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Thunder cruise into 2013 with 114-96 win over Phoenix

by Royce Young on December 31, 2012 at 10:48 pm 249 Comments

Play the Thunder on New Year’s Eve, and you lose. It’s basically science at this point.

Oklahoma City improved to 5-0 on Dec. 31 with a fairly routine 114-96 win over the struggling Suns.

The Suns cut OKC’s lead to two with about nine minutes left, but Nick Collison had back-to-back buckets, Thabo hit a 3, Russell Westbrook hit a layup, KD dropped a couple free throws then hit a jumper and the sealer was a Westbrook steal that he laid back to Serge Ibaka for a dunk to put the Thunder up 11 with 4:50 left.

Two big storylines from this one, both kind of related to one another: Keep Reading…

Suns vs. Thunder: Pregame Primer

by Royce Young on December 31, 2012 at 4:31 pm 1,022 Comments

vs.

Phoenix Suns (11-20, 2-13 road) vs. OKC Thunder (23-6, 15-2 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 – 112.8 (1st), Suns– 104.5 (16th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.2 (9th), Suns – 108.4 (27th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.7 (8th), Suns – 92.3 (10th)

View from the enemy: Valley of the Suns

The Thunder are 79-0 on New Year’s Eve (note: actually 4-0 in the OKC era). And one of those wins includes beating the Suns on Dec. 31 (last season). So what I’m saying is, history is on the Thunder’s side here. Keep Reading…

Thunder Player Power Rankings: 2012 down, 2013 ahead

by Royce Young on December 31, 2012 at 2:17 pm 72 Comments

Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

For the Thunder, 2012 was pretty good.

A whole lot happened. An NBA Finals appearance, the heartbreak that came with losing that, three players winning Olympic gold, one of them being traded, the emergence of Kevin Martin, the development of Kevin Durant and a 12-game win streak. That’s just the quick and dirty.

Question is, will 2013 be better? That’s very much up in the air, especially with the Western Conference revving up. The Clippers look absolutely unstoppable. The Spurs are of course good. The Lakers seem to be putting some things together. The Grizzlies, Wolves and Warriors are all improved from a year ago. The race to the Finals this time around could be quite the challenge. Keep Reading…

Monday Bolts – 12.31.12

by Royce Young on December 31, 2012 at 10:08 am 205 Comments

Paul Flannery of SB Nation on KD and LeBron: “Kevin Durant, on the other hand is a freakish scorer and a ferocious competitor. Uniquely proportioned in his own right, Durant is en route to his first 40-50-90 season. Larry Bird did it three times in his late 20s and early 30s, while Steve Nash did it four times in his mid 30s. Durant is still just 24 years old and it’s worth remembering that while they arrived at the same time, Bird was three years older than Magic in their rookie seasons.”

Rob Mahoney of SI.com naming disappointing players: “Fair or not, Perkins is a disappointment by way of coach Scott Brooks, who insists on relying on Perk’s intangibles at the sake of his team’s actual performance. Brooks has grown more flexible and creative over the years, but Perkins is the vestige of his former coaching traditionalism that he can’t seem to shed. What’s worse: Opponents are getting better and better at exploiting Perkins’ presence on the floor, but OKC has stood by its chemistry and redundant big man. Perkins is good to have around for defending specific interior threats, but he’s a specialist who holds back the Thunder as a second big man. If he’s tabbed to play with four perimeter players, so be it. But Perkins lacks the ability to force opponents to defend him, limiting the explosive potential of some of the Thunder’s most-used lineups.” Keep Reading…

Thunder smoke the Rockets a second time, 124-94

by Royce Young on December 29, 2012 at 10:50 pm 1,274 Comments

BOX SCORE

It was pretty easy to read Kevin Durant’s lips as he hugged James Harden postgame.

“It’s just a game, man.”

One game, yes. But a second blowout Harden has suffered at the hands of his old mates. After getting blasted by 22 in his return to Oklahoma City, Harden’s Rockets fell hard at home to the Thunder by 30 this time around, 124-94. Keep Reading…

Thunder at Rockets: Pregame Primer

by Royce Young on December 29, 2012 at 3:13 pm 1,734 Comments

vs.

OKC Thunder (22-6, 7-4 road) vs. Houston Rockets (16-13, 11-5 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 – 112.8 (1st), Rockets– 108.3 (8th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 104.0 (11th), Rockets – 105.7 (16th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.0 (13th), Rockets – 96.5 (1st)

View from the enemy: Red 94

The first one was awkward. It was not only the first time the Thunder had to oppose James Harden, he was back in Oklahoma City too. Now that’s out of the way and while it’s still a bit weird to see No. 13 on the other side, it’s mostly about basketball tonight. Keep Reading…

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Rookie Russ

by Royce Young on December 29, 2012 at 8:00 am 292 Comments

Good weekend. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. The D is silent.

With some criticism of Russell Westbrook resurfacing lately, I thought it would be interesting to look back and see how far he’s come. Remember his rookie season? He started the season playing behind Earl Watson, then finally took over point guarding duties when Scott Brooks became the coach. He shot under 40 percent, turned the ball over like crazy and while he clearly had upside, nobody saw this kind of upside.

The Thunder’s ‘big’ problem

by Royce Young on December 28, 2012 at 2:46 pm 892 Comments

Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

It’s Scott Brooks’ secret weapon of mass offensive destruction.

Smallball.

Brooks actually resists using the word “small” when he’s talking about it, because it’s actually not really small at all. It’s really just about transplanting positions. When the Thunder go “small,” it means Kevin Durant, typically a small forward, moves to power forward and plays alongside a single traditional big instead of two. But Durant is at least 6-10 (more like 6-11.5 with shoes) while OKC’s “bigs” are actually shorter than he is. It’s that old positionality thing.

Whatever you want to call it, the Thunder are crazy efficient and effective when going small. Per NBA Stats, the Thunder’s three most efficient offensive lineups have Durant at power forward, with either Kendrick Perkins, Nick Collison or Serge Ibaka alongside as the 5. In about 42 minutes of floortime, the lineup of Westbrook, Martin, Thabo, Durant and Collison average 135.3 points per 100 possessions. That’s insane. Keep Reading…

Phoenix Suns (11-20, 2-13 road) vs. OKC Thunder (23-6, 15-2 home)

OKC Thunder (22-6, 7-4 road) vs. Houston Rockets (16-13, 11-5 home)

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