Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

We are a little more than a quarter of the way finished with the NBA season now. The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently the hottest team in the league with the best record and on an 11-game win streak.

The New York Knicks still hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference just a game and a half ahead of the Miami Heat. The Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs are two games back each of the Thunder.

A few disappointments so far have been the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets who each would barely make the playoffs if they started today. But no team has been more disappointing than the Los Angeles Lakers so far.

Team success has a lot to do with MVP candidacy. Now let’s look at the players who are in the running for the award so far this year.

1. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

Durant still deserves the top spot here with the Thunder rolling the way that they are. Durant is putting up career numbers in terms of PER and true shooting percentage as he has a shot at joining the 50-40-90 club. His improvement from last season will be a big reason why he is considered the MVP so far this season especially with James Harden’s departure.

2. Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks

The Knicks just keep winning while Anthony is playing the best basketball of his career. He really seems to have carried over his Olympic play to the NBA season and it has been perfect for this Knicks team. The veterans surrounding Anthony are only helping to lift him to another level this season too.

3. LeBron James, Miami Heat

You can’t drop LeBron too far down the MVP ladder. He’s still leading the league in PER and putting up better all-around numbers than anyone. The Heat just haven’t been winning quite as much as you’d expect. All it’s going to take is a big month or two from LeBron and the Heat for him to get back in poll position of this race.

4. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

What Kobe is doing at this age and leading the league in scoring as efficiently as he’s ever been is remarkable. The issue is the Lakers aren’t winning, at all. Once they do and most people still believe they will eventually get their act together, Kobe will be right up there in the MVP discussion.

5. Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers are quietly on a winning streak just as impressive as the Thunder’s. Paul is 5th in the NBA in PER behind only the four players ahead of him in these Power Rankings. The Clippers look much better than a season ago, more prepared to make a deep run in the playoffs. Their depth has been a big reason for their success though so it’s not all Paul which is why he ranks only 5th.

6. Zach Randolph, Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies have gotten off to a great start this season thanks mostly to Randolph. Randolph isn’t near the top of the league in PER but his averages of 17.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game will not go unnoticed by MVP voters. Memphis has shown that they are as tough as anyone in the league to match up with and Randolph being their power forward is the biggest reason why.

7. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Curry has led the Warriors to the fifth best record in the Western Conference so far this season. The key has simply been his health. He’s averaging 19.7 points, 6.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. His shooting numbers have not been their best either so expect those to rise as the season goes on. The Warriors have been one of the biggest surprises of the year playing this well so early. If they can keep it up, Curry will deserve some MVP attention.

8. Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks

Smith and the Hawks have also surprised the NBA in their first season after Joe Johnson currently holding the third best record in the Eastern Conference. They have many impressive wins including against the Thunder in OKC. Smith is averaging 16.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game to lead the Hawks.

9. Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics

Rondo is still leading the league in assists by far and if the Celtics can get their act together and move up the standings in the Eastern Confernce, he will keep moving up in the MVP Power Rankings. He’s averaging 12.9 points, 12.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game this year as he looks to be playing the best ball of his career.

10. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

Westbrook will never win the NBA because he is on the same team as Kevin Durant but he still deserves to be ahead of others in the MVP Power Rankings. Like Durant, Westbrook is also having a career year passing the ball better than ever and playing defense at the highest level we’ve ever seen from him. The Thunder needed Durant and Westbrook to step up and fill the Harden void this year and both have done exactly that.

Russell Westbrook is one of the most discussed players in the league today. After the 2011 playoffs, he was chastised for his play. Criticism usually came in the manner of him “stealing shots from Kevin Durant” and “being selfish”. In those games Westbrook and Durant took nearly the same number of shots (20.2 and 20.3 FGA, respectively), yet Durant outscored Westbrook by nearly five points per game. Most of the critique was warranted though, as Westbrook shot just 39.4% from field and TOV% (estimated # of turnovers per 100 plays) of 16.1.

Coming into this past season, one of the major questions about the Thunder was how would the team get their stars enough shots. With James Harden and Serge Ibaka showing vast improvements, there didn’t seem to be enough basketballs for all of the talent on the Thunder. Even so, Russ managed to increase his shot attempts by 2.2 per game and Durant still won yet another scoring title.

Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

By this time, Westbrook was known as the league’s ultimate “do or die” player. He could take over and win you a game, or he could lose it just as easily. Having a short memory is usually a great trait to have in athletics, but Westbrook was heavily criticized for continuing to take ill advised shots while he was having a bad game. Especially when you have fellow elite scorers like Durant and Harden on your team, you will be under scrutiny as a point guard when you don’t get them the ball.

With the Thunder having a plethora of scorers, and the pending contract extensions of Harden and Ibaka, the idea of trading Westbrook for Rajon Rondo was discussed among fans. The thought is that Rondo, being one of the best distributers in the league, would be able to control the offense and just feed the ball to Durant and crew.

Rondo, only three years older than Westbrook, is another love-hate player. Fans fall in love with his elite passing ability and the way he takes over games as a triple-double machine. Just last season, he managed 10 of the rare feat, including three in the playoffs (all victories). No other player had more than one.

On the other side, his struggles shooting the ball has caused fans to question his ability to be a star on a championship caliber team. Yes, he has already has a ring as a starting point guard, but was not nearly as important to his team as he is today. Throughout his six years in the league, Rondo has never averaged more than 14 points and his True Shooting % has decreased in each of the past four seasons.

While Westbrook struggled at times on the way to an NBA Finals loss, Rondo was the main reason an old Celtics team was able to take the Miami Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. A 44 point explosion by Rondo in Game 2 of the ECF led to an movement to name him the best point guard in the league. With a dangerous jumper, Rondo could become what people want Westbrook to be, a pass-first point guard who can shoot. Unfortunately, that’s not what Rondo has, and that’s not what Westbrook should become.

The thought that point guards should be pass first, shoot second, has caused most of the Westbrook criticism. After averaging over eight assists two seasons in a row, Russ dropped down to just 5.5 in 2011-2012. This is partially fault to James Harden getting much of the fourth quarter point guard duties, but also an increase in the Thunder’s use of isolation on offense.

With the unique collection of athletes in Oklahoma City, they can run a rather basic offense and manage to score at will. With the addition of Rajon Rondo, the whole style of the Thunder would change. You probably see more pick and rolls, spot ups, and fancier passes, while losing much of the isolation game OKC loves so much.

Without a threat to score at point guard, Kevin Durant will get more attention when he has the ball. Assuming Harden stays as the sixth man, the starting lineup will have just Durant, Rondo, and three defensive players in Ibaka, Thabo Sefolosha, and Kendrick Perkins. While Rondo is still a very good offensive player, he is much less of a threat off the ball as Westbrook.

Although, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison would be much more involved in the offense with Rondo at the point. A post game has been missing from OKC for years, and that has been a shortcoming for them in the playoffs.

The one player I believe that would be affected the most by a change in point guards, would be James Harden. His main game is being able to drive to the basket at will, and having an array of shots to choose from. Also, he became the primary ball handler for the Thunder late in games.

This was possible because Westbrook is a very capable off-ball guard. Spreading the floor with Durant and Westbrook on the perimeter allowed Harden to navigate his way to the lane, likely drawing a foul and hitting free throws. Rondo would take a majority of the point guard duties when he is in the game, relegated Harden to a more minor role. The Thunder lose the flexibility of having three ball handlers who are elite scorers and have the ability to take over a game individually.

What wins basketball games is scoring. The way it is, Oklahoma City has one of the most high-powered offenses in recent memory. Russell Westbrook is the main reason that can happen. He does cost the team some games, but his upside is way too high to dwell on the misfortunes. With experience he will learn to limit the bad and excel throughout all facets of the game.

The reasons the Thunder loss the Finals were a determined best player in the NBA in LeBron James, a horrible James Harden, and shaky coaching. A change in style is not what the Thunder need to take the next step, they need Russell Westbrook at his best (giving James Harden a new contract would be nice, too).

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.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

There is often debate among who the best point guard in the NBA is. The league is deeper than ever these days at the point position and there are a lot of worthy candidates to be mentioned as one of the best.

Jason Kidd gave Rajon Rondo the highest compliment when he told Jason Terry that Rondo was the best in the league.

“He said, ‘There’s no question Rajon Rondo is the best point guard,” Terry told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “‘Chris Paul is great. Deron Williams is great, but Rajon Rondo is the best point guard in the NBA.’’’

