Nov 8, 2024 3 min read Recap

Houston, we have no rivalry: The running comments diary

The Thunder (8-1) beat the Rockets (5-4) early, outscoring Houston 44-20 in the second quarter and never looking back. 40 seconds into the fourth, OKC was up 20+ and the 100-point bellringing tradition in our comments section was underway.

I started to write a snarky recap of the first competitive 18 minutes of play and the stats that accumulated after, but then I realized I had accidentally nuked the comments on the game thread. Here is the best I can do to reconstruct them, stripped by the copypasta gods of their avatars, handles, and embeds, and edited for publication by yours truly. They'll give you a sense of just how intense this one wasn't:

1ST QUARTER

Everyone’s talking about OKCs chemistry. I would just like to point out that OKC only has two players (Caruso and newly signed Leons) on an expiring contract. Of course everyone’s happy to be team first... no one is needing to get paid this year except Caruso who’s been around long enough.

Sengun + Adams will be a tough night for Chet.

Also Caruso will have a 4 year, 80 mil extension lined up in December, and everyone knows it.

that smith missed dunk was a great contest

or 3/60, forgot what he's eligible for

tre mann is the best

Given tax considerations probably shorter 2-3 years and just be really expensive that first year Dub and Chet get paid

First game comment award (Editor's note: this belonged to Anthony)

i'd like to thank god and my mama

caruso enjoyed that

When willl this Daigneault gimmick of playing rookies that suck end

Sit the rookie back down

Good to see Steven at the line

dillon jones why exactly?

I kind of see why he's playing though, hes way more physical than dieng

ah i see, its to stop you lot moaning about ajay

2ND QUARTER, OKC 31 HOU 31

AJAY

Zero issues with Ajay, he's fantastic

Jones needs a season with the Blue

he's just come on and created great half-court offense from scratch against a good defense, but we shouldnt play him because deep rotations are bad for some reason

Unreal play from the ready rookie

Maybe we already have our backup point guard in Ajay Mitchell.

He's so composed

"Can coach please stop trolling with these Ajay Mitchell minutes?"

fairs

Caruso hitting 3s

I was hoping Dillon Jones would be able to contribute as a glue guy jack-of-all-trade type, but sadly, he just isn't good at this point. Hopefully he gets there eventually like Kenrich did.

Just needs development

awesome!

Those Cavs though.............. can't wait for the finals.

He's older for a rookie, so he won't get a lot of years to try to figure it out before we would have to move on. But Kenrich was another older guy who finally made it right before he was about to be out of the league.

we've decided to play proper offense today. exhibit A is shai 5 fts 0 3pa

*7 fts

There's an edit button. Stop stat padding.

Thunder offense against a Sengun led defense:

Stop. This counts as bullying. You will make Memo upset if you say this!

As memo's best DT friend, I will be upset for the both of us. Cage pronouncing Alpi's name as "shin-gun" is infuriating too.

Remember when Chet's jump shot was "broken"?

regression to the mean is a beautiful thing

Thompson getting that O board from JDub then dunking on him was demoralizing.

wow

Offense has been much better this game. Jalen Williams needs to grow up though. It's time for him to man up (Editor's note: Williams was 7-10 from the floor and a game-best +20 at the time)

3RD QUARTER, OKC 75 HOU 51

Why the hell did Jabari Smith Jr. have people saying he should go first in that draft?

you ever heard of No-Heart Alperen?

6’11 could shoot and defend

shai is a fricking joke

He hit a ton of contested 3s in college and at high rate and from NBA range and was a great defender with size. It looked like he could become a super-sized Klay Thompson.

Wow just destroying them

wiggins trying to box out eason off a free throw probably shouldnt be repeated