Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Serge Ibaka and Thabo Seflosha missed last night’s Oklahoma City Thunder game on the road vs. the Portland Trail Blazers. The Thunder were fortunate enough to still win the game 87-83.

Ibaka was out because of a chest contusion and Sefolosha because of a sore neck. The Thunder had started the same five players in every game this season up until last night.

The Thunder are on the road for the second straight night again tonight vs. the Phoenix Suns. Ibaka and Sefolosha are both considered game-time decisions as of right now.

Ibaka said he was good after the game last night and that he’s just a little sore and will be fine. Ibaka had started every game since becoming a starter after the trade for Kendrick Perkins two seasons ago.

Sefolosha only has a sore neck which shouldn’t be too serious. But remember last season Sefolosha had a sore knee and was out for a few months.

The Thunder have a lot of road games coming up and at this point in the season they probably won’t be rushing anyone back from an injury.

From the sound of it right now, there’s a good chance that Ibaka and Sefolosha will be back tonight.

DeAndre Liggins and Nick Collison started in place of Sefolosha and Ibaka last night. Collison was his usual steady self with eight points and three rebounds in 22 minutes. Liggins had a great game with 11 points going 3-of-3 from deep and also nine rebounds in 40 minutes.

Liggins seems to be able to fill the Sefolosha void while Ibaka was missed a little bit more. Ibaka helps Russell Westbrook out more than anything else as one of his favorite targets to find for open jumpers. Westbrook struggled offensively last night making 5-of-21 shots.

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

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

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

Let’s start with…

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mike Ehrmann/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Larry W. Smith/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Larry W. Smith/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

The Bigs

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

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

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

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

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

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

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

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

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

Prediction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

The Bigs

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prediction

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

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

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

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

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

Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder lost Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the Miami Heat 91-85 Sunday night to fall behind 2-1 in the series.

The Thunder continue to leave a lot on the table in this series and have yet to play their best basketball.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting in 39 minutes but for the second straight game found himself in foul trouble.

Durant left the game with 5:41 to play in the fourth quarter and OKC leading 60-54. The Thunder would be outscored 15-7 the rest of the quarter.

“Not foul,” Durant said when asked about getting into foul trouble. “I mean, I don’t know. I’m just trying to play aggressive on both ends, and unfortunately I’m getting some fouls called on me, but I’ve got to play through it. Two games in a row, man, so I’ve just got to play smarter next game, and hopefully I don’t get no fouls called.”

Durant came back to start the fourth and would only score four points in the final 12 minutes. He clearly had lost any rhythm he found up to that point.

The referees aren’t totally to blame for the Thunder losing the last two games of this series but it’s hard not to notice them, and that is never a good thing.

In Game 2, Durant had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds when a blatant shooting foul by LeBron James was ignored. In Game 3, Durant did not deserve all four of the fouls called on him.

Durant doesn’t totally help his case though for picking up four fouls. He was actually pretty out of this game in the first half. He wasn’t giving enough effort on defense rotating or boxing out and picked up another stupid foul reaching at LeBron James in transition.

It’s not the whole series but the calls have definitely been an advantage for the Heat thus far.

Scott Brooks did not help his team in Game 3 when Durant got into foul trouble. He took Durant out after his fourth and then took Russell Westbrook out shortly later claiming that is when Westbrook normally gets his rest and he had a few bad possessions.

This was unacceptable. The Thunder were playing without Westbrook and Durant for over four minutes to end the third while the Heat had LeBron and Dwyane Wade on the floor during most of that time.

Westbrook had to be in during that stretch especially with James Harden struggling for most of the night (9 points, 2-for-10 from the field).

It’s the NBA Finals and Brooks is still stuck on trusting “what they’ve done all year” when there’s no time for little mistakes like this. It’s the same thing with him continuing to start Kendrick Perkins.

Perkins played better in Game 3 but it’s still an issue having him in the starting lineup. It eventually was probably a bad thing too that he played so well because it caused Brooks to play him over Serge Ibaka in the fourth quarter.

How is it possible that we are watching a team in the NBA Finals and thinking that two of the five players on the court shouldn’t be there? Shouldn’t this be clear enough already?

That’s what we have with the Thunder. Perkins and Derek Fisher are in the game midway through the fourth quarter while Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha are sitting on the bench. There is no excuse for this. There is no time for rest.

The Thunder have a good enough team to beat the Heat. They could very easily be up 3-0 in this series right now. Instead they’re down 2-1 and the chances of them winning suddenly seem very bleak.

One thing the Thunder have done in every playoff series so far this year is improve the further they have gone on. The Thunder will have to continue this trend to come back and beat the Heat and did show some signs of that in Game 3.

The home team for Games 3, 4 and 5 has won all three of those games just twice since 1985. The Heat would have to become the third team to do so to avoid going back to Oklahoma City.

The Heat were up 2-1 in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks last year before losing the next three games of the series.

All hope is far from lost for the Thunder.

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

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

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

Let’s start with …

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeff Robertson/Pool Photo via US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

The Bigs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

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

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

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

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

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

Prediction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s start with…

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

LeBron James

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook

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

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

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

Dwyane Wade

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

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

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

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

James Harden

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

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

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

Chris Bosh

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

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

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

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

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

The Bigs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Spot-up shooters

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prediction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant scored 36 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Miami Heat 105-94 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Durant scored 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder overcame a 54-47 deficit at halftime.

Russell Westbrook scored 27 points to go with 11 assists and eight rebounds.

LeBron James scored 30 points in the game and went 11-for-24 from the field with nine rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Durant and Westbrook outscored the entire Heat team in the second half 41-40.

Dwyane Wade struggled for the most part in the game with just 19 points and was 7-of-19 from the field.

The Thunder turned the ball over only two times in the second half after committing eight turnovers in the first half.

Miami jumped out to an early lead thanks to some hot 3-point shooting, especially from Shane Battier who made three 3-pointers in the first half.

The Thunder took some time to adjust to the Heat playing small and allowed a lot of open looks in the first half.

James Harden was a nonfactor in the game for the most part scoring just five points with three assists. He picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter and didn’t play much in the final minutes.

Thabo Sefolosha assumed the role from Harden and also defended LeBron down the stretch, doing a nice job holding him to seven points in the fourth quarter.

Durant also did a nice job on LeBron keeping him from attacking the paint much by playing off him and enticing him to take jumpers.

The Thunder shot 51.9 percent from the field as a team and won by 11 despite missing seven free throws.

The slow start was expected for this Thunder team never having been to the NBA Finals but they continue to impress with their ability to adjust, come back and appear mature in these pressure situations.

Chris Bosh did not start the game and scored only 10 points in 32 minutes for the Heat.

Game 2 will be Thursday in Oklahoma City at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

The series promises to be a close one. The Thunder are the deeper, more talented team but the Heat have more experience and they have LeBron James.

Regular season meetings

The Thunder and Heat met twice in the regular season with each team winning once.

The Thunder won 103-87 on March 25 at home. Kevin Durant outplayed LeBron and had a stat line of 28-8-9 while LeBron went just 17-7-3. The Thunder shot nearly 53 percent from the field, had 26 assists and forced Miami to turn the ball over 21 times.

Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins both played great with Ibaka having 19 and 10 and Perkins 16 and six.

James Harden was also a force efficiently going 6-for-7 from the field for 19 points and six assists.

In the second meeting, Miami won at home 98-93. LeBron got the better of Durant this time with a 34-10-7 stat line while Durant was 30-3-4 and had nine turnovers. Miami shot just 37.3 percent from the field in the game but went 26-for-29 at the line, made 10 threes and committed just 13 turnovers to OKC’s 18.

Ibaka and Perkins combined for just six points in the game and Harden was quiet with 12.

Russell Westbrook went 9-for-26 from the field in the game and had 28 points.

Isolation plays

Oklahoma City 11.63% of offense, 0.97 PPP
Durant 1.16, Westbrook 0.84, Harden 1.14

The Thunder are the best isolation team in the NBA because of these three players. The Heat are the best defense the Thunder have seen so far in the playoffs so scoring in this way will get harder.

Westbrook has the biggest advantage as Mario Chalmers will be matched up with him a lot and he needs to take advantage. Durant will have LeBron on him a lot so over-isolating isn’t a good idea. Harden is the wild card here as Battier played him well in the regular season but if he can break out in this series it will be huge for OKC.

Miami 13.17% of offense, 0.78 PPP
LeBron 0.88, Wade 0.71

LeBron and Wade aren’t going to have an easy time isolating against the Thunder because the Thunder will play them straight up. If the ball stops moving for the Heat, they will play right into the Thunder’s hands.

Isolations are inevitable though and if LeBron and Wade are pulling up for jumpers, that will be just what Oklahoma City wants. If they are driving and getting to the line it will be better for the Heat.

Pick-and-roll

Oklahoma City 27.91% of offense, 0.87 PPP
Durant 0.97, Westbrook 0.91, Harden 0.77, Ibaka 0.96

The Thunder’s bread and butter is their pick-and-roll game. It is really important for Westbrook to be doing well in this area, scoring himself and also getting others involved, especially Ibaka for his midrange jump shot.

It will be very hard against Miami’s defense for Durant to be efficient in the pick-and-roll. He needs to make sure he limits his turnovers and makes good passes.

