Pregame 27: Merry Christmas!

Vs.

When: Tuesday, December 25 @ 4:30 CST

Where: Miami, Florida - American Airlines Arena

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

TV: ABC (Cox 8, HD 705; Tulsa Cox 8; DirecTV 6; UVerse 5)

Stream: Click Here

The moment all Thunder fans have been waiting for. A chance to exact revenge. An opportunity to stick it to LeBron and his cohorts. A shot at showing not only that Kevin Durant is MVP worthy, but at showing that OKC is championship worthy. Barring any outstanding circumstances, all roads to the Larry O'Brien trophy run through the Heat. 

The last time these two teams met, one team was basking in the glow of victory, and another was consoling each other while looking towards the future. Most can guess who was which. The iconic image of James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook all arm-in-arm, watching the rest of the clock of Game 5 of the Finals tick away was one that was burned in the minds of all Thunder fans. 

Seeing the young, charismatic players, rarely seen without a smile, standing in the corner of the court with looks of sadness was more than many OKC fans could bare. Yet, there was always next year and always the promise of many more runs at it. The big three for Oklahoma City were the youngest in the NBA, looking forward to 10+ years together with opportunities abounding for this young super team. However, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. 

A few days before the deadline to sign restricted free agents, James Harden was traded. The Beard, the threes to the ground, and the guttural roar from the darkness of Harden's face were all gone. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year was gone. Along with Aldrich, Cook, and Hayward (Lazar), Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, a few first round draft picks, and a second rounder. No one knew what was next for the cinderella team from America's Heartland. 

Neither did anyone know how little it would actually affect them in the regular season. 

So far, the Thunder are showing little to no negative effect from the Harden trade. Oklahoma City's offensive has been as potent as ever, ranking in the top five of most, if not all, of the monikers of offensive efficiency. Field goal percentage, three point percentage, and free throw percentage are all up from last season. The Thunder are shooting, assisting,  and rebounding better than ever. Kevin Martin has effectively filled in most if not all of the holes that were left by James. Martin is just as, if not more, efficient as James Harden while spacing the court even more with his consistency from downtown. The question is, can Martin do what James wasn't able to do during the Finals, show up?

Prediction: 113-105 Thunder

Points of Interest 

• Kevin Martin. Every Thunder fan saw the effect of a game without Kevin Martin. Now that problem needs to be fixed just in the case that he is injured again, but having Martin back in the lineup is pivotal. In order to beat the Heat, OKC must be able to space the floor and use all of its offensive weapons, not just Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
• Assists, Assists, Assists. The Thunder have been setting a great precedent for future years as a team with a high assist rate. To spread the floor and take advantage of the full power of their offense, the Thunder must assist much like they have before. 
• Small Ball. In last year's Finals, the one weapon that worked for the Thunder all season was used against them. Miami infused a group of hot shooting guards into the lineup, torching OKC from the arch because of their inability to match the small ball that they installed. Oklahoma City must be able to defend against the small ball of Miami in order to win tonight. 

Thunder UP and Merry Christmas!

Pregame 22: Third Time's The Charm?

Vs. 

When: Wednesday, December 12 @ 7 PM CT

Where: Oklahoma City- Chesapeake Arena

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal  (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)

Stream: Here

Tonight, the Thunder play New Orleans for the 3rd time this year. Anthony "The Brow" Davis is finally back in the lineup. Is tonight the night? Well, Probably not.

The Hornets enter tonight on a 4 game skid, playing the likes of playoff contenders such as Memphis and Miami, and then dropping a game to the league-worst Wizards, 77-70. The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Hornets tonight.

Oklahoma City comes into tonight on their second-best streak of their young history, the best being 9 games back in 2010. The Thunder have scored 100+ points in 12 straight games, going 11-1 with a lone loss to the Celtics. Kevin Durant is scoring at a clip harkening back to a few years ago when he averaged 30.1 ppg. Russell is more under control than ever, keeping turnovers down and being an absolute monster on defense, especially when he does this. Kevin Martin is scoring again, getting more looks and taking advantage of them. Serge Ibaka is protecting the paint much like last year, and shooting the mid-range better than almost anyone in the NBA. This loss will sting if the Thunder drop this one.

OKC has been known in the past to lay up a stinker game against a chump opponent while working on a long winning streak. This game could very well be considered a trap game, especially with the Thunder facing Anthony Davis for the second time this year. Davis could very well have a breakout game for the Hornets tonight, just destroying the paint against Oklahoma City. Greivis Vasquez could release his "inner Rondo" and make Russell look silly. Ryan Anderson could stroke it better than anyone in the house tonight. Can all this happen in one night? No.

The Thunder seem to have a focus that no one has been able to waver as of yet. Even going into overtime, Kevin Durant and Co. seem to be unaffected and making it look easy. So OKC will come out of tonight unscathed, equaling their longest streak ever heading into a game against another sub-.500 team in the Kings and then to the game everyone wants to see, the San Antonio Spurs. Gotta win tonight though, one game at a time. Thunder UP!

