NBA sending three players to represent Team USA. Serge Ibaka will also be representing Spain.

Here is my final prediction of the roster:

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will be representing their country in the 2012 Olympics this summer for Team USA Basketball. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo announced that nine of the 12 roster spots are secured.

Durant and Westbrook are among the nine along with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.

That will leave three spots left for five players to compete for. The five players left are Blake Griffin, Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, Eric Gordon and James Harden.

Many potentials have dropped out from the team, most recently No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis and Lamar Odom.

“We will not be adding anybody,” Colangelo told Fox Sports. “We feel good with what we have.”

When you look at the nine secured spots, only two of those players play the four or five in the NBA in Love and Chandler. LeBron, Durant and Anthony could each play the four in international play but one would still believe Team USA needs some more size.

Griffin should make the team because of this and possibly Gay as well, who has more size than Iguodala and is also a better perimeter shooter.

That will leave one last spot for Gordon, Iguodala and Harden to battle for. The roster needs a shooter which would make Gordon or Harden most appealing but since they will be so small, a player like Iguodala could also be a good choice.

Right now, Gordon is probably the better spot-up shooter than Harden and would most likely get the nod but people shouldn’t underestimate Harden. It’s easy to remember his play in the NBA Finals and forget what he did this season before that.

Harden really made a leap this year inserting himself into “Top 5 SG’s in the NBA” conversations. The fact that Durant and Westbrook are going too could make the choice of Harden more likely as well.

“I’m very confident with the roster we will have,” Colangelo said. “We have a few days now to decide if we want a shooter, you’ve got Harden. Do we want a defensive specialist? There’s Iguodala. And Rudy Gay is versatile. He played (center at times) for us in the World Championships. We have people who are versatile.”

The final roster will be revealed Saturday night at 7 p.m. EST on NBA TV.

Anthony Davis severely sprained his ankle in a workout with the Hornets and is now very unlikely to play for Team USA in the Olympics, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Davis was added to the list of finalists for the Team USA roster along with James Harden in reaction to injuries to Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and a few others.

Since the end of the playoffs, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat have said they will not be going to London to play in the Olympics as they try and recover from being banged up this past season.

Meanwhile, the Thunder still have three players who could compete for the U.S.: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Harden.

The injury to Wade opened up a potential spot for Harden and almost totally ensured that Westbrook would be playing. Durant is of course a shoo-in.

Team USA may be more thin up front now without Davis and Bosh but there aren’t a lot of replacements in terms of big men.

Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love seem like locks now while Blake Griffin might be the only other big for the U.S.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay and Eric Gordon are the other main hopefuls for the team.

Harden may be able to make the roster since the team will also be short of 3-point shooters. Gordon suffered an injury last season so he may not be fully committed to going which would definitely open up the spot for Harden.

The NBA gave us a taste of the future of basketball in the NBA Finals as both the Heat and Thunder played a lot of small ball. Team USA will have to do that in the Olympics a lot too but the competition may be tougher especially from Spain.

Spain will strut out the Gasol brothers as well as Serge Ibaka and combine that with international rules and the United States will be at a disadvantage against them.

Team USA will begin training in Las Vegas, Nev. July 5-12. On Saturday, July 7, the 12 members of the final roster will be announced at 7 p.m. EST on NBA TV.

You can also download the podcast here.

You can head on over to Beale Street Bears for all of Chuck’s coverage of the memphis Grizzlies.

Also you can download the podcast here.

Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 43 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-110 Saturday night.

Durant was unguardable in the final period playing all of it after coming out of the third quarter with 8:30 to play. Russell Westbrook finished the game with 35 points to go with eight assists.

The duo of Durant and Westbrook literally took turns tonight with Durant scoring 20 in the fourth and Westbrook scoring 16 in the third.

The Thunder needed all of this scoring from the top scoring pair in the NBA winning by just five despite no Kevin Love for the Timberwolves.

In Love’s absence Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph stepped up. Beasley scored 26 off the bench and Randolph 22. J.J. Barea carried the load for Minnesota in the first half and finished the game with 24 points and 10 assists.

It was a game that felt like the Thunder could have let slip away if they weren’t so superior in terms of talent with their top two guns. Durant and Westbrook combined 27-for-48 from the field, 6-of-10 from deep and 18-for-22 at the line.