Harden is the beast in the pick-and-roll and once he finds out how to attack in it, it’s over for the defense. It took him awhile in the San Antonio series to figure it out and the Thunder will need him to be effective quickly in this series given the 2-3-2 format.

Miami 20.89% of offense, 0.94 PPP
LeBron 1.04, Wade 0.85, Bosh 1.28, Chalmers 0.79

The Heat also run a lot of pick-and-rolls and now with Bosh back, they should get better at it. Bosh helps spread the floor for LeBron and Wade to attack in the pick-and-roll and when he is hitting his jumper makes it really hard on the defense.

The Thunder need to defend the pick-and-roll to do everything to keep LeBron and Wade out of the lane and live with jump shot results.

Spot-up shooting

Oklahoma City 15.75% of offense, 1.09 PPP
Durant 1.18, Westbrook 1.08, Harden 1.60, Sefolosha 0.95, Fisher 1.09, Ibaka 1.03

The Thunder don’t get as many spot-up looks as you would think but the opportunities are there, Durant and Westbrook just need to do a better job of finding the open men.

The Thunder have really improved their ball movement in the playoffs resulting in more assists and more open shots. Durant is the best on the catch and shoot but Harden has been on fire in the playoffs.

The more spot-up shots the Thunder can get, the better.

Miami 21.78% of offense, 0.95 PPP
LeBron 0.69, Wade 1.06, Bosh 1.07, Miller 1.02, Battier 1.00, Chalmers 1.05

The Heat can hurt you with spot-up shooters and that’s where their role players really come into play. Shane Battier and Mike Miller will play big roles in this series not only on defense but whether or not they can make open 3-pointers.

LeBron is the best at finding open shooters so if OKC falls asleep on defense, he will make them pay. LeBron isn’t a very good spot-up shooter himself though so when the ball is swung to him, the Thunder defense shouldn’t rush out on him too hard and rather invite the spot-up jumper instead of giving him a chance to drive.

Post-ups

Oklahoma City 4.77% of offense, 0.70 PPP
Durant 0.81

The Thunder barely ever post-up unless you count when Durant does it at the top of the key. Durant can sometimes have an advantage doing so because he is so tall but that won’t be the case with LeBron guarding him.

Durant may be able to find times to do this when LeBron is off him but the fact remains that the Thunder simply don’t post-up much.

Miami 8.11%, 0.92 PPP
LeBron 0.94, Wade 0.90, Bosh 0.88

All you heard at the beginning of this season was how LeBron and Wade were posting up more. It was true and they improved at it but not too drastically.

It could play a huge role in this series though especially with Wade. Wade will have an advantage over Harden or Westbrook in the post and even Sefolosha. This could be a way that Wade gets his offense going.

LeBron probably won’t post-up as much with Durant on him, who plays him well down low. This is a great thing for the Thunder but they will need to be ready for LeBron to look to distribute out of the post and not fall asleep on defense.

In conclusion

The offenses have been better than the defenses for both teams. The team that plays the best defense should win this series though. And the team that turns the ball over the least and scores on the break will be in a good position to win as well.

The Thunder will probably come out of the gates in Game 1 really excited and may not be executing their best. The Heat will need to take advantage of this and get out to a lead and to try and steal this first game and steal home court.

Soobum-Im-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play the biggest game in franchise history Wednesday night. This has been the case for the last three games too though.

The Thunder are one win away from a trip to the NBA Finals and get a chance to win that game at home for Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

This series has completely changed from the way it started.

The Spurs won the first two games at home and looked magnificent in doing so. They reached a 20-game winning streak after Game 2, the third longest in NBA history.

The Thunder were down 0-2. A spot where only 14 teams have come back to win a series from in this league. They looked like the old Thunder. The team too young to overcome a bunch of crafty veterans who “have been there before.”

The Thunder hadn’t been there before but everyone has to get there somehow.

The Thunder made adjustments for Game 3. Thabo Sefolosha started guarding Tony Parker, they went small more with Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook started distributing. It worked and the Spurs had no answer.

The fact of the matter is that the Thunder are the more talented team. They have more talent than any team in the NBA for that matter. They appeared that way in the first two rounds but not at the start of this series.

Talent always wins out in the NBA. This once again feels like the passing of the guard in the Western Conference. Except the Thunder grow up faster than anyone could have imagined and do so without allowing us to blink.

Kevin Durant parallels the team maturation. He has taken his game to new, well-rounded levels becoming a distributor for the first three quarters of Game 4 before scoring 18 points to close out the Spurs in the fourth.

Durant made just one field goal in the first half of Game 5 on the road then couldn’t miss in the second half.

There was supposed to be another team that “has been there before” who would slow this Thunder team down this year. The Spurs looked like they may have been just that but who pictures them winning in Oklahoma City tonight?

The Thunder have simply become too good. But their greatest test is still ahead.

The Spurs will not roll over and die. They have something to fight for too. They’re playing for one last shot at a title. This Thunder team just doesn’t care though.

The best part about this Thunder team is that they come to play every night. If you expect them to lighten up in Game 6 now that they are up in the series, you simply haven’t seen them play much this year.

They don’t know how to do that.

We keep looking for signature moments of when the Thunder finally turned into a championship team. We have seen some and we will see some more in Game 6.

They don’t care about that either though. The only moment that will matter for them will be when they beat a team for the fourth time in the NBA Finals.

That’s why they won’t lose Wednesday night.

Manu Ginobili has been one of the Spurs’ best players in this series against the Thunder. Will Popovich consider starting him?

Ginobili is averaging 16.8 points per game, shooting .541 percent from the field and .467 from three in this series. He averaged 23.0 points per game in the first two games and only 10.5 in Oklahoma City.

Changing the starting lineup would be a pretty dramatic adjustment but one that could work.

The Thunder adjusted in the last two games switching Thabo Sefolosha on to Tony Parker on defense. Sefolosha has done a much better job than Russell Westbrook on Parker and it has freed Westbrook to play off the ball on Danny Green and rove the passing lanes.

If Ginobili were inserted into the starting lineup, Westbrook or Sefolosha would obviously have to guard him.

The Spurs would be giving up what has been a pretty big advantage with their second unit against the Thunder. James Harden would have a greater chance to go off with Ginobili not on the floor against him and this move could hurt the Spurs in that sense.

If Popovich does decide to make this adjustment then credit the Thunder. They did their job winning at home, making adjustments and putting their opponent into a position where they felt they needed to adjust (even though that team had won 20 games in a row before Game 3).

Tonight is the pivotal Game 5 that will likely decide the series. It is in San Antonio and will tip at 9 p.m. EST on TNT.

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder will have a chance tonight to even their series with the San Antonio Spurs at 2-2 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.

The Thunder lost the first two games of the series before winning Game 3 at home 102-82.

The Spurs and especially their offense looked unstoppable in the first two games but the Thunder adjusted in Game 3 and it really worked.

Thabo Sefolosha was the biggest change as he guarded Tony Parker for most of the game and put together his best game of the year with 19 points and six steals.

The Thunder continued with their small look that began being effective in the fourth quarter of Game 2 and they now look like they could have the upper hand in this series.

Kevin Durant has averaged 26.7 points per game so far in the series but still has yet to have a big game by his standards.

Russell Westbrook has been the quietest of the Thunder big three and scored just 10 points in the Game 3 win. He did play a very well-rounded game however also dishing out nine dimes.

Westbrook did not have to chase Parker around in Game 3 and tonight will probably not again and should start to find better rhythm offensively.

James Harden has also come on strong after a slow start to the series and is again the relentless attacker of the rim for the Thunder second unit. At home, Harden is always at his best and will have to be again for the Thunder to even this series.

The Thunder made adjustments and they worked in Game 3. The Spurs will try and do the same tonight. If they are going to win it will have to be with great ball movement and shot making because the Thunder know that their defensive strategy is working and they have the athletes to dictate the results of the matchup.

The game will tip a little earlier tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT.

Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t going to get swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. You knew they’d be better at home and they were Thursday night in Game 3 as they impressively won 102-82.

The Spurs looked unbeatable in the first two games which lengthened their winning streak to 20 games in the process. It would be understandable for them to lose a game to the Thunder who are an extremely talented team.

But they lost by 20. The Thunder made significant adjustments and they worked. That’s a bigger deal.

The Thunder changed their rotation from Games 1 and 2. They played Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha much more than they had been and it changed everything.

Sefolosha really took advantage having one of his best games of the year scoring 19 points, making six steals and making four threes.

It was on the defensive side that the Thunder really improved. The Spurs torched the Thunder in Game 2 and in the fourth quarter of Game 1 and it led to Scott Brooks changing the way the Thunder defended the Spurs’ pick-and-roll.

The Thunder went with a small lineup more often in Game 3 and in the fourth quarter of Game 2. They started switching everything and playing with a sense of desperation that was absent before.

Sefolosha took on the task of guarding Tony Parker in Game 3. Parker scored 34 points on 16-of-21 shooting in Game 2 but was held much more intact in Game 3 with just 16 points.

Sefolosha is one of the best defenders in the league and clearly relished the challenge of defending Parker but the rest of the Thunder defense stepped up as well.

Russell Westbrook seemed much more comfortable playing defense off the ball more rather than chasing Parker around pick-and-rolls. He could more freely roam and disrupt passing lanes and later in the game swarmed Manu Ginobili so much on a possession, the Spurs couldn’t even pass him the ball.