Who is Kidd leaving out here? Russell Westbrook. It’s understandable and he wasn’t providing his top five or anything. Plus Westbrook doesn’t really fit the mold of point guard like the others here.

But for argument sake, Westbrook is included in the discussion and has a very good case to be considered the best point guard in the NBA or more accurately, “the best player in the NBA who technically plays the point guard position.”

Let’s look at and compare some of the top point guards in the league right now. Paul is definitely right there at the top with Williams, Rondo and Westbrook. Tony Parker will be left out because he is always overlooked. Leaving Derrick Rose out too just for now because of the knee injury.

Paul has been the best overall in the last three years especially by PER standards. His shooting percentages are very good too and he’s right at the top of the league in assists and steals every season. He’s probably the best pure point guard in the league and became the league’s clutchest player hands down last year.

Williams puts up some impressive numbers too. His scoring is a little higher than Paul’s and his assists are right there as well. Williams is definitely not on the same defensive level of Paul yet though.

Rondo’s regular season numbers don’t do him all the justice. He’s had his biggest moments in the playoffs where he routinely turns in triple-doubles for the Celtics. He is an elite defender for his position and has become the best in the league at racking up assists. His shooting woes are without a doubt his biggest downfall.

Looking at the stats it kind of feels like Westbrook plays a different position than the other three. His usage rate is much higher and most familiar to a scoring-two than a traditional point. Westbrook is the youngest of the four players too and has shown significant improvement from season to season.

Right now, the title of best point guard in the NBA belongs to Paul. It’s toughest to argue against that. Westbrook is a more rare commodity though and has the potential to evolve into a top five superstar in this league. He has a Dwyane Wade-like ceiling and the impact he makes on the game is as dramatic as any of these players.

Westbrook isn’t quite there yet but if you’re predicting the future, you’ll have Westbrook overtaking these three in no time.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. EST.

LeBron James scored 31 points and had 12 rebounds and played the entire game for the Miami Heat. It wasn’t the level of performance LeBron had in Game 6 but it didn’t matter for the Heat.

Rajon Rondo had a triple-double for the Celtics with 22 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

This may very well have been the last game that the Big Three in Boston will have played together. They had a great run winning the title in 2008 and making it to three Eastern Conference Finals but this was not their year.

The Heat advance to the Finals despite not having a healthy Chris Bosh for the entire series and Dwyane Wade not being quite himself either.

LeBron and the Heat have gotten over the hump of beating the Celtics. They did it last year too. The only problem is whenever they beat the Celtics, a team better than Boston is waiting for them in the NBA Finals.

LeBron vs. Kevin Durant. It’s on.

LeBron James scored 45 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished out five assists as the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics in Boston in Game 6 98-79 to push this series to a Game 7.

LeBron played the first 45 minutes of the game and went 19-for-26 from the field. LeBron really had his fadeaway jump shot going in the first half and that opened up the rest of his game.

The Celtics had no answer. Rajon Rondo led Boston with 21 points and 10 assists but did have seven turnovers.

The Celtics were just 1-for-14 from three in the game. Paul Pierce went 0-for-6 from three and was 4-for-18 from the field in general and scored just nine points.

Dwyane Wade was the only other Heat player to score in double-figure with 17.

Chris Bosh played 28 minutes and scored seven points with six rebounds.

The Heat will go back home Saturday night for Game 7 to try and get past the Celtics. The winner of that game will play Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City Tuesday night.

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 107-99 last night in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics are still playing in the Eastern Conference to determine their representative. The Celtics are currently up 3-2 in the series and will be playing Game 6 on their home floor tonight.

Who would the Thunder rather see in the Finals?

The Thunder went 1-1 against the Heat in the regular season and 2-0 against the Celtics. In either matchup, the Thunder would be favored with home court and based on how much better they have been playing than both of them in the playoffs.

“Whoever we play, (it’s) two great teams,” Kevin Durant said. “We can’t rely 100 percent on our crowd. We’ve just got to come out there and start the game off with a lot of energy. It’s going to be a tough rough for us, and we’re looking forward to that opportunity. It’s a great feeling right now, but tomorrow we’ve just got to get over it and get ready to see who we play.”

The NBA and the world probably wants to see Miami make it to the Finals to play the Thunder. Because then we would get LeBron vs. Durant.

