A TBJ investigation to solve one of the season’s most pressing issues: Is Russell Westbrook more like a cat, or more like a dog?
Westbrook’s take: “A wolf.”
Touche, Russ. Touche.
Darnell Mayberry: “I couldn’t understand why the Thunder didn’t push the pace in the early stages. After nearly every stop early on, the Thunder walked the ball up the court only to find itself in a much more difficult halfcourt situation. The Bulls are a great defensive team, and part of that is their ability to get back in transition. But the Thunder, it seems, wasn’t even trying to push the tempo.”
Berry Tramel on KD: “Let’s not pretend Durant is in some kind of slump. Not since December has he gone back-to-back games shooting under 50 percent, and even then his percentages were in the mid-40s. But last Wednesday in Houston, when Durant made just four of 13 shots, he still produced just the second triple-double of his career, with 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Similar game Sunday night, and Durant might very well have tripled-doubled again, had the Bulls been courteous enough to make this a ballgame and require Durant to play the fourth quarter.” Keep Reading…
With a winter storm supposedly set to roll in to Oklahoma City tonight, apparently it hit the Chicago Bulls a few hours early. Because they were ice cold.
(See what I did there? So good, right?)
Seriously though, “inept” isn’t even a good enough word for the Bulls’ offensive performance tonight. By quarter: 6-30, 4-18, 7-20, 8-18. For a grand total of 25-86 from the field, or a 29.1 percent. The Thunder’s defense has been a question as of late as they’ve allowed four straight teams to score better than 105 points. They went to the other extreme tonight, allowing the Bulls just 72.
“Defensively, it was probably as good as we’ve played in the last five or six weeks,” Scott Brooks said.
Now, before you start being impressed, realize the Bulls are a very weak offensive team and were playing without Kirk Hinrich who, yes, actually matters quite a lot to them offensively. Still, 72 points on 29.1 percent shooting is 72 points on 29.1 shooting. Officially, it’s the lowest percentage (actually 29.06 percent) from any team this season topping 29.11, which the Bobcats put up against… the Thunder. Keep Reading…
vs. 
Bulls (32-23, 17-10 road) vs. Thunder (40-15, 24-4 home)
TV: ESPN (Cox 29, HD 720); FSOK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 8:30 CT
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 112.7 (1st), Bulls– 103.4 (21st)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.5 (8th), Bulls – 101.3 (4th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.8 (8th), Bulls – 89.2 (27th)
View from the enemy: By The Horns
The Thunder have struggled defensively the last four games. The last four, OKC’s allowed more than 105 points in all of them. So here’s a good remedy: Play the Bulls, a team ranked 24th in offense at 100.4 points per 100. Keep Reading…
Rough week and a half for the Thunder, with All-Star festivities and the trade deadline in the middle. Joel and Brad discuss the lowlights that were losing to the Heat, Jazz and Rockets.
Other topics of conversation:
- KD’s slipping MVP chances
- The hurtin’ loss of Harden
- The Ronnie Brewer pickup and what he can do defensively
- Not trading Perk was a positive
- Possible third string point guard pickups
…and much more!
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Good Saturday. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Don’t hate on the Brodie.
New Air Jordan commercial featuring Russell Westbrook in a colorful shirt? New Air Jordan commercial featuring Russell Westbrook in a colorful shirt.
Having not gone through a four-game losing streak in almost four years, the fact the Thunder avoided that is definitely the most important thing. Especially considering the opponent, and the location.
Playing the struggling Wolves at home, the Thunder sort of got right. They scored 127 points, shot 57.8 percent from the field, dominated the boards, went 9-14 from 3, didn’t miss a free throw (22-22) and got big performances from Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin.
That’s the good part. The bad part is they also allowed 111 points, 58 in the first half, 53 in the second half. Considering Scott Brooks spent 90 percent of his pregame talking about re-focusing on defense after some lackluster performances, that’s not ideal. Keep Reading…
vs. 
Wolves (20-31, 7-18 road) vs. (Thunder 39-15, 23-4 home)
TV: FSOK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 112.4 (1st), Wolves– 103.1 (21st)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.3 (8th), Wolves – 105.2 (13th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.7 (8th), Wolves – 92.0 (13th)
View from the enemy: A Wolf Among Wolves
Do you know how long its been since the Thunder lost four straight games? A long time. Not since their first season in Oklahoma City, in fact. Some 1,700 days and 366 games. Keep Reading…
Headlines
- Serge Ibaka named first team All-Defense
- Report: KD reaches settlement in ‘Durantula’ lawsuit
- Derek Fisher fined $5,000 for flopping
- Durant finishes runner-up to LeBron for MVP
- Thunder-Grizzlies second round schedule released
- Report: LeBron to be named 2012-13 MVP
- Kevin Durant on Royce White: ‘Who is that?’
