Views from OKC: Portland who? I’m focused on Phoenix tonight..

March 3rd: Welcome to Views from OKC, Thunderous Intentions’ daily roundup of the best OKC Thunder content across the web.

New to Views? That’s a shame, because we’ve been rocking all season with daily hot OKC Thunder takes. Today is a sad day to be a first-timer.

Clutch Thunder don’t come up clutch in Portland

“The Thunder led by seven with 5:41 to go. Then the Blazers went on a 16-0 run as the Thunder went more than four minutes without scoring. Within that stretch, Russell Westbrook missed some good looks, and some bad ones. But the key point is: Either way, none of them went in, whereas in most cases, they have this season.”

Don’t freak out about last night. It’s okay to let this loss sting a little, but don’t let it change your overall impression of the team moving forward. The shots have been falling for Oklahoma City post-All Star Break so they were due for a dud in clutch time. Plus not having Victor Oladipo hurts when dealing with the two-headed monster in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Must Read: Should OKC start Victor Oladipo or Alex Abrines?

Phoenix is anything but a guaranteed win

“The one guarantee for Friday night’s game is that it will be fast. Both teams streak up and down the floor quicker than most in the NBA. And Phoenix actually fast breaks far more effectively than does Oklahoma City, which has actually been one of the NBA’s least efficient teams on the break, even if it’s able to run often behind Russell Westbrook.”

I refuse to make any predictions about this game. Both teams are playing on the second night of a back-to-back. They both have explosive talents who can go off for 40 any given night (Russell Westbrook obviously more so than Devin Booker). But we saw it last night: Oklahoma City needs their jumpers to fall or they can lose any game, at any time. And for some reason this game screams another poor shooting performance.

Views from Twitter

Technically this is not Oklahoma City’s longest made shot of the season but it is still the play of the year. First and foremost Semaj Christon was wide open while Taj Gibson had to deal with an outstretched Jusuf Nurkic arm. Secondly, Gibson scraped the top of Portland’s arena with that shot. Seriously when have you seen a full court heave leave the camera shot and go in?

I am not afraid to admit I will be rooting for Derrick Jones Jr. tonight. The NBA need Jones Jr. to implement basketball skills into his game because this dude is ELECTRIC. Like what you saw above? I highly suggest watching this entire video of his dunks from just this season. The kid is the most graceful jumper I have ever witnessed; I pray that he finds a spot in the league.

Call me whatever you want, but I see no harm in rooting for other teams/players. What makes the NBA so great is the fact that one of the worst teams in the league still has a must-watch player in Jones Jr. on their team. Embrace the other 28 teams (cmon now Golden State is excluded) Thunder Nation because it will only make you respect the Thunder organization more.