The Heat could be a very tough matchup for the Thunder though. They are similar teams in their makeups and the positions that their stars play and you could argue that Miami’s stars are better and more experienced.

LeBron would make for the toughest possible matchup for Kevin Durant. LeBron has become one of the best defenders in the NBA and would particularly be able to have success against Durant using his size and strength on him. LeBron has also historically outplayed Durant when the two have gone head-to-head.

Beyond Durant and LeBron, the Thunder are a deeper team than Miami. The Heat are thin up front while the Thunder have good size and would win the physicality battle in the series.

But even if the Thunder could have some matchup advantages against the Heat, sometimes talent is a more important factor. The Thunder have advanced to the NBA Finals largely because they have been much more talented than their opponents. That wouldn’t be the case against Miami which could make it a tougher matchup than Boston.

The Thunder will be the lesser experienced team in the NBA Finals no matter who the matchup. The Celtics won a title back in 2008 and the fact that they’ve “been there before” could make them a tough out for the Thunder.

Boston is not very deep though and banged up. The Thunder are perfectly healthy and have a deeper, more consistent rotation than the Celtics.

The key matchup would be Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook. They’d be playing the same position but in two totally different ways.

Rondo has proven that even against a team with LeBron James, he can emerge as the best player on the court in any given game and lead his team to victory. He would have a much tougher task having to defend Westbrook on the other end of the court which could make dominating more difficult for him.

Aside from Rondo and Westbrook, the Thunder pretty much have the advantage in every other aspect against the Celtics. Like with the Spurs, it would come down to the Thunder just being more talented. It would seem experience would be the greatest advantage for the Celtics but that hasn’t phased the Thunder yet in these playoffs.

Whoever the Thunder play, if they win the title it will be considered very legitimate. The Heat and Celtics have had their injuries that they’ve dealt with but the road Oklahoma City took through the Western Conference ranks as a 10 in degree of difficulty.

But if it isn’t LeBron and the Heat, an NBA championship would be a little less sweet. If Durant gets the chance to conquer LeBron for a title, it will immediately rank up there as one of the greatest championships in NBA history.

The Thunder don’t care who they play though. They’re just ready to begin the NBA Finals and will come to play every single night like they have been all year. Something the Heat and the Celtics can’t say they have done.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals will be Tuesday night at 9 p.m. EST on ABC. The Thunder could find out as early as tonight who they will be playing as the Celtics look to close out the Heat at home at 8:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.

According to multiple sources, the Heat are hoping to activate Chris Bosh for Tuesday’s Game 5 if he doesn’t suffer a setback in workouts over the next two days. Bosh declined to discuss his status following the Heat’s 93-91 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, which tied the series at 2-2.

via ESPN’s Brian Windhorst

After losing their first two games without Bosh to Indiana, Miami went on to win their next five.

LeBron James took his game to another level playing a lot more of the power forward position during that time.

The Heat have looked vulnerable without Bosh in the two games in Boston with Rajon Rondo attacking the paint with ease and Kevin Garnett having big games as well.

The Heat will certainly need a healthy Bosh to win a title this year. We will see what Bosh looks like for Game 5. If he is back to looking 100 percent, people might start talking about the Heat as the team to beat again.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are in a do or die situation tonight for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder are down 0-2 in the series and only 14 teams in the history of the NBA have come back from that deficit to win a playoff series. Zero teams have come back from down 0-3.

Durant is ready to “pull a Rondo” tonight if that’s what it’s going to take for the Thunder to win.

“I could play two games in one day,” Durant said.

That won’t be necessary but Durant will certainly play big minutes tonight. He is averaging 41.5 minutes per game so far in this series and 29.0 points.

The Thunder seem to struggle whenever Manu Ginobili and the Spurs’ second unit comes in. The Thunder reserves just can’t match them and keeping Durant or Russell Westbrook on the court at all times might be a good idea.

Durant played the entire second half in Game 1 and it seemed to wear him down. He was fouled a lot in the fourth quarter too and forced to go one-on-one a lot of times which didn’t help either.

Durant shouldn’t need to play the whole game. The Thunder just need to maximize him as much as possible when he is out there. Letting him isolate doesn’t accomplish this. Running Durant off screens and posting him up would.