James Harden after missing last night essentially missed tonight as well going 1-of-11 from the floor and 0-for-8 from three. He scored just six points in the game looking the worst he has all season, unaggressive early and seemingly just going through the motions for a lot of the night.

Without Love on the floor, Oklahoma City outrebounded the Timberwolves 53-39 and the Thunder pulled down 17 offensive boards.

Defense was really optional tonight and the game finished with one of the more interesting matchups of the season: Anthony Randolph guarding Russell Westbrook for the final three minutes or so of the game. The Thunder didn’t really go to Westbrook at this point with Durant rolling but Westbrook did try and drive on Randolph once only to see Randolph repel perfectly in position to take the charge.

It was that kind of game and a fun game but that’s what we expect when these two teams get together.

The Thunder (44-16) will play at the Clippers (37-23) for their next game Monday night in what will be the second game in their five-game road trip.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
107.4 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.5 Defensive Efficiency (9th)
95.6 Pace (6th)
57.0 True Shooting % (1st)
51.5 Rebound Rate (4th)

Timberwolves (8-game losing streak)
102.0 Offensive Efficiency (15th)
103.4 Defensive Efficiency (21st)
95.8 Pace (5th)
52.6 True Shooting % (16th)
50.5 Rebound Rate (14th)

The last time these teams played it made for one of the best games of the season with Oklahoma City beating Minnesota 149-140 in double overtime.

Russell Westbrook scored a career-high 45 points in that game and Kevin Durant had 40 points and 17 rebounds.

Kevin Love also scored a career-high in the game with 51 points to go along with 14 rebounds. Love will be out tonight suffering a concussion against Denver a few nights ago.

The Timberwolves have been in a downward spiral of late losing their last eight and are 4-15 after Ricky Rubio suffered his season-ending injury a few weeks ago.

The Thunder are on a back-to-back having beaten the Kings last night at home without James Harden. Harden is still a game-time decision tonight but the Thunder may not need him considering all of the injuries Minnesota is dealing with.

The Thunder are one game ahead of the Spurs for the best record in the West with the same amount of losses and two more wins.

Home court will be big in the playoffs and a win tonight against a wounded Timberwolves squad is crucial considering the Thunder are kicking off a five-game road trip tonight.

We saw Durant and Westbrook find a better rhythm last night and if that carries into tonight the Thunder should find themselves with a win in Minnesota.

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.

The best players weren’t excited to represent their countries back then and it resulted in a third-place finish in 2004. The culture has since changed and getting the best NBA players to play has been as important as anything.

The 2012 team is expected to be maybe the best basketball team ever assembled – even rivaling the 1992 Dream Team. On June 1, Colangelo will finalize the roster and while there are some obvious selections, there will also be some tough omissions.

Colangelo says that the team will be a blend of the 2008 Gold Medal team and 2010 World Championship squad. In 2008, we saw a team of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade. Those players did not play in 2010 on the squad led by Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook.

“Most people would say you need shooters because of the zone defenses,” Colangelo said to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “And to some degree that is true. But we’re not varying from our concept. Basketball is the ultimate team game. We need players willing to sacrifice their own games. [In 2010] Coach K went with a seven or eight-man rotation. With this roster, in my opinion, he can go with all 12 if he chooses. He and I have had this conversation over and over: Players may be used different this time around.

“Size is still an issue. Without being specific, we have to figure out if we carry three centers or two. With the type of wing players out there, defenders are really important, too. But there is so much talent. Guys have worked really hard to improve. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love — they have moved to a whole other level.”

These are all problems that any country would love to have. Do I start Chris Paul or Derrick Rose?

Colangelo does bring up a good point of bringing on players who are willing to play less minutes and be productive while on the court for shorter periods of time.

Here is the starting lineup we could be looking at: Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Dwight Howard. With Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Kevin Love, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Andre Iguodala and Tyson Chandler off the bench.

That snubs Deron Williams, Eric Gordon, Chauncey Billups, Blake Griffin, Rudy Gay, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh and Lamar Odom.

While Durant is a lock, Westbrook may not even make the team despite a possible First Team All-NBA selection this season. Rose and Paul are likely going to be the first two point guards selected. That leaves Colangelo to choose between Westbrook, Williams, Gordon and Billups. He will likely only take one of those four.

The selection will be made on June 1 and Team USA will hold training camps starting July 6.