Kendrick Perkins, who was somewhat called out for his inability to defend the pick-and-roll, looked like a different player last night. His activity and movement in general was much better and he even stopped Parker and Ginobili from scoring when he switched out on them in one-on-one situations.

A loss might be just one loss but the Thunder team that lost the first two games of this series in San Antonio is no more. The Thunder team we saw in Game 3 is closer to the one we will see for the rest of this series.

The Spurs know what they are and who they are. They will play that way every night. The Thunder are still growing and after losing the first two games had a sort of luxury to adjust and improve.

The Spurs will get that chance for Game 4 too Saturday night in Oklahoma City at 8:30 p.m. EST.

Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder were in a must-win situation. They came though.

The Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 102-82 to win Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals and make the series 2-1.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 22 points, five assists and six rebounds.

Thabo Sefolosha was the difference in this game as he was the second-leading scorer for the Thunder with 19 points. He also had six steals and held Tony Parker to just 16 points.

The Thunder trailed by two after the first quarter but really turned it up in the second quarter to take control of the game. The Thunder made adjustments by playing Sefolosha and Serge Ibaka more against the second unit of San Antonio and it worked great.

James Harden scored 15 points off the bench for the Thunder while Manu Ginobili scored just eight points.

Russell Westbrook became a point guard for a night dishing out nine assists to go with 10 points and was plus-29 in 33 minutes.

In the first two games of this series, the Thunder played the wrong lineups and the Spurs took advantage winning both at home. The Thunder changed that in Game 3 and may have changed the series.

The Thunder are the more talented team in this series and when they play to their potential, they won’t be beat.

It wasn’t just that the Thunder made adjustments tonight. It’s that the adjustments they made worked. That changes a series. They didn’t simply finally win a game.

This game felt different than the first two because the Thunder adjusted. The Spurs will have the chance to do that in Game 4.

The Thunder will host the Spurs for Game 4 Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT.

Brendan Maloney-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soobum-Im-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Metta World Peace picked up flagrant foul when he fouled Thabo Sefolosha hard from behind on a fast break.

World Peace and Kobe Bryant would then pick up technicals disputing the call resulting in four free throws for the Thunder.

The Thunder leads 54-51 at halftime and really hasn’t played all that well.

James Harden leads the Thunder with 13 points off the bench to go with four assists and five rebounds. Kevin Durant has scored 12 points.

Kobe leads the Lakers with 19 points and had 15 of those in the first quarter.

The Lakers are shooting 48.7 percent from the field but the Thunder are getting it done with 10 offensive rebounds and also have 13 assists on their 20 field goals.

After being called out by Kobe after game 4, Pau Gasol has come out more aggressive tonight scoring 10 points in the first half. Andrew Bynum, however, has been anything but into this game and has scored just seven points and taken four shots so far.

The game is closer than most expected coming in with many predicting the Thunder would blow out the Lakers. There is still time for this and the game does have the feel to it that the Lakers are ready to give in especially if the Thunder can put together a nice little run soon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Thunder won Game 1 by an impressive 29 points and played near perfect basketball.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Russell Westbrook scored 27 points to lead the Thunder. Both were on their game and focused early on shooting very well from the field.

The Lakers tried to establish their inside game early and did a decent job of doing so but were unable to sustain it and once the game was out of hand it no longer mattered. Assuming the Thunder don’t shoot quite as well as in Game 1, Andrew Bynum’s 20-point, 14-rebound performance could be an issue for the Thunder to deal with.

Kendrick Perkins is a game-time decision tonight after re-aggravating his right strained hip in the third quarter of Game 1. His defense on Bynum and Pau Gasol will be much needed for the Thunder to win again.

The Thunder don’t need to double-team anyone on the Lakers including Kobe Bryant. Bryant shot 30 percent against Oklahoma City in the regular season and scored just 20 points in Game 1.

Thabo Sefolosha can get up into Bryant enough to make it difficult and without the same first step from earlier in his career, Bryant has to settle for more jump shots and is less effective.

The Thunder play great at home and while it will be tough for them to exactly replicate Game 1 they should still win again. A loss is a loss but a 29-point blowout says something more like the Thunder are the superior team in this series by far.

The Thunder were playing their first game in nine days after sweeping the Dallas Mavericks in the first round and they did not look rusty at all. It was clear they would be eager to get on the courts but sometimes that can result in less than sharp play.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were more than up for the challenge last night though. They had a game plan coming into the game and executed it to perfection. They shot extremely well from the field but they worked hard to get good looks and they were shots they usually are hitting.

The amazing thing is that it felt like the Lakers didn’t play that bad, at least on offense. They were doing a good job of getting Andrew Bynum going early inside and they were also taking advantage of the mismatches Metta World Peace presented.

While this was going on and the Lakers were warming up into their game, the Thunder was surging past them, focused and poised for the kill.

It’s no secret now how talented this Thunder team is. They are young but have three bonafide stars in Durant, Westbrook and Harden. They are three of the best scorers in the entire league and can all do it in slightly different ways.

They’re surrounded by great role players who know their role very well. Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka have no problems playing the Lakers bigs straight up and Thabo Sefolosha can essentially lock up Kobe Bryant on the perimeter.

Kobe shot just 30 percent against the Thunder in the regular season and the defense of Sefolosha has a ton to do with it. Kobe doesn’t have the same first step he used to and Sefolosha has the “student of the game” feel to him the way he approaches his assignment with Bryant.

The great thing about the Lakers usually is they have three players that are extremely difficult to handle on offense. Not for the Thunder though. This is the biggest reason why OKC may sweep LA.

The Thunder come to play every night. They have all season long and that’s one of the best things about this team. They’re good and know they’re good and aren’t interested in wasting any time not getting better.

A loss is a loss even if it’s by 29 points. If there’s a team that can probably shrug off this kind of loss it’s probably the Lakers but the Thunder smell blood right now. They know how to beat this team and take advantage of their strengths.

So that’s what’s going to happen. OKC will win this series and do so impressively because that’s who they are. There are still some legitimate doubts about the Thunder winning a title this year but they won’t come up during this series.

The Thunder thrashed the Lakers to the tune of a 29-point blowout victory.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook made it look easy scoring 25 and 27 points, respectively. They combined to go 18-of-31 from the field and 13-for-14 at the line. Westbrook also finished with nine assists and seven rebounds.

The Thunder were focused from the start and it showed as they turned the ball over a franchise-low four times in the game.

Kendrick Perkins started the game and looked fine until he seemed to reinjure his hip on a dunk in the third quarter and left for the locker room.

Oklahoma City started off strong but the Lakers countered early taking advantage of their size down low.

Andrew Bynum got started early with 10 points and five rebounds in the first quarter. He would finish the game with 20 points and 14 boards.

Metta World Peace heard the boos once he entered the arena but it seemed to motivate him more than anything as he hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter and played well getting position down low over smaller Thunder defenders.

World Peace did have an incident during the second half when he got tangled up with James Harden and took him down with another near elbow to the head.

Harden played great though for the Thunder scoring 17 points and getting to the line to make 9-of-10 free throws.

The greatest strength for the Thunder against the Lakers is that they don’t have to double team Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol. Kobe scored a pedestrian 20 points in the game on 7-of-18 shooting.

It looks as if Thabo Sefolosha will have no problem checking Kobe for the rest of the series and while the Lakers bigs had some success in the game it simply did not faze the Thunder.

Oklahoma City shot extremely well in the game but they were also getting a lot of open shots for them. The Lakers are going to really have to change their defensive game plan to slow down the Thunder who had everything seem so easy on offense.

It’s just one game but a 29-point victory feels like it means more. It was a statement win and a message not just to the Lakers but the entire league. The Thunder aren’t playing around anymore. They’re ready to win a title.

The Thunder and Lakers will play Game 2 Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The Thunder are eager to get back on the court but are also thankful for the rest so that their starting center, Kendrick Perkins, could rest after injuring his hip in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks. It is still uncertain if he will play tonight.

The Thunder have been taking steps very quickly over the past few years toward becoming a true title contender. They made it to the Western Conference Finals last year, swept the defending champs in Round 1 and now will look to take that next step beating the mighty Los Angeles Lakers.

The Thunder are favored in this series and should be. They’ve been one of the best teams all season long really coming to play each and every night while the Lakers are a team known to take nights off.

The Lakers had their ups and downs in their first round series against the Denver Nuggets who took them to seven games. The Lakers were able to take advantage of their considerable size advantage in the final game and close out the pesky, energetic Nuggets.

The Lakers will not have that luxury now in Round 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The Big Men

The play of the bigs in this series is going to be one of the most important matchups to watch. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are both All-Star caliber players but don’t always play like it.

The Thunder don’t get much offense from their bigs but Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison are all very vital to the team’s success and will be even more so in this series.

Perkins’ status is still uncertain but very crucial for the Thunder. They traded for Perkins last year for this specific matchup with the Lakers and for his defense on Bynum.

Perkins averaged 26.8 minutes per game in the regular season but played 36.0 minutes per game in three meetings against the Lakers.

Ibaka will also be very important and not just on defense. He led the league in blocks and finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting and has had success against the Lakers in the past.