Prediction: 113-90. The only reason the Hornets get this many points is because the Thunder rest their whole starting 5 for the 4th quarter.

Now onto the Stats

"Loud roared the dreadful thunder, The rain a deluge showers."~ Andrew Cherry

Postgame 21: Setting The Pace

The Thunder secure the win tonight, 104- 93, tying the Spurs for the best record in the NBA at 17-4. The Thunder also increase their win streak tonight to 8, which is a league best. 

The game tonight was back and forth, even though the Thunder rarely gave up the lead during the course of the game. Several times the Pacers took the lead back but the Thunder kept Indiana far away enough towards the end of the game to secure the win. 

David West scored 10 quick points to keep the game close in the first quarter, ending in the Thunder leading 25-22. Kevin Martin would hit a few shots and free throws and then the real fun would begin. Kevin Martin would go on to score 20 points in the quarter, going 4 of 5 from the field, 3 of 4 from the arch, and 7-8 from the line all within 11 minutes spread over the two quarters. Indiana would keep up with the Thunder, however, trailing only 1 at half time, 57-56

The Thunder and the Pacers would go back and forth for most of the 3rd quarter, with Indiana and Oklahoma City trading baskets and the lead, with Indiana ahead for a few minutes during the 3rd. The game would then fall into a miss festival, with a two minute period where neither team made a shot and the score stayed at 79-72 until late in the 3rd quarter when both teams would make shots, ending the quarter at  82-74.

The game would stay close for most of the forth quarter, with the Pacers staying within 3-4 points until 6 minutes into the quarter, when the Thunder started to press the pace. With Russell Westbrook hitting several shots in a row and Kevin Durant adding to the late scoring, the Thunder would break the lead open to 11 where it would stay for a 104-93 Thunder win. 

The Thunder shot fairly well, regardless of Kevin Durant's "off night", shooting nearly 50% from the field and 83% from the line. However the Thunder would shoot horrendously from outside the arch, with KD going 1-5 from the arch, Russell going 1-3 and the team shooting 5-19 (26%). The Thunder rebounded well, however, out-rebounding the Pacers 40 to 36. Oklahoma City took care of the ball tonight, keeping their turnovers to 9. 

Oklahoma City's defense was sparse at times tonight, letting the whole starting 5 score 10+ points and letting the Pacers make runs throughout the game, keeping the game close until the end. The Thunder showed strength late in the game, though, holding the Pacers to 5 points in the last 6 minutes and effectively stemming the threat from Indiana. 

Postgame 20: Cut!

The Thunder win it tonight 114 to 108, moving the Thunder to 16-4 on the year. 

This game ended a lot closer than the game felt the whole night. The Thunder led by as much as 19 in the second half at one point, but the Lakers kept it close towards the end, with Kobe making shots like only Kobe Bryant can make. 

The Thunder played the Lakers nearly even in the first quarter, with the Lakers ending the first quarter up 27 26 with Westbrook hitting the sweet buzzer-beater to end it. Who knew that would define the whole rest of the half?

Westbrook would go off in the second half, pushing the Thunder point total in the second quarter to 41, first half total to 67, and his own first half point total to 27, the most points scored in a half by Westbrook in his whole career. Russell went 5-6 for three pointers in the first half, making the most 3-pointers in a half of his career. 

The game would even out in the third quarter with both teams scoring the same amount leaving the lead at 16 by the end of the third. Russell cooled off considerably after his hot-as-lava first half, going 0-8 from the field, struggling even to make free throws. Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant would pick up the scoring duty for the third quarter, with Durant scoring 10 points and Ibaka scoring 6. 

The fourth quarter would be much of a colluded mess, with the Lakers constantly pulling the lead down to less than double digits, threatening to make the game much closer and leaving the possibility of a comeback. However, the Thunder's new renewed defensive focus held the Lakers at arms length and ensured the win tonight against the Lakers. 

The Thunder shot well tonight against a pretty non-existent defense of the Lakers. Thunder shot nearly 50 percent from the field, with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook shooting very efficiently from the field, the arch and the line. The Thunder once again had an assist total over 20 tonight, totalling up 22 assists with 8 of them being from Westbrook. Both KD and Russell scored 30+ tonight, with 36 and 33 respectively. This is the 21st time that Westbrook and Durant have scored 30 or more in the same night in their careers. Collison added 13, Serge added 14, and Kevin Martin scored 11 to round out the double digit scoring for the Thunder tonight. 

OKC played good defense against the Lakers, holding them to 43 percent from the field and 39 percent from the arch.  The Thunder ran away with the game for the most part, outscoring the Lakers in the fast break 28-8. However, the Thunder lacked inside presence, allowing the Lakers to score 44 out of their 108 points in the paint.

Pregame 20: Lights! Camera! Action!

Hollywood finds its way to the "Peake" tonight (quick, someone call TMZ!).