In the first ever FanSided NBA Podcast I interview our very own editor of Sir Charles in Charge Chris Walder. Chris came on to give his thoughts on Dwight Howard and his fallout with the Orlando Magic, the chances of Boston and New York making playoff runs, who the MVP of the NBA is so far this season and who the favorites are to win the NBA title.

Be sure to listen to the podcast here or you can also download the podcast.

Follow Chris on Twitter @WalderSports

In March Durant led the Thunder to an 11-5 record and averaged 27.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Durant had a 40-point, 17-rebound game in the Thunder’s double-overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Perhaps Durant’s best game was his 28-9-8 line against LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the Thunder’s 103-87 victory over the Heat.

Durant’s closest competition for the award this month was teammate Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love.

Paul Pierce won the award for the Eastern Conference.

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.

My goal was simple: clear enough cap to keep James Harden and Serge Ibaka along with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. This isn’t that hard to do in NBA 2K12. You can rip off the computer teams pretty easy with trades and get rid of bad contracts too.

I did it. After two seasons I had to trade away Kendrick Perkins, Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha in exchange for basically nothing. After the 2013-14 season, I had only five players under contract and was prepared to offer everything for Harden and Ibaka.

The two seasons before extending Harden and Ibaka, the Thunder made it to the NBA Finals and lost each time. After signing them, the Thunder went on to win the next three NBA titles.

Why? Well, because they had a top five player at four different positions! At least according to NBA 2K12 they did and you know what, maybe according to the real life future too.

It’s really crazy to think about how good a Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka core could be five years from now. It would be unprecedented with how talented those top four could become.

For some perspective let’s look at who the top five players are by position in the NBA right now.

Point guard: Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo.

Shooting guard: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, Manu Ginobili, James Harden.

Small forward: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Andre Iguodala.

Power forward: Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Love, Pau Gasol, Blake Griffin, Chris Bosh.

Center: Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, Al Jefferson.

Okay so the Thunder have four players in the top five at their respective positions. I think Harden is a top five shooting guard right now. John Hollinger’s PER rating agrees with me.

So what might the makeup of the league look like five years from now, the 2016-17 season? Bear in mind that five years is a long time. Five years ago the Spurs won their last NBA title. As projected by me and NBA 2K12:

Point guard: Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Stephen Curry, Rajon Rondo, Ricky Rubio.

Shooting guard: James Harden, Dwyane Wade, Tyreke Evans, Paul George, Kobe Bryant, Eric Gordon, O.J. Mayo, MarShon Brooks.

Small forward: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Luol Deng, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Power forward: Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge, Serge Ibaka, Josh Smith, Anthony Davis, Thaddeus Young.

Center: Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol, Andrew Bynum, DeMarcus Cousins, Roy Hibbert, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Greg Monroe.

How could any other team possibly compete with the Thunder if they keep Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka?

The Thunder need to start planning now to keep this core (and I’m sure they are). The Thunder have a good chance to win the title this year but if they don’t then it’s time to start planning for keeping Harden and Ibaka. Three more years of this core will become much more valuable than trying to slightly improve your team to win one title and sacrificing a future with Harden or Ibaka.

Who knows what will happen? I have a feeling when the time comes they won’t be able to keep both. But hopefully they can at least hang on to one.

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.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
107.2 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
95.8 Pace (5th)
57.1 True Shooting % (1st)
51.3 Rebound Rate (5th)

Timberwolves (1-game losing streak)
101.8 Offensive Efficiency (15th)
101.8 Defensive Efficiency (16th)
96.0 Pace (4th)
52.6 True Shooting % (14th)
51.0 Rebound Rate (8th)

The Thunder looked the best they have in awhile with their win over the Los Angeles Clippers two nights ago. It was also the first game that the Thunder suited up newly-acquired Derek Fisher.

Tonight it will be a Ricky Rubio-less Minnesota Timberwolves squad. The team has lost a lot of luster when Rubio went down with injury. Nikola Pekovic also will not be playing due to injury tonight.

It is the first meeting since opening night between these two teams.

Minnesota has won just two of their last eight games and it won’t get easier tonight in Chesapeake Arena. The Thunder haven’t won back-to-back games since March 5 and 7. They are due tonight.