Ibaka had a sort of coming out party is rookie season in the playoffs against the Lakers blocking seven shots in one of the games. Ibaka is always an X-factor for the Thunder and if the Thunder can get him some scoring opportunities as well it will bode well for Ibaka’s confidence on both ends of the floor.

Ibaka had the impossible task of guarding Dirk Nowitzki in Round 1 so it will be somewhat easier checking Gasol now who hasn’t been playing his best ball of late.

In three games against the Lakers this season, Ibaka averaged 12.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.3 blocks. He steps up his game against L.A., there’s no question.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook is going to need to be huge in this series to ensure a Thunder victory. The Lakers do not have the point guards to matchup with Westbrook and he will need to take advantage.

Westbrook had a nice series against Dallas and reverted to sort of a defensive stopper as the series progressed, shutting down Jason Terry. He won’t be asked to play as much defense against the Lakers however.

The litmus test for Westbrook’s game is always his midrange pull-up jump shot. It was on point against Dallas as he noticeably was shooting it with better form. He’s going to be able to get to his spots and take that shot in this series. Whether or not it is going in early on will tell you a lot about how he will play.

When Westbrook is not making that shot he gets out of rhythm and less under control and begins forcing drives and throwing his body at those protecting the paint. He can have success doing this too and getting to the line but it will be a tough challenge against the Lakers and Bynum and Gasol.

We may see Kobe Bryant on Westbrook some in this series too and he did a nice job against him in the last regular season meeting between these teams. Westbrook went 3-for-22 in that game and gets out of sorts against defenders like Kobe or even Dwyane Wade.

It is unlikely however that the Lakers will want to put Kobe on Westbrook too much because they are going to need him to be more efficient on offense.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe shot just 30 percent against the Thunder in the regular season. He’s been playing better of late but the Thunder have more to throw at him than Denver did.

Thabo Sefolosha can play Kobe straight up without a double team which will lure Kobe into becoming a high-volume shooter at times and that’s what Oklahoma City wants.

Kobe was very clutch at the end of the last meeting between these teams and hit a ton of big shots and the Lakers might be able to count on him in situations like that. But since Oklahoma City should be able to contain the Lakers bigs it will be up to Kobe to be a more efficient scorer for them or for the role players to really step up, but that seems even more unlikely.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant vs. Metta World Peace

Kevin Durant is going to be important like he always is for the Thunder but it won’t be the prettiest we see him play, that’s for sure.

Metta World Peace has always done a solid job on Durant and physical defenders usually have the most success against him. Durant really struggled in the playoffs two years ago against World Peace but he has improved in that department since.

The Thunder did a lot of posting up of Durant in the first round and against World Peace that will be a tough thing to rely on. He is in the best shape he has been in awhile and unless referees are really bailing Durant out, it’s unlikely he will be too productive from there. Durant has a long way to go with his post game and he might be more effective looking to score from the perimeter in this series.

Durant – like Westbrook – really struggled from the field in the last game the Thunder played the Lakers. But he got a ton of open jumpers that he normally doesn’t miss. Durant has been more locked in during the postseason and if he’s getting those looks consistently in this series, points will come very easy to him.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Beard

James Harden went to another level in Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks scoring 15 points in the final quarter to help the Thunder erase a 13-point deficit and win.

Thunder fans will know though that Harden has been at this level all season. The key is that the Thunder are willing to go to him down the stretch even with Durant and Westbrook on the floor with him.

Harden is certainly the biggest X-factor for the Thunder. We all know what happened the last time he stepped on the floor with Metta World Peace so don’t think Harden won’t be extra motivated in this series.

While Harden was needed to step up against the Mavericks it may not be as necessary against the Lakers mainly because Westbrook should be having a big series offensively. Harden will still be needed to be a reliable 3-point shooter and run the offense well with the second unit.

The Crowd

The Oklahoma City Thunder have the best crowd in the NBA. They aren’t going to be too welcoming toward Metta World Peace when he is announced as a starter for Game 1 either.

This probably won’t do much to World Peace (you know, because he’s insane), but some extra rowdiness will be a great thing for the Thunder players.

The Thunder may not come out as sharp as usual with such a long layoff in between games so having the crowd on another level will be a great advantage for the Thunder to avoid losing one of these first two games.

The Verdict

The Thunder should win this series and if the Lakers didn’t have Kobe and didn’t have the history, no one would be questioning the outcome.

Everything is happening so fast though for the Thunder. They are still so young and no matter how talented you are, there are growing pains. If Kobe can miraculously lead this Lakers squad to upset the Thunder it wouldn’t be totally unbelieveable.

That shouldn’t happen though. Not to this Thunder team. They may still have some growing pains ahead of them before they can win a title but that’s not going to be now.

After beating these Lakers on the grand stage that it will be on, whoever has to play OKC in the next round should be a lot scared of them.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now let’s give these guys some grades.

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

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

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

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

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He did just that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IBLOCKA!

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

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

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was a horrible scene and simply inexplicable. World Peace became Ron Artest again for that moment. He seemed to completely forget where he was and what he was doing. That can happen to crazy people which he most certainly is.

World Peace was immediately ejected and will face a suspension for sure. If it is something like 10 games then his return could be during a potential second round matchup between the Thunder and Lakers.

Harden is going to be evaluated by the NBA before he is cleared to return. The blow was extremely forceful and concussion-like symptoms seem likely.

Here are the Thunder players’ reactions to the play.

Russell Westbrook: “I didn’t really see what happened. I just saw James got hit in the head. I just saw the ending of it. That’s all I saw. I haven’t seen a replay, but I’m pretty sure I’ll see it. That’s going to be on TV.”

Kevin Durant: “I couldn’t really get a good look at it. I’m just happy my teammate’s all right. It was a bad play. Hopefully Ron didn’t do it intentionally or have any malicious intentions on that. But it is what it is. We got to move past that. (Harden) felt good. Obviously, we had to make sure he was all right going down the line. Our trainers and stuff do a great job and we believe in them 100 percent. I’m looking forward to James being back out there.”

Kendrick Perkins: “Actions were taken. The consequences were there. It was a Flagrant 2 and he got thrown out of the game. It happens. Sometimes it’s an intense game. Metta World Peace, he’s a good dude so I know he wouldn’t try to hurt nobody. It happens and we just hope to have James back for the next game.”

Thabo Sefolosha: “During the review I saw it. Stupid play. Stupid play. We don’t need that.”

Scott Brooks: “It was a bad play. There’s no way around it. It’s a dangerous play. It’s not a play that should be involved in basketball. And it’s unfortunate it happened. I know Ron, but unfortunately it did happen. You can’t do that. That’s unacceptable.”

Kobe Bryant: “I can’t speculate (how many games),” Bryant said. “I’m sure he’ll have some type of a suspension. And James, I hope he’s OK. I haven’t heard anything about how he’s doing, but he’s one of my favorite players in the league, one of my young boys, so I hope he’s doing all right.”

Here’s what Metta World Peace said via Twitter: “I just watched the replay again….. Oooo.. My celebration of the dunk really was too much… Didn’t even see James ….. Omg… Looks bad.”

Not sure how World Peace thinks we’re going to believe this was an innocent act.

Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rest of the Thunder- C-

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

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rest of the Thunder- B-

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

Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Milwaukee Bucks 109-89 in the Bradley Center to capture their second win in two days.

The Thunder played the best they have on offense since their win over the Bulls eight days ago. Oklahoma City shot 48.1 percent from the field and made 8-of-20 threes.

Russell Westbrook led the way with 26 points and seven rebounds. Westbrook’s highlight of the night came at the end of the first half when he calmly hit a stepback trey over Brandon Jennings to give the Thunder a 61-47 lead at the break.

Kevin Durant played distributor tonight leading the team with eight assists to go along with his 19 points.

Thabo Sefolosha had one of his best games scoring 14 points and a career-high seven steals.

The Thunder owned the Bucks in the paint and on the glass early as the Bucks didn’t get a rebound until under six minutes to play in the first quarter. Oklahoma City had 13 offensive rebounds in the contest and Serge Ibaka helped protect the rim with five blocks for the second night in a row.

After scoring 48 points against the Thunder in a Golden State uniform earlier this season, Monta Ellis was held to just nine tonight. Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks with 18 points but only had two rebounds.

The Thunder did whatever they wanted tonight and looked like the team they were a few weeks ago, rolling through opponents with the best record in the conference.

Milwaukee was out of sync and collected five technicals in the game with Larry Sanders being ejected after throwing an elbow at Nick Collison.

The Thunder (42-15) are off tomorrow and will return home Wednesday night to host the Los Angeles Clippers (34-22).

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rest of the Thunder- B+

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

The Thunder looked like a team that had been playing together forever while Portland looked like a bunch of guys playing together for the first time.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points in the game on 10-of-14 shooting. He didn’t miss a shot in the first half.

Durant is one of the purest shooters in the league from anywhere on the basketball court. One thing that you will always notice about the best shooters in the world is how effortless and automatic they can make certain shots seem. Durant does this with his midrange game. He makes 16-footers look like layups and a good look from that distance is one of the best shots the Thunder can work for.

In the first quarter against Portland, Oklahoma City ran a simple pick-and-roll for Durant that was designed and executed perfectly to get him this kind of look.

The set begins with Russell Westbrook bringing the ball up the court then handing it off to Durant at the top of the key. Kendrick Perkins is set up at the left elbow, Serge Ibaka at the right elbow and Thabo Sefolosha in the right corner.