The Thunder play the Los Angeles Lakers tonight for the first time this season, playing in a rematch of the Western Conference Semifinals from last season. Both teams have completely new looks this season, with LA doing away with Bynum and acquiring Steve Nash and Dwight Howard and the Thunder trading James Harden and acquiring Kevin Martin (man, I am going to definitely miss those Kobe V. Harden match-ups). So even though this a rematch, it feels like we have two different teams coming into tonight.

The Thunder step onto the court tonight riding a 6-game win streak, most notably with a win against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, 117-111. The Thunder are tied for the best record in the NBA with the Spurs, both teams being 15-4.

The Lakers, however, have been a disappointment to NBA fans and their own because of the lack luster season they have had so far. The Lakers have started out with a record under .500, at 9-10. The Lakers were staged for one of the best season of all time with 4 future Hall of Fame candidates, but because of injuries to Steve Nash and Pau Gasol and an offense and team that has yet to gel, the Lakers have failed to live up to their potential.

Tonight will be a defining game for both teams. The Thunder can prove for good that there team is still what it was last year even without Harden, a Finals contender. The Lakers can show the NBA tonight that they are still one of the best teams out there and still have a team that can live up to its potential.

Steve Nash and Pau Gasol will be out for this game, Nash with a fracture in his shin and Pau Gasol with tendinitis in his knees.

Now onto the stats

“It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake." ~Fredrick Douglas

Postgame 19: Nets Get TKOed

The Thunder win it tonight 117-111, improving to 15-4.

The Thunder pulled it out tonight in a close one at the Barclays Center. OKC relied greatly on their big three tonight, with the trio combining for 75 of the 117 points tonight. Kevin Durant chipped in another on of his signature games with 32 points on 16 shots and adding 5 rebounds along with 6 assists. This is the 3rd game in the past 6 that Kevin Durant has scored 30+ plus points (About damn time!). He was also perfect from the line, 12 out of 12, and the arch, 2 of 2.

Russell had a very typical night, with ups ( 25 points, 9 assists, and 3 steals) and downs (5 turnovers and 5 fouls). Russell seemed to have a hard time defending D-Will tonight, with Williams shooting 5 of 9 from the arch and scoring a total of 33 points. However, you can't really blame Russell. Brook Lopez, one of the the leading scorers for the Nets, was out with an injury which caused the ball to fall into D-Will's hands more than usual.

Serge Ibaka continued his extremely efficient streak as of late, shooting 66% and scoring 18 points along with his usual 3 blocks. Thabo Sefolosha added to the scoring tonight, adding 14 points although 10 of them came in the first quarter. Three other Thunder players scored above five points with Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Martin, and Eric Maynor chipping in 7, 7, and 9 respectively. The team shot an impressive 60.6% from the field and 50.0 percent from the arch with the typical 88% percent from the line. The Thunder got out fast tonight and pushed the pace, scoring 20 fast break points, and pounded the paint against the Lopez-less Nets, scoring 44 points in the paint.

The Thunder defense did a decent job tonight, holding the Nets to 43% from the field and out rebounding the Nets on the defensive boards 31-24. They also kept the Nets from keeping up with their pace, holding the Nets to only 9 fast break points.

Sunday Morning News

Its Sunday people. Time to go to church, watch NFL football, or just enjoy the last few hours before the next week starts. So here's your NBA news for today. Sit back and read on.

• LA Times: NBA's Unpredictable Season
• Yahoo Sports: NBA Fines Spurs $250,000
• Yahoo Sports: Phoenix Sun's Offer Money-back Guarantee
• NBA.com: Former College Coach Dies
• NBA.com: Bobcats Turning the Corner
• Fox Sports: Ricky Rubio's Recovery
• Nytimes.com: First Israeli In The NBA Hopes For More Minutes
• Espn.com: Clippers Restore Order
• Espn.com: Lillard is Valuable Asset For Blazer

NBA Fines San Antonio

Greg Popovich, you ol' rascal you. 

The NBA recently issued the San Antonio Spurs a $250,000 fine for sending their best 4 players home before an upcoming prime time game of against the Miami Heat. The players included were Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Danny Green. Commissioner David Stern was quoted as saying that Gregg Popovich and the Spurs were doing a "disservice to the league and our fans." Now no one can really be quoted as saying that this move was a surprise. Gregg Popovich has been known for two things during his tenure with the Spurs: 1) Resting players in big regular season games, knowing health for playoffs is more important than regular season winning percentage, and 2) doing crazy unexpected things, much to the displeasure of fans and the league. So the question can be asked: Whats the big deal?

Most of the arguments lately that side in favor of the league on the issue of fining the Spurs over their actions goes along the lines that the players have a responsibility to the league to play and also that the Spurs violate a part of the league policy that prohibits resting players in situations that are contrary to the best interests of the league. Honestly, what a bunch of bull. For one, the players play almost 40 minutes a game, 82 games in the span of 6 months, not including the playoffs, and practice every single day for most teams with little rest in between. Some of these games are back-to-backs, even some including ending games early in the morning of the day of the next game and flying a plane in order to get to the next one. Secondly, the coach has full control over how much he wants to play his players and the strategy he wants to use in order to not wear out his best players. So what does the league have to do with this?