The Thunder were down 0-2 two years ago against the Lakers in the first round and went on to win the next two at home and even up the series. They will play better and with more energy with their home crowd behind them but they will need more help than just that to beat the Spurs.

Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook were linked via trade talks at the beginning of this season that envisioned the Celtics and Thunder swapping their point guards.

Rondo had more trade rumors surrounding his name than Westbrook but the thought of the two being traded was an interesting prospective.

The two obviously stayed put and helped lead their teams to the Conference Finals. The Celtics and Thunder are both down 0-2 now. Would this be the case if Rondo were on OKC and Westbrook a Celtic?

Rondo is just coming off perhaps the best game of his career in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Miami. He played all 53 minutes of an overtime loss, scored a career-high 44 points to go with 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals.

Westbrook is back to receiving the same criticism that he did last year in the playoffs. The Thunder have lost two in a row to the Spurs and he is shooting more than Kevin Durant.

Rondo and Westbrook are both very different players who would completely change the other’s team if they were traded for each other.

Would the Thunder be better overall with Rondo instead of Westbrook?

Rondo would help Durant reach his potential as an offensive player quicker than Westbrook is helping him. Rondo has led the league in assists the past two seasons and is one of the best in the league at getting great shooters great looks.

Durant would thrive playing with Rondo and you could envision him scoring well over 30 points per game.

Rondo would also be able to extract the most out of Oklahoma City’s offensively challenged bigs. Kendrick Perkins might not become an offensive stud but Serge Ibaka might really take off alongside Rondo.

Ibaka possesses a very formidable midrange game and is one of the best athletes in the league. Looking at what Rondo does with Brandon Bass, he and Ibaka could become very deadly together.

James Harden would also probably get better overall with Rondo. Harden would even make more sense as a starter with Rondo instead of Westbrook since Rondo isn’t someone who needs to shoot even at all to be effective.

Harden has some Paul Pierce in his DNA and is a pretty good spot-up shooter so he would definitely fit right in next to Rondo running the show.

The Thunder would lose one of the true offensive studs in the league right now in Westbrook. Westbrook does so many things for this team and at times becomes the best player on the floor, even better than Durant.

The Thunder are better when Westbrook shoots more than Durant given their current roster and style of play. It can be criticized but it has worked.

But if the Thunder becoming a championship team means Durant needs to reach new heights, Westbrook could be holding him back in a sense while Rondo would aid Durant in his ascension to legend status.

Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka is only 90 years old. They will keep improving. Durant and Westbrook may coexist well enough to eventually win a title.

Westbrook will get the blame if they don’t and all we’ll be able to do is wonder if Rondo could have made a difference.

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

You can also download the podcast here.

Dale Zanine-US PRESSWIRE

The Atlanta Hawks shocked a lot of people beating the Boston Celtics 83-74 on Sunday to win Game 1 of the series.

The Celtics were without Ray Allen for the game and got off to a very slow start while Atlanta looked fresh.

The Hawks were led by Josh Smith who scored 22 points to go with 18 rebounds and four assists and completely outplayed Kevin Garnett.

In the fourth quarter with frustrations high, Boston’s Rajon Rondo was ejected from the game after arguing a call and then bumping referee Marc Davis.

It is expected now that Rondo will be suspended for Game 2 and possible Game 3 because of the incident.

Rondo had 20 points and 11 assists in the game and surely the Celtics will have a much tougher time beating the Hawks in this series without him.

If the suspension is just one game and Rondo and Allen return for a Game 3 at home, the series shouldn’t be viewed as completely over but it will be tougher than most thought for the Celtics to advance to the second round.

Spruce Derden-US PRESSWIRE

The Los Angeles Clippers pulled off one of the most improbable comebacks in NBA history late Sunday night. The Clippers ended their Game 1 with the Memphis Grizzlies on a 28-3 run to stun a Memphis crowd and win 99-98.

Chris Paul had 14 points and 11 assists and scored the final two points of the game at the free throw line with 24 seconds left.

Nick Young made three consecutive three-pointers for the Clippers during the run and led the team with 19 points.

The Clippers came into the game with not a lot of playoff experience and it showed as the Grizzlies immediately jumped out to a big lead.

Memphis of course had the great run last year in the playoffs and were looking as good as any team thus far in the playoffs this year.

