Thunderous Intentions
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Weekly Oklahoma City Blue Report: Finishing Strong

By Casimir Cuffy

Apr 6, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) battles for a rebound with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Josh Huestis (34) and guard Randy Foye (6) during the fourth quarter of the game at the Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Blazers won the game 120-115. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 6, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu (8) battles for a rebound with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Josh Huestis (34) and guard Randy Foye (6) during the fourth quarter of the game at the Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. The Blazers won the game 120-115. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Oklahoma City Blue wrapped up an important week, in terms of playoff seeding, with a 2-1 record. With only four more games left in the regular season, each one is more crucial to building success for a playoff run in April.

Big Blow-Out

The Oklahoma City Blue opened up the week against the Santa Cruz Warriors on Tuesday. This one wasn’t much of a contest, especially after the first half. Oklahoma City took an eight point lead into the locker room and came back out with two 34 point quarters to close out the game.

Reggie Williams had the hot hand in this one as he scored 23 points off 72% shooting from the field and 71% shooting from three-point range. The Blue got valuable contributions from everyone who played in this game. Only Daniel Hamilton ended up with a negative plus/minus, and that was only a -2. The bench play stepped up to take this game over in the second half with Dez Wells and Myke Henry having a +22 and +21 plus/minus, respectively.

Defensive Woes

Oklahoma City Blue’s lone loss of the week came against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers by a score of 125-110. A horrendous third quarter turned this game upside down for the Blue. The defense did not show up after halftime as they allowed the Vipers to score back to back 34 point quarters on them, similar to what they did a couple of days earlier against the Warriors.

Fantastic individual efforts from Dakari Johnson, Reggie Williams, Dez Wells, and Alex Caruso weren’t enough to overcome such a deficit because, as a team, the Blue could stop a nose-bleed. Oklahoma City Blue’s bench did a complete 180 degree turn in efficiency. Their top three players off the bench combined for a -50 plus/minus. That simply will not cut it this late in the season, especially against a Vipers team looking to jump them in the standings.

Josh Huestis Making an Impact

Oklahoma City Thunder Forward, Josh Huestis, was assigned to the Oklahoma City Blue for their last game of the week against the Reno Bighorns. Huestis came up huge in that game as well with a near perfect performance from three-point range. The Blue used a big fourth quarter to break away from the Bighorns as they outscored Reno 32-23 in the frame.

Huestis has a OKC-high 26 points on 7-8 from three. Couple that efficiency with 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, and he had himself a very impressive all-around game. Xavier Henry also came in huge off the bench registering 22 points on 50% from downtown.

The Week Ahead

More from Thunderous Intentions

The Oklahoma City Blue has two games this upcoming week, one is their rematch against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. This will be the perfect chance to get them back for the loss they handed this last week. Moreover, to  keep their stance at the top of the division heading into the playoffs a win is vital.
With just two games remaining a Vipers win could result in them taking the division.

The bench will be key. Dez Wells and Xavier Henry, will need to prevent the Vipers from running away with the game early.  Despite playoff entries clinched, this game still has implications for seeding. Therefore  this should be a fun one to watch .

The Blue’s second game of the week comes on Sunday against the Austin Spurs.

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