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James Harden listed as day to day, re-evaluated Tuesday

by Royce Young on April 23, 2012 at 7:06 pm 58 Comments

The team released this late Monday updating James Harden’s status:

James Harden continued to undergo tests today in Oklahoma City that followed NBA protocol for the concussion he suffered in yesterday’s contest against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Harden participated in a series of limited activities per NBA guidelines, but has additional steps that must be taken under the league-mandated concussion policy before he can make his return to the court.

He will be re-evaluated tomorrow and is currently listed as day-to-day.

If you somehow missed it, Harden suffered a concussion Sunday against the Lakers because Metta World Peace tried to elbow his head off.

As to if Harden will be available Tuesday is up in the air as he has to pass league mandated concussion tests before he’s even allowed to play. Then there’s the fact the game doesn’t mean much to Oklahoma City and the Thunder should be able to handle the Kings without him. I would expect the team to err on the side of extreme caution with Harden’s availability.

No decision has been made on World Peace’s punishment for the play, but one is expected to come sometime Tuesday.

Thunder Player Power Rankings: Hardware for Serge Ibaka?

by Royce Young on April 23, 2012 at 12:54 pm 140 Comments

Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images

I said it Sunday prior to the Lakers game, but I’m not of the mind of trying to position better for postseason matchups. I think you play the games to win, and let the chips fall where they may.

But… if it so happens to work out, then so be it. Because with the Thunder’s loss Sunday, the Lakers essentially guaranteed themselves the 3-seed with the Clippers and Grizzlies sitting four and five. Which of course means the Thunder would draw the Lakers in the second round (or Nuggets/Mavericks) and not the Clippers or Grizzlies. Favorable, I’d say.

The Thunder clearly matchup better with the Lakers (or Nuggets/Mavs) than they do with the Clippers or Grizzlies. Either would obviously be a challenge, which is kind of the point when you’re in the postseason. You can’t expect to cruise to The Finals. It’s a difficult road, you have to beat good teams and you have to plan on challenging matchups. But if it so happens to be a little bit more favorable, nobody’s going to argue about it.

Now to the rankings: Keep Reading…

Monday Bolts – 4.23.12

by Royce Young on April 23, 2012 at 8:14 am 180 Comments

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “So the collision of all these factors, plus the NBA’s renewed emphasis on protecting players from blows to the head with its concussion policy, bodes very poorly for World Peace. What he did was unnecessary, excessive, dangerous and with full force, a windup and a follow-through. The fact that Harden was OK won’t matter when Jackson and league officials come up with the length of World Peace’s suspension. What if his elbow had connected with Harden’s face? It might’ve been Kermit Washington vs. Rudy Tomjanovich all over again. And that is what the NBA wants and needs to prevent, which is why I wouldn’t oppose or be surprised by a suspension that’s at least three games in length. And possibly more than that. There’s no place for that in the NBA, and if a heavy suspension is what it takes to send that message before the playoffs begin, so be it.”

J.A. Adande of ESPN.com: “The NBA should suspend World Peace indefinitely, see how many games (if any) Harden will miss, then tack on two to that number. Especially since we just witnessed a case study in Harden’s value to the Thunder. Oklahoma City’s second-half offense without Harden devolved into Kevin Durant chucking jumpers and Russell Westbrook careening into the lane, both with minimal ball movement. Harden is the heart of the Thunder’s second unit and provides a nice balance to Westbrook and Durant when he plays alongside them. Harden scored 14 points in little more than 13 minutes in the first half — before World Peace clocked him. The seven guys besides Durant and Westbrook who played in the second half and both overtimes scored a total of 23 points in a combined 106 minutes. Durant wound up with 35 points, but he required 34 shots to get there. Westbrook shot 3-for-22.” Keep Reading…

OKC lets a lead slip to the Lakers losing in double-OT 114-106

by Royce Young on April 22, 2012 at 6:45 pm 389 Comments

BOX SCORE

Well.

That game left us with quite a bit to talk about. First the bones of it: Without James Harden who was decapitated by Metta World Peace in the first half, the Thunder’s offense completely derailed the last eight minutes of the fourth quarter, allowing Steve Blake to hit a couple 3s and bring the Lakers back into the game, one that they eventually won in double-overtime 114-106.