The Grizzlies may have had a little fool’s gold though with their percentage from beyond the arc making 11-of-16 threes before going cold in the final minutes of the game.

This series promised to be one of the best first round matchups and with the Clippers stealing Game 1 on the road it probably will live up to that.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play Game 2 tonight against the Dallas Mavericks. It will be the second game in a TNT double-header with the Miami Heat and New York Knicks playing first. Orland and Indiana will also tip Game 2 tonight on NBA TV.

The Thunder looked great in the final quarter against Dallas coming back to win thanks to Kevin Durant’s game-winner but they will have to play with the same intensity they showed in the fourth quarter for 48 minutes to ensure another victory.

Miami blew out New York badly in Game 1 but all the Knicks have to do is steal Game 2 and they’ve done their job of getting homecourt. After the Clippers-Grizzlies game, a complete flip-flop of fortunes in the Miami-New York series doesn’t seem as farfetched.

Indiana – like Memphis – blew what should have been an easy Game 1, home win to Orlando. The Magic scored the final 11 points of Game 1 to win.

The Pacers showed a sizable inside advantage with no Dwight Howard and Roy Hibbert blocking nine shots in the game but he also only scored eight points. The Pacers will need to find more reliable offense to get by the Magic tonight.

David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (3-game winning streak)
106.1 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.2 Defensive Efficiency (14th)
96.2 Pace (4th)

Celtics (4-game losing streak)
97.9 Offensive Efficiency (23rd)
95.3 Defensive Efficiency (3rd)
91.0 Pace (29th)

The Thunder have been hot of late and the Celtics haven’t. The Celtics have had to deal with a lot of injuries and other reason for players missing games and have lost their last four. Kevin Garnett missed the last two games for personal reasons but is expected to return tonight. Rajon Rondo will also be out tonight serving the second game of a two-game suspension from earlier this week for throwing a ball at a referee. The odds are really stacked against the Celtics and the Thunder should have no problems tonight. James Harden and Nick Collison sat out two nights ago for the Thunder but neither had serious injuries and both could play tonight.

Thunder keys to the game

1. Durant and Westbrook

No duo has been hotter in the NBA than Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and there’s no reason they shouldn’t continue to ride this hot streak right into the All-Star Break. The duo each scored 31 points in the Thunder’s win over New Orleans Monday night and combined for 91 the night before against Denver. In the first meeting against Boston this season when the Thunder won 97-88, Durant scored 28 and Westbrook 26, including a barrage of threes to close out the Celtics late in the fourth quarter. Tonight will be impressive to watch Westbrook as Avery Bradley will likely be assigned the task of guarding him. Bradley is one of the better defenders in the league and an athlete but he will just look like a poor man’s Westbrook tonight.

2. Fast break

The Celtics are one of the older teams in the league and play the second slowest pace. The Thunder are at their bets when they get out and run and without Rondo tonight Boston should really have trouble trying to keep up with the Thunder. Look for the Thunder to run every chance they get even more so than usual tonight.

3. Contesting every shot

It sounds simple but it is really important when playing to Boston to sell out and get a hand up on every shot. The Celtics are the worst team in the league on the offensive glass so it all comes down to stopping that first option on offense when playing them. Without Rondo the Celtics shouldn’t be able to get as many good looks as they normally would. Paul Pierce played his bets game of the season up to that point the first time these teams met and the load will be even heavier for him tonight. Oklahoma City just needs to make everything difficult and they should have no trouble blowing out Boston tonight.

Prediction: Oklahoma City wins 103-79.

newsday.com

Earlier this season I wrote how the Thunder would be better off if they had Rajon Rondo instead of Russell Westbrook and how the trade made sense for both teams. Last night, the two teams played for the first time and Westbrook got the better of Rondo (26 points and three 3-pointers for Westbrook) and stole the show in the game entirely.

Westbrook is a freak athlete and can do amazing things on the basketball court that no other point guard can (except Derrick Rose). But he still has the same issues and concerns he had last year during the playoffs and earlier this season when he got off to such a terrible start.

He basically won the Thunder the game last night and shut the door on the old-knees Celtics with two dagger three-pointers in the final minutes. But those were bad shots and almost every possession for the Thunder late in the game were all terrible because they couldn’t initiate any offense.
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