vs. 
Thunder (21-56, 7-30 road) at Denver Nuggets (52-26, 31-8 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma HD (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 8:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder: 102.8 (29th), Denver: 110.4 (6th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.6 (20th), Denver: 106.5 (8th)
Pace:Thunder: 93.4 (8th), Denver: 92.4 (7th)
Another stop in the Thunder’s crawl to the finish line.
The effort was absolutely better against the Spurs, but as I pointed out in the Bolts today, Kevin Durant has got to assert himself sometimes. He took only two shots in the fourth quarter and one was a forced three-pointer with 50 seconds left. Jeff Green didn’t score in the fourth. Those are the two main parts of your offense and you get two points in the most important minutes. That’s a bit disturbing.
KD has to want to be The Man. He has every tool to do it. It’s just whether or not he wants to stand there and wait for his number to get called, or if he wants to take the freaking thing over. Like I said, you think Kobe is standing there running motion offense and waiting for Derek Fisher to set him up? You think LeBron is just going to wait his turn? Some of the blame falls on Russell Westbrook and the other guys running point for not making it a point to give KD the ball. But in crunch time, you’ve got to rely on your big guns. Those being primarily KD and Uncle Jeff. The Thunder plays best as a full unit, but when something ain’t working and the game’s slipping away, go with the guy who is the best at basketball.
Denver is an excellent home team that is focused right now on claiming the two-seed in the West. They’ve won seven straight and are one of the best home teams in the league. I can’t picture them coming out flat and letting the Thunder sneak up on them. And while I realize that losses don’t do anything but help at this point, I still want to win. I’d much rather sacrafice a couple ping-pongs balls for a an excellent win on the road in Denver. It may seem meaningless, but I think you can carry some major momentum into the offseason with a win like that. Maybe that’s just me, but don’t worry too much anyway because it’s likely not going to happen.
As we saw last night, I think Scott Brooks is using these last couple games to try different things. He’s giving Kyle Weaver time at the point, D.J. White good minutes at the four and five and overall, just different combinations. Some of those pairings can be a bit frustrating, but in the long run, it’s probably for the best to try them out. I would like to see Shaun Livingston get major minutes at the point though and let Weaver play off the ball tonight. They did the opposite last night for mixed results.
I think the team may be wearing down a bit mentally and physically as the season winds up. Tired legs and tired minds might make for an ugly game tonight. Plus, potentially comical lineup combinations. Let’s see… let’s try Weaver, Green, Livingston, Durant and Thabo – in that order. Hey, got to try them out somewhere and what better time then when you’ve got nothing to play for except pride and ping-pong balls.
Tip at 8:00 CST. Go Rumble Thunders.
I am graduating this may, so now I am stay in East Lansing. I actually liked our season a lot, though it could definetly be better, but in reality it already is the best the team can do.
We beat the defending champion, 2 number 1 seed and lost to the third one, which is also the best in the nation.
Since nobody predicted us getting into Final Four, I call that surprisingly good enough.
While I only watched the last part of the fourth quarter, it was clear that they were playing better. They looked more like the pesky team that we all know and love.
@Bernard
A fellow MSU graduate? Wow, that's a pleasant surprise. I graduated just last May, myself. The final hurt a lot, but it's not like we can call the season a failure. Izzo and the boys made me proud all year.
Welcome to the Thunder blog, Bernard.
Bernard :
lol well I am a soon to be a graduate @ Michigan State University. yup that final hurt. I am from Hong Kong, and hence the scrappy English. I have been a sonic fans since ray allen and rashard lewis times. I hate what the owner did to the fan in Seattle, but that wont keep me away from being a thunder fan. I have been around for a month or so and feel this place is really nice and the atmosphere is really good to talk about Basketball. So I will probably stick around for sometime.
Good to have you. And know that Tom Izzo is probably my second favorite basketball coach.
lol well I am a soon to be a graduate @ Michigan State University. yup that final hurt. I am from Hong Kong, and hence the scrappy English. I have been a sonic fans since ray allen and rashard lewis times. I hate what the owner did to the fan in Seattle, but that wont keep me away from being a thunder fan. I have been around for a month or so and feel this place is really nice and the atmosphere is really good to talk about Basketball. So I will probably stick around for sometime.
@Bernard
I believe you just did...
Welcome aboard...
Good luck tonight. Im a nuggets fan but I'm excited to see livingston in action again. The Nuggets have been playing beautiful basketball the last 13 games, so you guys should have your hands full.
@Bernard
I'm not sure what you mean?
I am not looking to be surprised tonight, but do want to see them play hard and hopefully some of the experiments would work.
btw, i am just wondering if there is anywhere that we get to introduce ourselves around here?
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Absolutely. On both accounts.
I don't foresee a last second heartbreaker this time. We're playing with our lineup too much, and Denver has too much to play for at home for this one to come down to the wire. But I would like to see some of the kinks worked out with the new guys playing new positions.
However, another Westbrook over Anderson dunk would be welcome.
I agree with the point about Livingston. Weaver is decent at the point, but Livingston is a natural there. I also agree with Weaver defending the one and Livingston defending the two, but they should flip flop on offense. And I havent seen the pace numbers lately, but it seems like we are running a lot less lately. Picking up the pace would amplify Livingston's strength.