After handing off to Durant, Westbrook runs off a Perkins screen toward the baseline. Westbrook sets up his man, rookie Nolan Smith, well and runs hard to quickly get into position and forces the Portland defense to help on him.

After Westbrook clears, Perkins comes up to set a screen for Durant at the three-point line. Meanwhile, Perkins’ man, Joel Pryzbilla, is still on the bottom block helping on Westbrook.

Durant waits for the screen and dribbles hard off it knowing that he is going to get an open shot because Perkins’ man isn’t coming up to hedge.

Durant easily drains the pull-up jumper with essentially no one contesting the shot.

I love this play for the Thunder because it is simple and a quick way to get a great shot for Durant. Using Westbrook to act as a decoy cutting to the rim and forcing help defense is very effective in creating for some extra space for Durant to get an open shot.

Perkins is also one of the best screen setters in the entire league and does a great job on this play setting both screens.

Oklahoma City has three of the best scorers in the NBA this season and doesn’t need to do a lot to help them score. But running plays like this early in the game to get someone like Durant into a nice rhythm could be very valuable come playoff time.

Steve Dykes-US PRESSWIRE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Following the big news that Derek Fisher was coming to town, the Thunder run over the Los Angeles Clippers 114-91.

Durant led the way with 32 points on just 18 shots.

Surprisingly, Scott Brooks gave Fisher 20 minutes after joining the team today, also getting a standing ovation when entering the game for the first time.

The Thunder shot 54% from the floor, and went 21-22 from the charity stripe.

They continue their three-game stretch at home when Minnesota comes to town on Friday.

Kevin Durant- A+     32pts/9reb/5ast/2stl

Another MVP-esque game for the Thunder’s superstar. Durant was very efficient tonight, getting to the line 11 times, making them all, and only taking 18 shots. He had an advantage, due to the Clippers’ lack of defensive ability, with Nick Young having to guard him at times. Durant used his postgame very well, getting fouled and hitting jumpers over smaller opponents.

Russell Westbrook- B+     19pts/3reb/4ast

Russ started off hot for the second straight night, hitting his first three shots, and scoring nine first quarter points. The real story tonight though, was Westbrook’s defense on Chris Paul. He held the All-NBA point guard to just 13 points.

Serge Ibaka- A     15pts/8reb/3blk

I’m really loving Ibaka’s play as of late. He is doing everything right on both sides of the ball. Serge added another three blocks, which isn’t unusual and also helped hold Blake Griffin to his lowest career point total, 7. He is also getting much better on the offensive boards, which helps get some key points in the paint that the Thunder lack.

Kendrick Perkins- A     6pts/8reb/1ast/1blk

Finally, here’s a game where I don’t have anything bad to say about Kendrick Perkins. He played wonderful defense on the Clipper bigs, and made all three of his field goal attempts. I want to see this more often out of Perk. Well I have one bad thing, he got another technical, but it’s Perkins, what can you do?

Thabo Sefolosha- B     5pts/3reb/1ast/1stl

The Thunder got 15 more quality minutes out of Thabo tonight. Sure Randy Foye caught fire in the first half, but you can’t really blame a defender when someone shoots lights out. Thabo added a 3-pointer and two free throws, and you have a solid game.

James Harden- B+     10pts/6reb/5ast/1stl

While James Harden didn’t score that much, he did dish out five assists. He has been a very good passer, maybe the best on the team, and is involving the rest of the second unit.

Rest of the Thunder- A

The bench unit played a great game tonight. Maybe it was because of Derek Fisher, maybe not. They scored 26 points, including back to back Lazar Hayward 3’s, and seven from Nazr Mohammad. Fisher got most of Daequan Cook’s (who has been ruled out for 2-3 weeks) and Reggie Jackson’s minutes, and played some solid ball. Nineteen minutes was a little more than expected for his first time out, but I was not disappointed with Fisher’s play.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

With this loss to the Utah Jazz, the Thunder are just .500 in their last 10 games following a seven game winning streak wrapped around the All-Star break.

After a combined 23 point first quarter for Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, they went cold the rest of the game, scoring just 18 more points.

They turned it over 20 times, and only had 15 assists, with no one having more than three.

Even after this tough stretch, the Thunder are still 3.5 games ahead of the Spurs for first place in the West.

Kevin Durant- C-     18pts/6reb/2ast/1stl

Durant really struggled to find the bottom of the net tonight. It took him 22 shots to score 18 points, and he added in six turnovers. I don’t know what it was about the Jazz defense, but something got to him that made him miss shots.

Russell Westbrook- A     23pts/4reb/3ast

After hitting his first four shots, Westbrook cooled down a bit, not scoring at all in the 2^nd quarter. It seemed weird that Westbrook only took 11 shots. The way he was shooting, he could’ve taken a lot more and been effective. He deferred to Harden at times in the second half, and it may have been that, that led to his efficiency tonight.

Thabo Sefolosha- B-     1pt/1reb/1ast/1stl

Coach Brooks is still easing Thabo into the rotation, playing just 15 minutes tonight. He looked pretty good on the defensive end, and took just one shot. It was nice to see Thabo out there again.

Serge Ibaka- B+     13pts/10reb/1ast/4blk

Serge put up another solid game for the Thunder tonight. He is getting points more consistently, and was a monster in the paint, as always. Al Jefferson, being a little more mobile than most players Serge guards, was able to score on him a little more than the Thunder are used to. With the picked up offense, his defense has been slacking a little bit.

Kendrick Perkins- B-     5pts/8reb/1ast/1blk

It was pretty much an average game for Perk. Some solid defensive play, with little offense added. The Thunder don’t really need much more from him on most nights.

James Harden- B+     17pts/4reb/2ast/

James made some really nice passes with the second unit, especially to Nick Collison. He put in his usual 17 points, hitting three of six 3-point attempts. The four turnovers by Harden didn’t help the cause, as it seemed nobody could hold onto the ball tonight.

Rest of the Thunder- A

Nick Collison had a really solid game. He got wide open at times, for easy buckets, and played more quality defense. Daequan Cook hit two shots in the 2^nd quarter when the stars were struggling, and Reggie Jackson is making his case to remain the backup point guard, instead of bringing in Derek Fisher. We’ll see what the Thunder do with that situation within the next couple days.

Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat are the front-runners for signing veteran point guard Derek Fisher.

Fisher was traded from the Lakers after 13 seasons with the team to the Houston Rockets at the deadline last Thursday along with a first-round pick for Jordan Hill.

The Rockets have since waived Fisher making him available to anyone other than the Lakers once he clears waivers on Wednesday.

The Thunder have a sure need for a backup point guard since losing Eric Maynor earlier this season with an injury. Rookie Reggie Jackson has been playing in his place and has been unable to produce very much.

Fisher seems like an obvious upgrade at this spot for the Thunder. Fisher also has the same agent as Kevin Durant now.

The Thunder’s best four players are either 23 or 22. Fisher could definitely bring some leadership and experience to the team with the best record in the Western Conference.

The only concern for Thunder fans would be exactly how much Fisher would play. He averaged over 25 minutes per game with the Lakers this season but would likely be getting 15 or under with the Thunder.

Scott Brooks seems to have an affinity for players like Fisher and may even be prone to play him more. That might not be a great thing for the Thunder. It’s not like they’d want Fisher in their crunch time lineup.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook routinely plays over 40 minutes per game especially with Jackson as his backup. Westbrook really has no problem doing this and when the playoffs come around will probably be asked to play over 40 minutes per game.

It is unlikely that Fisher would do anything to interfere with a title run for the Thunder and may even extremely benefit it tootling Westbrook to some degree.

Imagine a lineup with Westbrook playing off the ball next to Fisher-Harden-Durant-Ibaka. That’s a decent closing lineup if the Thunder can afford to go small. I think I’d rather see Fisher on the floor instead of Daequan Cook in some cases.

I’m just not totally in love with the Thunder closing games by going small and if they add Fisher, I feel they will always do this. I love what Kendrick Perkins or Nick Collison can bring on defense and I don’t know if it is worth it to exchange them for smaller players who stretch the floor on offense.

I’m still more excited about Thabo Sefolosha becoming the fifth crunch time player because of his defense and ability to let the Thunder switch on perimeter players on defense.

We will find out Wednesday if Fisher chooses Oklahoma City. Miami is obviously another place he will consider and would probably be a better fit for him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soobum Im-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
106.7 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.5 Defensive Efficiency (11th)
95.9 Pace (4th)
56.9 True Shooting % (1st)
51.3 Rebound Rate (5th)

Spurs (2-game winning streak)
105.6 Offensive Efficiency (4th)
101.6 Defensive Efficiency (16th)
94.0 Pace (16th)
54.7 True Shooting % (4th)
49.9 Rebound Rate (17th)

The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off an impressive 103-90 win last night over the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder made a season-high 12 three-pointers in the game.

Yesterday was the NBA trade deadline and while the Thunder stood pat with their roster, San Antonio did not trading away Richard Jefferson and a first-round pick to Golden State for Stephen Jackson.

Jackson previously played for San Antonio from 2001-03 and won the title with the team in the 2002-03 season. Jackson will bring some added offense to the Spurs who currently sit second in the West in terms of record behind only the Thunder.