The Thunder had two cracks to win the game at the buzzer, first a Kevin Durant pull-up 3 at the end of regulation, then a Russell Westbrook 3 with 2.3 seconds left in overtime. Both shots fell short and the Lakers had a bit more in the tank to finish off OKC at Staples.

There was so much to take in during those 58 minutes of basketball that it’s really hard to know where to start. KD took the most shots of his career going 11-of-34, which resulted in the most misses in a game of his career. Westbrook went 3-of-22. And the Thunder played the entire second half without Harden, watching their offense sputter, stall and die without their chief creator. Keep Reading…

Thunder at Lakers: Pregame Primer

by Royce Young on April 22, 2012 at 1:41 pm 1,807 Comments

vs.

OKC Thunder (46-17, 21-11 road) at Los Angeles Lakers (40-24, 25-7 home)

TV: ABC (Cox 8, HD 705)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 2:30 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 109.8 (2nd), Lakers– 106.1 (11th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 102.9 (9th), Lakers – 104.3 (13th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.0 (6th), Lakers – 90.5 (20th)

View from the enemy: Forum Blue and Gold

There are multiple storylines to focus on in today’s Thunder-Lakers matchup. The scoring race. The fact this game is on national TV so it’s a last chance for KD to make an MVP statement. The Lakers are clinging to third while OKC is trying to catch the Spurs for No. 1. That the Thunder could sweep the season series against the Lakers. Keep Reading…

Five questions with Land O’Lakers

by Royce Young on April 21, 2012 at 9:45 pm 62 Comments

Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images

With another showdown with the Lakers Sunday, I exchanged some questions with the terrific brothers Kamenetzky at ESPNLA.com’s Land O’Lakers blog. Here’s my part over on their side and here’s their answers to a few of my questions. (Also, here’s me talking about the matchup on ESPN Radio 710 LA with them.)

1. The Thunder and Lakers have played some pretty chippy games this season with a hefty amount of talking and physical play. Any reason you see for this?

Brian Kamenetzky: To some degree, I think the Lakers know they have to be physical to slow the Thunder down. Not in that typical, the-NBA-is-a-physical-place way, but I mean literally by being physical. Grabbing them, closing as much space on them as possible defensively (as in Metta World Peace doing his best to slide into Kevin Durant’s jersey, and so on. OKC’s chirpiness probably rubs some of the veterans on L.A. the wrong way. K.D. is a pretty stoic fellow, but Harden has been very vocal in the two games when matched up with Kobe and Westbrook isn’t exactly a wallflower. Perk has a history with the Lakers going back to the Celtics, too, which plays into it. And maybe it’s just me, I get the impression the Thunder really dig the idea of being better than the Lakers, and to some degree can measure themselves against the team that bounced them from their first playoff run a couple years back. Keep Reading…

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Bring it on, playoffs

by Royce Young on April 21, 2012 at 9:03 am 101 Comments

Good Saturday. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Almost there.

It takes an unusual amount of time for TNT to get to the Thunder in this playoff promo, but they’re there. No comment on the selection of Linkin Park for the music, because some of you might like Linkin Park.

KD flirts with a triple-double as OKC handles the Kings, 102-93

by Royce Young on April 20, 2012 at 11:56 pm 122 Comments

AP Photo

BOX SCORE

As the Thunder’s second unit stretched out to a 13-point lead over the Kings with eight minutes left, Oklahoma City fans found themselves in a strange spot — kind of hoping Sacramento had a small run in them to tighten things back up.

Why? Because Kevin Durant was closing in on two things and needed to be on the floor: A triple-double and the NBA’s scoring lead.

He entered the fourth quarter with points and rebounds past the double-digit mark, but needed three more assists to get that elusive first triple-double. And wouldn’t you know it, he finished with seven. I’m thoroughly convinced that if KD is getting a triple-double, he has to get it in three quarters. We’ve been down this road before and either the Thunder are blowing out their opponent so KD just sits or since the game is moderately close, he quits playing facilitator and scores to close out the game. As for the scoring lead, Kobe Bryant finished his game Friday with only 18 points which dropped him to 27.9 on the season. KD finished with 29, so he held firm, meaning he’s right on Kobe’s tail. The tally after tonight: KD at 27.79, Kobe at 27.89. Keep Reading…

OKC Thunder (46-17, 21-11 road) at Los Angeles Lakers (40-24, 25-7 home)

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