Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

OKC Thunder make shots, beat Atlanta – Topic: Thunder Podcast

By Stephen Dolan

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK- NOVEMBER 30: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball against Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks on November 30, 2018 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK- NOVEMBER 30: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder handles the ball against Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks on November 30, 2018 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The OKC Thunder finally made some shots, and it resulted in an easy victory over the hapless Atlanta Hawks. This is what good teams do.

The Thunder beat a bad team tonight. Are you surprised? No, I’m not either, to be perfectly honest. The OKC Thunder are a good team. Maybe even a really good team. We’ll see. But beating the Atlanta Hawks quickly, quietly, and comfortably should not be considered an achievement.

But you know what’s strange? It kind of is.

How much do you remember about last season? That’s the season Carmelo Anthony was on the team. I’ll go first: I remember very little. Probably I’ve blocked large swaths of it out of my memory as a defense mechanism. So, I looked at the schedule. Here are some bad teams the Thunder lost to last year:

The Suns, the Mavericks (twice), the Magic, the Lakers (twice) the Nets, the Knicks, the Hornets, the Pistons, the Kings.

More from Thunder News

I mean, wow. That’s 11 games dropped against the dregs of the league, all due respect to those teams, which is very little. Those teams, last season, were due very little respect. Each of those losses was an embarrassment.

Yet, the Thunder lost those games. So this year, when OKC roll over some helpless, developing team like the Atlanta Hawks, we shouldn’t be ashamed to celebrate, Thunder fans.

We should be glad that this is a team capable enough to handle their business against an inferior opponent. That they’re not happy coasting – not anymore – they’re not that mellow. That they’re the number one defense in the league, by a growing-wide margin.

These are real, glorious facts. And we should be ecstatic.

Hook up the TiVo -3:30
Stats discussion – 16:22
Did Hami exaggerate – 21:55
Unit/Roberson set back – 26:30
Player of the Game – 30:48

For Topic: Thunder, we did something interesting this week. I did not get to watch the game! So, using all the tools at my disposal, I interviewed Alex Roig, who totally did watch the game!

It’s a bit of an experiment. let us know what you think. We’re very coachable. And follow us @OKCTopicThunder on Twitter. We’re trying stuff! Enjoy.

Home/Thunder News