The last time these two teams played Tony Parker put on a clinic scoring 42 points and dishing out nine assists. The Thunder had no chance in that game being played in San Antonio.

Tonight the Thunder will look for payback at home only this time the Spurs will also be with Manu Ginobili who has returned from injury and continuing his fine season.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Thunder also have a player back from injury in Thabo Sefolosha who played his first game last night after missing the previous 23. Sefolosha brings back some athleticism and defense to the starting lineup and allows for the Thunder to return to their original rotation from earlier this season bringing Daequan Cook off the bench.

Kevin Durant did not play very well against the Spurs last time scoring only 22 points and neither did Russell Westbrook who scored 18.

The game was only kind of close because of the Thunder bench which made runs with Parker out and kept the score respectable.

The Thunder have been prone to slow starts this season and can’t afford that against a quality team like the Spurs.

It is unlikely that Jackson will play tonight but the return of Ginobili should present a bigger challenge for the Thunder tonight. They are going to need to be clicking on all cylinders to make sure they come away with a victory.

Westbrook should be motivated to take on the challenge against Parker tonight and hopefully that results in a good thing for the Thunder.

James Harden went 0-for-3from three against the Spurs last time but hit four threes last night. The Thunder will need Harden and the rest of the second-unit to play well as the Spurs get a lot of production from their bench.

The game will tip at 9:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.

From the words of the Nuggets announcers last night: “Add Al Harrington to the list of Kevin Durant posters.”

That’s the kind of night it was for the Denver Nuggets. They just didn’t have the motivation it seemed to come out and match the Thunder’s intensity.

Oklahoma City cruised to a 103-90 win last night never breaking stride along the way.

Durant led the way scoring 24 points. He made all four of his shots at the rim and went 2-for-2 from 16-to-23 feet. Durant’s only blemish was making just 1-of-5 treys.

Russell Westbrook didn’t have his cleanest night with seven turnovers but had nice touch from deep making 2-of-3 threes and 3-of-7 long twos.

Thabo Sefolosha returned to the starting lineup after missing the last 23 games for the Thunder. The Thunder defense returned to their old ways last night too now that Daequan Cook could start coming off the bench again.

Last year, Oklahoma City’s defense was one of the best in the league but they have struggled somewhat in that department this season. It was good to see them show glimpses of their potential on the defensive end last night.

The Thunder may be the best in the NBA at turning good defense into quick-scoring offense. We saw a great example of that last night after a Serge Ibaka block on Harrington quickly turned into a fast break alley-oop from Westbrook to James Harden.

That was Harden’s only bucket at the rim last night as he comfortably lit the Nuggets up from three instead. He made 4-of-6 threes in the game as the Thunder made a season-high 12 threes as a team last night.

Another big component to the return of Sefolosha is the Thunder getting back to their normal rotation. Cook seemed more comfortable coming back off the bench to the tune of making three three-pointers last night.

Reggie Jackson also played well with five points and four assists. There were some rumors just before the trade deadline about the Thunder possibly pursuing D.J. Augustin from the Charlotte Bobcats. The potential deal likely would have included Jackson, who seemed possibly relieved to still be with the Thunder last night and it was reflected in his game.

Tonight we will see the top two teams in the West do battle as the Thunder will host San Antonio. The Spurs made some noise yesterday trading away Richard Jefferson to Golden State for Stephen Jackson.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a season-high 12 three-pointers on their way to a 103-90 victory on the road against the Denver Nuggets Thursday night.

It was a day that featured many other headlines and the intensity from either team seemed on cruise control.

The Nuggets came into the game having just traded away Nene to Washington for JaVale McGee. Nene would of course not play in the game and McGee wouldn’t be arriving until Friday morning.

The Thunder got Thabo Sefolosha back after he missed the last 23 games with a right foot injury. Sefolosha looked good in his return especially on defense and the Thunder looked more comfortable in their rotation.

Kevin Durant would lead the team with 24 points and eight rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 23 points but also had seven turnovers. James Harden poured in 18 off the bench including four three-pointers.

Daequan Cook did not have to start for the first time in a long time and looked more comfortable returning to his bench role. He came in and made three three-pointers for the Thunder and scored 11 points.

The Thunder would close with Reggie Jackson in the fourth quarter going small with Durant at the four. Jackson had a fine game with five points and four assists and the Thunder were plus-13 with him in the game.

The Denver Nuggets actually led this game at halftime 51-50 but would score just 39 points in the second half and just didn’t look like they had the legs to give enough effort to challenge the Thunder seriously.

Oklahoma City shot 48 percent from deep and made 12 threes while Denver struggled making only five treys out of 22 attempts.

The Thunder (33-10) will return home tomorrow night to host the San Antonio Spurs (28-13). The game will air at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha will return to the starting lineup tonight with the Thunder traveling to take on Denver tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

Sefolosha missed the last 23 games due to an injured right foot. James Harden started two games in his absence and Daequan Cook the other 21.

Sefolosha was missed in a lot of instances. He is one of the premiere perimeter defenders in the league. Being matched up with opponent’s starting twos was a tough task for Cook these past weeks.

The Thunder will also be able to get back to their original rotation using Cook off the bench. Cook was forced to play a lot of minutes starting and then remaining in the game with the second unit with Sefolosha out.

Royal Ivey has been getting a lot of minutes lately as Cook has struggled.

Sefolosha should also be helpful when the Thunder go small and need more defense at the end of games. The Thunder struggled in some games during his absence playing Cook late and did not have enough defense and rebounding on the court.

Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder have had their best start to the season this year since the Kevin Durant-era began. Oklahoma City has the best record in the West and tied for best in the league with Miami at 27-7 this year.

But the Thunder are far from perfect. There are many questions that need to be asked and answered about this team.

The staff at Thunderous Intentions is here to answer these questions for you. Below are the 10 most pressing questions about the Thunder this season and our responses:

What is Oklahoma City’s biggest weakness?

Andrew Kennedy: Post offense. I don’t see it as much of a weakness but rather that they just don’t do it enough. Durant is great in the post but just doesn’t go down their enough. Posting Durant and Westbrook needs to be a staple of the Thunder’s crunch time offense if they’re going to win a title.

Cody Brees: Turnovers. Offensive rebounding isn’t a good area either, mostly because the Thunder like to get out and run and Ibaka tries to flatten every ball that is shot in the paint. If the Thunder can at least limit their live ball turnovers that should give them a better chance to set up the defense being the playoffs become a much more half court game.

Blake Potash: The offensive post play is by far the Thunder’s weakest point. They can’t score in the paint against teams with two above-average big men. Kendrick Perkins is not the player he once was, and Serge Ibaka is still young, and developing post moves.

Are the Thunder going to have the same problems in the playoffs this year as they did last year?

AK: I don’t think so. I’m not as worried about the turnovers this year and definitely not as worried about Westbrook. I think the criticism he got for not getting the ball to Durant was too harsh and untrue. The OKC offense was very stagnant last postseason and has since improved. Durant and Westbrook are great friends too so I don’t think they will have any issues sharing the ball even in crunch time.

CB: Depends on the match up. If the Thunder play the Lakers and Westbrook has to watch Durant try to get Metta World Peace off him for 15 seconds before blowing by Derek Fisher, then yes. Durant has been a lot better at getting to his spots inside the arc which should help him get more shots. But I could see a stronger physical defender still giving Durant a lot of problems come playoff time.

BP: It looks like the ball movement has improved a bit this year, but the offense still seems rather one-dimensional. Still, that one dimension is very good, and can get the Thunder to the NBA Finals, depending on matchups. Westbrook needs to be more of a point guard than a scorer to be more successful when the playoffs come around.

Spruce Derden-US PRESSWIRE

How much does Oklahoma City miss Eric Maynor?

AK: They miss him a lot. If Maynor never got injured than this Oklahoma City team may have won a few more games already and definitely more this season. There are a lot of games now where Westbrook has to come back very quickly after coming out of the game because Reggie Jackson isn’t Eric Maynor. Maynor was one of the best backup points in the league and the only actual point guard on the Thunder roster. If not for James Harden’s emergence as the second unit playmaker this injury could have been drastic for OKC.

CB: About as much as LeBron misses his hairline. I wrote an article earlier about the struggles of rookie point guard Reggie Jackson and how the Thunder miss Maynor, and unfortunately Jackson hasn’t improved too much. The one diamond in the rough is that this might prevent a team from throwing Mike Conley money at Maynor next year when he’s a restricted free agent.

BP: Eric Maynor was a key part of the bench unit with James Harden, giving the Thunder two options off the bench. Since his injury, the non-Harden bench has been failing to make impacts on games, and Harden has had to dominate the ball when Durant and Westbrook aren’t on the floor. Maynor’s absence may not be the reason the Thunder don’t win the Finals, but he sure is missed.

What would be the best addition the Thunder could make?

AK: The Thunder need to figure out their fifth guy for crunch time. Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka is great but between Perkins, Cook and Sefolosha it may not be enough to win a title. A better spot-up shooter than Cook or athletic slasher of some sort would be great for this team.

CB: Probably Eric Maynor. Once the playoffs start teams won’t be forces to go to their bench so much with actual days off between games. I still wouldn’t mind a 1-2 combo guard off the bench that can shoot. Mostly because Jackson and Ivey have been terrible.