In the first meeting Russell Westbrook had moments of openly mocking the defenders Minnesota was throwing at him. That was a different Westbrook who wasn’t playing the basketball he is now.

Westbrook will have a huge advantage on offense and this game should be one of those in which he roams around getting any look he wants. Westbrook’s jumper has been on point of late too so look for him to continue to look for that pull-up tonight.

I guess the Thunder are just really good because they probably have an advantage at every position tonight. Minnesota has no one that can give Kevin Durant too much trouble although the matchup with Michael Beasley is an interesting one since the two played high school ball together.

Without Pekovic the main focus down low will be on Kevin Love. Serge Ibaka should have the assignment of covering Love and will need to be focused to keep him off the glass.

A loss tonight would really be troubling for Thunder fans. They finally looked like they got their act together in their last game and the Clippers are a much better team than Minnesota. Expect a win tonight for the home team.

Kevin Durant finished second in the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest after losing the tiebreaker shootout to Kevin Love in the finals.

Durant posted a score of just 14 in the final while Love hit 17.

Durant had his best round in the first making 20 of the possible 30 points. James Jones had the best round of the night with 22 in the first but had just 12 in the second.

Durant finished last a year ago in the contest with only seven points. He seemed motivated to come out and shoot better tonight but didn’t make the money balls when he needed them.

With the dunk contest being so horrible it really was kind of up to Durant to put on a show in this contest. After 20 in the first round it seemed like a big number like 25 could have been possible for him.

Tomorrow night the real show will be put on by the NBA All-Stars in the All-Star Game. There we will actually see some basketball and the in-game dunks will no doubt top what we saw tonight.

The NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest hit an all-time low tonight. And to think I actually had any sort of expectations.

Everything about it was horrible beginning with the painfully forced emphasis on creativity. There were about three good dunks out of the 12 and the best ones didn’t even come on the first attempt.

It’s pretty obvious how now we need stars in this competition now. It’s all up to LeBron James really. He has the chance to save the dunk contest by competing in it next year. But just like he decided not to go play in New York and save the Knicks, he probably won’t due this either.

Utah Jazz benchwarmer Jeremy Evans won the contest with 29 percent of the popular vote. Out of four guys 25 percent would have been a tie so at least it was one of the closest dunk contests in history.

The silver lining was the performance by the TNT crew and Charles Barkley in particular. They were great and provided some laugh out loud moments. They knew it was terrible and Barkley didn’t hold back and was honest as usual.

The three-point contest is really the only decent thing left and I’m sure a lot of people are burnt out on that too. It always seems to provide some drama though and basketball junkies have to love seeing great shooters go through that drill.

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant had a chance in the three-point contest but fell just short losing to Kevin Love in the finals. The greatest possible outcome of the night would have been is Durant just went stupid in the three-point contest and hit like 25.

Excitement was not in the cards tonight though.

Until the best players start competing in the dunk contest and take pride in winning it, the contest will continue to die and rightfully so.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook was named to the Western Conference All-Star team as a reserve on TNT Thursday night. This is Westbrook’s second All-Star selection of his career.

Westbrook is averaging 22.3 points per game, 5.9 assists per game and 4.8 rebounds per game this season and shooting a career-high 45.9 percent from the field. Westbrook is also third among point guards in the West with a 22.56 PER.

Westbrook was pretty much a sure thing for the selection and joins Kevin Durant as the only two Thunder players to make the team. James Harden, however, did not make the cut.

Harden is second in the West in PER among shooting guards behind only Kobe Bryant this season. Harden is averaging 16.8 points, 3.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 87 percent from the line.

Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki both made the All-Star team, while both possibly less deserving than Harden.

Parker has come on late for the Spurs and has a 21.95 PER but was the fourth point guard selected onto the team. If a backup center must be chosen than why is selecting a backup shooting guard not also mandatory?

That being said, Monta Ellis who is averaging 22.6 points and 6.3 assist per game may have been the most deserving not selected to the team.

Harden does still have a chance to make the squad if one of the West players is injured between now and the game. So let’s have the entire Thunder nation rise and one and root for injuries until then.

The rest of the Western Conference reserves are: Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Steve Nash and Marc Gasol.

Andrew Kennedy is the Lead Editor of Thunderous Intentions and the Editorial Director of the NBA Division at FanSided. Follow him on Twitter or read more of his work at True Hoop Drew.