BP: If the Thunder could make a move to get Pau Gasol, their Finals hopes would become a lot more realistic. I doubt they would want to move Ibaka and/or Harden, so all the Thunder can do is try and get a power forward or center that can give them some depth and scoring in the paint. I can’t see the Thunder making any trades though.

Are Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook the most lethal one-two punch in the NBA?

AK: Yes because they complement each other better than LeBron and Wade. LeBron and Wade basically do the same thing as each other. Durant and Westbrook are a little different. Are they as talented overall as LeBron and Wade? Maybe not yet. But I wouldn’t take any other duo in the league right now moving forward.

CB: I would say yes based on the variety of ways those two can score. They can both get to the rim, shoot a lot of free throws, have a good mid range game and can hit you from deep. The other key reason is LeBron and Wade are shooting 35 percent and 33 percent respectively from the field this year in clutch situations. Thunder in the clutch? Durant is shooting at 43 percent and Westbrook an even greater 50 percent.

BP: In a few years this may be the case, but LeBron and Wade are by far the best one-two punch in the NBA. Westbrook still needs to learn how to work well with Durant during clutch moments. The shot distribution is a little off of what it needs to be to make this a very efficient combo.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Do the Thunder have enough scoring options to win a title?

AK: Yes. I wrote earlier last week how the scrutiny about this was a little harsh. They definitely have enough scoring prowess the only issue is if they can score in as many different ways as may be necessary to win a title this year.

CB: Options? Yes. Balance is what I am not sure about. If you watched the finals last year in clutch time it was give the ball to Dirk and get out of the way. Same should be for Durant this year. The problem might be getting to clutch time without running Durant into the ground. The Thunder are going to need about 50 points a game from Ibaka, Cook, and the bench if they want to be an elite offensive team.

BP: Yes, and no. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden can all put up plenty of points, and take control of the game. That can work getting to the Finals, but if they want to win it, Ibaka will need to show a little more offensive prowess.

What needs to happen for Kevin Durant to win the MVP?

AK: If the Heat slip up some and the Thunder finish with the best record in the NBA then Durant has a chance. It’ll be just like Derrick Rose winning last year. Durant has been on the rise in terms of scoring of late too. If he finishes the year averaging 30 a game then he’ll have to average around 33 a night in the second half of the season. That will be impressive and won’t go unnoticed.

CB: LeBron gets hit by a bus.

BP: LeBron James needs to get hurt, or forget how to play basketball. Surprisingly under the radar, LeBron is having one of the best seasons the NBA has ever seen. It doesn’t look like he is going to slow down any, and unless voters penalize him for being on the same team as Dwyane Wade, LeBron is going to win this year’s MVP.

Who is the team to beat in the Western Conference?

AK: The Thunder are and only because Dallas isn’t the same team as last year. People forget how close this Thunder team was to making it to the Finals last year. They have the best record in the conference and deserved to be recognized as the best team in it.

CB: The Thunder, but not by much. If you made me bet I would still take the field, but the improvements that KD and Russ have made this year with scoring efficiency should really make the difference down the stretch.

BP: The Thunder. With the best current record in the West, the Thunder have control of the conference, and are the front-runners to make the Finals at the moment. Durant and Westbrook can both take over games, and are impossible matchups for the other contenders.

Steve Dykes-US PRESSWIRE

Which team in the Western Conference would be the worst playoff matchup for the Thunder?

AK: Portland. There would be nothing worse for Oklahoma City than having to play Portland in round one. They are such a physical team on defense and when healthy have a lot of tools that give the Thunder fits.

CB: Portland scares me the most. Perkins doesn’t do much since Camby won’t shoot much. Ibaka has problems guarding power forward’s with range. Gerald Wallace is the type of big, strong, athletic defender that could give Durant problems.

BP: The Los Angeles Lakers. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are tough matchups for Ibaka and Perkins, on both ends of the floor. The Thunder big men would struggle to score, and they would have to rely and Durant, Westbrook, and Harden to carry them through the series. Fortunately, the Lakers don’t have a very strong defensive backcourt, and Harden played a great defensive game against Kobe in their last meeting. The Thunder would still be the favorite, but you can never count out Kobe Bryant in the playoffs.

How far will the Thunder go in the playoffs this year?

AK: I think they make it to the NBA Finals. After that it depends who they play if they win or not. I think the Thunder can beat Chicago in a 7-game series but I’m not sure about Miami yet. If I had to pick one team to win the title right now I’d pick Oklahoma City based on the fact that I think they have the best chance of any team in the league simply to make it to the Finals.

CB: As far and Durant and Westbrook take them. Sorry for the cliché answer but it’s the truth. If they are both on their A game the Thunder are unbeatable. Miami appears to be the biggest hurdle right now, but a lot can change before the trade deadline.

BP: The Thunder will make the NBA Finals and lose to the Heat/Bulls. They are just one piece away from taking that next step, but for now, they don’t match up well with either team that will come out of the east. The Thunder won’t fare well against these elite defenses, and don’t have the defense themselves to slow down Rose or LeBron-Wade.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

So far this season no duo has scored more points than Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Durant is averaging 27.7 points per game and Westbrook 23.4 for a combined 51.1.

The two have both been very hot of late with each scoring 31 in the Thunder’s 101-93 win over the Hornets last night. Two nights ago the duo combined for 91 against the Nuggets.

Is it too much? Do they really need more scoring options to win a title?

The third leading scorer for Oklahoma City is James Harden averaging 16.8 points per game off the bench. Harden is basically a starter however and actually leads the NBA in fourth quarter minutes per game.

After Harden the Thunder scoring really drops off with Serge Ibaka averaging just 8.3 points per game and then Daequan Cook at 5.6.

In a podcast with Bob Ryan last week, Bill Simmons discussed how he felt the Thunder just didn’t have enough scoring options to win a title this year. He suggested adding a piece like Ray Allen — just as an example, not a likely move — would be a perfect fit for the team.

The issue arises in crunch time when Oklahoma City struts out Kendrick Perkins alongside the obvious Durant-Westbrook-Harden-Ibaka core. Perkins is not a threat on offense to score at all but does provide an underrated value when it comes to setting screens for Durant and banging for rebounds.

The Thunder will play small sometimes down the stretch with Durant at the four and Cook on the floor instead of Perkins, or Thabo Sefolosha when healthy. This lineup makes the Thunder much weaker on defense but with more spot-up shooters.

But I think Simmons may really be nitpicking with the Thunder this year. Sure you can question things like Westbrook not always making the best decisions or that they are too much of a jump-shooting team but to say that they don’t have enough scoring options simply isn’t true.

There’s only one Miami Heat out there with three true scoring options but the Thunder are now the closest thing to that with Harden’s emergence this year. And who says having three scoring options is even a good thing? Isn’t it better to have one or two guys who are going to create their own shot and then surround them with a bunch of shooters and rebounders? Isn’t that what the Thunder have?

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The real thing the Thunder need to work on is getting more scoring out of the post. They don’t need to look for someone else to give them this but rather have Durant and Westbrook look to score down there more often.

They definitely have done this more often this season but they can still do it more. Westbrook is bigger than almost any point guard that is matched up with him in the league and Durant can get his shot off over anyone. Durant is already trying to emulate Dirk Nowitzki’s game in this regard.

The Thunder have also already figured out how to run one of the better crunch time offenses in the NBA with the Durant-Westbrook pick-and-pop that they go to almost every game now. This play accentuates the strengths of Durant and Westbrook and as long as they make good decisions, is completely unstoppable.

The notion that the Thunder don’t have enough scoring on the floor to win a title is not true. Having Ibaka as the fourth scorer averaging 8.6 points per game is right around where every championship team’s fourth scorer averages.

If Westbrook worked on becoming more of a playmaker and Ibaka started averaging double-digits would the Thunder become a better team? Probably. But right now that isn’t their identity.

Durant and Westbrook are 23 years old. Harden and Ibaka are 22. No one’s questioning that they have time to improve but championship windows can come and go and don’t care how old you are. Only time will tell if Oklahoma City’s formula proves to be the right one.

Nazr Mohammed will start in place of Perkins. Nick Collison will surely play a ton of minutes tonight a he usually does against the Warriors and we may also even be treated to a Cole Aldrich sighting if necessary.

Thabo Sefolosha is also still out tonight and has missed the last 11 games now including tonight. Daequan Cook will remain the starting two-guard and will need to do a better job tonight checking Monta Ellis, who scored 48 points the last time these two teams met.

Thomas Campbell-US Presswire

Kevin Durant had three chances to win it for the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night versus the Houston Rockets. The ball just didn’t agree with that kind of outcome.

Durant missed a running 10-footer over Chandler Parsons and Samuel Dalembert with three seconds left and Russell Westbrook the tip, both of which would have potentially won the game for the Thunder. It was the third miss for Durant in the final 23 seconds.

The Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves trailing 96-95 after Kevin Martin made two free throws with 23 seconds left in the game.

Following a timeout, Scott Brooks drew up a play to get Durant a look from three on the next possession that he missed. The rebound went out of bounds off Kyle Lowry however and Oklahoma City retained possession.

Then on the ensuing baseline out of bounds play, Brooks called the same play that gave the Thunder a victory in Golden State a few games ago but Durant missed that shot as well after getting a pretty good look.

Durant would get the offensive rebound still giving the Thunder another chance to take the lead setting up the final scene.

Durant finished with 33 points on 12-for-26 shooting but was noticeably out of rhythm for much of the night with the credit going to the rookie Parsons.

Westbrook also gave the Thunder a heck of a performance with 26 points on 11-of-25 shooting. The tandem combined for only 11 free throw attempts, possibly the missing ingredient that would have put them over the top in this one.

It was Martin who had the hot hand for Houston with 32 points despite coming off averaging only 7.3 points per game in his last six. Daequan Cook was matched up with him early and Martin got off to a nice start with 12 first quarter points. Let’s remember how much the Thunder are missing Thabo Sefolosha.

The Thunder turned the ball over 21 times and Houston matched Oklahoma City’s free throw attempts.

The Thunder can thank their bench led by James Harden for bringing them back after a first quarter that had the Thunder trailing 29-13.

Harden led a spirited charge by the second unit especially on the defensive end to help get the Thunder back into the game. Harden finished with 17 points and made three from beyond the arc.

Oklahoma City will not like the feeling of this loss with having so many opportunities to win it. The Thunder (22-7) can look to rebound in their next game Friday back at home against the Golden State Warriors (11-14).

Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
105.4 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.6 Defensive Efficiency (14th)
96.0 Pace (5th)

Jazz (1-game losing streak)
101.7 Offensive Efficiency (10th)
101.7 Defensive Efficiency (20th)
93.4 Pace (18th)

The Thunder are finally returning home after a five-game road trip last week and having the past three nights off. The Thunder are for the second straight game matched up with the Utah Jazz, who they beat 101-87 four days ago. Today is also Valentine’s Day and to me that means that Kevin Durant is probably going to go off. He’s returning home, maybe his mom is at the game and nobody loves their mom like Durant does. Combine that with the fact that Gordon Hayward will likely be covering Durant and I’m feeling a big night for him and easy win for the Thunder.

Thunder keys to the game

1. The bench is back home

The Thunder bench always plays better at home and they should be glad to be back tonight. Expect better shooting from the Thunder bench and a big game from James Harden who loves playing at home as much as anyone. Also if Thabo Sefolosha returns tonight, which originally was the plan but now it is up in the air again, we’ll see Daequan Cook coming off the bench again. Cook was 1-for-9 on threes last game so look for him to shoot better tonight too.

2. Scoring inside

The Thunder had a very easy time in their last game scoring in the paint against the Jazz. Al Jefferson is really the only interior defensive presence for Utah and he wasn’t much of one against the Thunder. The Thunder need to continue what worked last game and go to the hole, Russell Westbrook especially. Westbrook had a great shooting night from midrange in his last game and has been hot overall with his jump shot of late but that won’t last forever for him. If Westbrook can wreak havoc at the rim then it will be another long night for the Jazz.

3. Get Durant going early

It feels like forever since Durant had a big game shooting from downtown. Now that the Thunder are back home it’s time to see a big shooting performance from the game’s best shooter. I think Durant comes out of the gates strong tonight and maybe we get to see a 40-point night from him. On this many days rest combined with the matchup combined with the fact that Durant is really due for a game like this, I’m going to go ahead and predict a huge night from the Thunder superstar on this Valentine’s Day.

Prediction: Oklahoma City wins 112-94.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

It looked like it was going to be tougher than this. After one quarter the Utah Jazz led Oklahoma City 30-27 and looked like a team that was ready to play tonight.

The Thunder were just too talented, as they so often are for their opponents.

Russell Westbrook had the best game for Oklahoma City scoring 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting. He also had three assists, six rebounds and five steals.

Westbrook was especially efficient with his pull-up jumper in the game and when he’s hitting that shot, he’s just an impossible cover.

A real key to the Thunder victory was the production from their bigs. Oklahoma City usually relies almost entirely on Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden to score but tonight got 36 points from their four big men.

Serge Ibaka led the way with 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Kendrick Perkins added a rare double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Then Nick Collison and Nazr Mohammed combined for 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
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Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game losing streak)
105.0 Offensive Efficiency (4th)
99.0 Defensive Efficiency (13th)
95.6 Pace (8th)

Trailblazers (1-game winning streak)
101.9 Offensive Efficiency (12th)
95.4 Defensive Efficiency (4th)
95.8 Pace (6th)

Oklahoma City’s last game was a tough one that they dropped on the road to San Antonio. That night belonged to Tony Parker who lit the Thunder up to the tune of 42 points and nine assists. The Thunder were on a back-to-back and had played their stars many minutes the night before. The Thunder were off yesterday for the Super Bowl and return on the road to face the Portland Trailblazers tonight who beat the Thunder 103-93 the first time they met this season in Oklahoma City. The Thunder were without Thabo Sefolosha in that game as well and James Harden started in place off him and led the Thunder in scoring with 23 points. Kevin Durant struggled mightily from the field going 8-of-26 and scored 19 points. The Blazers are a tough, physical team that can rough you up. Portland may also be one of the Thunder’s toughest competition coming out of the West this season once the playoffs come around.
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Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
105.0 Offensive Efficiency (3rd)
98.8 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
+6.2 Differential (7th)
95.3 Pace (9th)

Grizzlies (2-game winning streak)
97.9 Offensive Efficiency (22nd)
96.9 Defensive Efficiency (8th)
+1.0 Differential (17th)
95.1 Pace (11th)

The Thunder are coming off a nice win over the Dallas Mavericks. Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka had big games with Ibaka getting a career-high 10 blocks. The Thunder have beaten the Grizzlies twice already this season and both times have come on the road in close games. These two teams are forming a nice rivalry after a hard-fought playoff series last year. The Thunder are the best isolation offense in the NBA while the Grizzlies are first in defending isolation so that will make for an interesting matchup in the game. Rudy Gay has had particularly poor shooting nights so far against the Thunder this season going 9-for-24 in the first meeting and then 7-for-21 in the second.
(more…) ]]> http://thunderousintentions.com/2012/02/03/grizzlies-12-10-at-thunder-17-4-800-p-m-est-tip/feed/ 0 http://thunderousintentions.com/2012/02/01/recap-westbrook-and-ibaka-lead-the-way-as-thunder-beat-mavs-95-86/ http://thunderousintentions.com/2012/02/01/recap-westbrook-and-ibaka-lead-the-way-as-thunder-beat-mavs-95-86/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:59:26 +0000 Andrew Kennedy http://thunderousintentions.com/?p=1507 Serge Ibaka swatted a career-high 10 shots as the Oklahoma City Thunder went into Dallas and beat the Mavericks 95-86. Ibaka had a double-double in the game while scoring just four points but had 11 rebounds to go with his 10 blocks. The Thunder were plus-13 in the 40 minutes that Ibaka was on the [...]

Recap: Westbrook and Ibaka lead the way as Thunder beat Mavs 95-86 - Thunderous Intentions - Thunderous Intentions - An Oklahoma City Thunder Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Serge Ibaka swatted a career-high 10 shots as the Oklahoma City Thunder went into Dallas and beat the Mavericks 95-86.

Ibaka had a double-double in the game while scoring just four points but had 11 rebounds to go with his 10 blocks. The Thunder were plus-13 in the 40 minutes that Ibaka was on the floor.

Russell Westbrook was the catalyst on offense for Oklahoma City scoring 33 points on 11-of-24 shooting from the field and 9-for-10 at the free throw line. Westbrook added four assists and two steals but also turned the ball over six times.

The Thunder were slow out of the gates shooting just 31.6 percent in the first quarter while Dallas jumped out to a 29-21 lead after one and shot 68.4 percent. The Thunder were more aggressive however and got to the line 12 times in the first quarter to keep the score close.
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Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game losing streak)
105.4 Offensive Efficiency (3rd)
99.4 Defensive Efficiency (14th)
+6.0 Differential (6th)
95.2 Pace (9th)

Mavericks (3-game winning streak)
100.6 Offensive Efficiency (15th)
96.4 Defensive Efficiency (7th)
+4.2 Differential (8th)
93.8 Pace (16th)

The Thunder are coming off a tough loss to the Clippers two nights ago in what was a great matchup. The Thunder got off to a rough start and then played hard to try and comeback but just didn’t have enough in the tank. Dallas has won three-straight and has an impressive 14-8 record this season despite Dirk Nowitzki resting for four games and no more Tyson Chandler. Jason Kidd is injured and will miss the game leaving Rodrigue Beaubois to start in his place. Russell Westbrook was named the Western Conference Player of the Week yesterday and has been playing great since signing his extension. Kevin Durant has also been playing at a high level and always does against the Mavs including his game-winner from the teams’ first meeting this season.
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Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

I’m a little embarrassed that the name of this Oklahoma City Thunder blog is Thunderous Intentions after what Blake Griffin did to Kendrick Perkins Monday night.

The Thunder didn’t come out sharp in this game and were unable to comeback after falling behind early. Blake Griffin had the dunk of the year in the third quarter but it was earlier highlights that sparked the Clippers’ 112-100 win over the team with the best record in the West.

The Thunder gave up 36 points in the first quarter to the Clippers but got back into the game in the second half behind a 10-2 run.

Trailing just 52-46 with 1:34 to play, the Clippers would go on to make four-straight three-pointers to close out the half and take a 64-46 lead into the break.

The Thunder showed signs of a comeback in the second half but they just didn’t get enough production from players not named Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
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