This was the start to a pretty fun week for the Thunder. (Spoiler Alert: OKC won a lot.)
Both Westbrook and George pulled out some pretty slick colorways of their new sneakers for the MLK Day matinee in NYC.
Russell WestbrookPaul George
Enes Kanter has been demoted big time by the Knicks. In fact, he played just 19 minutes against the Thunder Monday, and hasn’t seen the court since. How frustrating does it have to be a for a 26-year-old, who is a near automatic double-double when given playing time, to have to sit every night?
Anyway, I feel bad for Big Turkey. I don’t even care if he can’t defend the pick-and-roll. I just want to see the former Stache Brother succeed. New York should just buy him out and let us find an apartment for him in OKC for the rest of the season.
We did see some Stache on Stache violence in this game:
If you recall, I was not happy with the Wiggins/Noel play that left Nerlens unconscious on the floor. I wasn’t thrilled with how the game was officiated, in general, but really disliked Wiggins not being called for anything on that specific play.
A similar play happened late in MSG. This time, Allonzo Trier drove in, was blocked from behind, and appeared to inadvertently hit Patrick Patterson in the face. Trier was called for a technical. Take a look for yourself, but it blows my mind he was T’d up for this and Wiggins received nothing.
Allonzo Trier is assessed a technical for this play.
This win…. Ohhhh baby, this win. This was one of those wins where you look back and see just how good the team can be. There was nothing fluky about it, the Thunder just flat-out played good basketball.
Paul George: 36 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals.
Russell Westbrook: 29 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists.
Those two alone will get you so many wins if they both play at the level they’re capable of. The thing is, they’re not having to do it alone. For the first time in …. ? Oklahoma City doesn’t look like a team that has to be carried by its superstars every night.
I’m telling you, Russell Westbrook’s poor shooting has been such a focus this season, and rightfully so. BUT… is it possible we aren’t giving him enough credit for the team’s success as a whole? Even George’s incredible MVP campaign doesn’t happen without Russ changing who he is.
The Brodie’s shooting is so broke that I don’t blame anyone for calling attention to it, but is his evolution as a player getting a bit underrated because of it?
This was yet another example of the firepower the Thunder possess. Westbrook had a monster triple-double with 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 16 assists. George chipped in 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, himself. And Big Kiwi had himself a game: 20 points, 13 rebounds.
Daily Thunder commenter Pepsi United makes a great point. This team has a really bad habit of letting wins get away from them. Not a habit you’re going to want to have when teams are fighting for their playoff lives down the stretch.
Underrated part of 2018-2019: Abdel Nader just randomly pops up and does cool stuff once in a while:
The Pelicans made it close in the end and shouldn’t have, as they were without Anthony Davis, Julius Randle, E’Twaun Moore, and Nikola Mirotic. While I would prefer OKC not let teams bad/undermanned teams back in the game, even ugly wins count.
Paul George was named a Western Conference All-Star Starter. It was a really great showing by Thunder fans to get PG the honor. I’m impressed.
PG also won Western Conference Player of the Week after leading the Thunder to a 4-0 record and posting a stat line of 31.5 PPG, 9 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.5 SPG, and a 56.8 percent clip from downtown. This is his second time earning the honor this season.
Victor Oladipo suffered a quad-tendon injury that will sideline him for the remainder of the season. Such a tough break for Mr. Feathery and really heartbreaking for him and the the Pacers. I’m anxious to watch his comeback story.
Thunder kicks wound up everywhere this week. Justin Timberlake rocked a pair of Why Not Zer0.2’s in his OKC concert. Kofi Kingson was wearing the PG 3 X NASA’s during last night’s WWE Royal Rumble.
Woj reports that Kevin Durant is planning on attending the jersey retirement of Nick Collison on March 20th. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool of Kevin. I also hope absolutely no attention is brought to it, whatsoever. It’s Nick’s night, let’s just focus on that.
Woj also dropped a bomb Monday morning: Anthony Davis is requesting a trade from the Pelicans. While the writing on the wall sure seems like all roads lead to LA, I’m not going to stop Thunder fans from dreaming up wild AD-2-OKC scenarios. Carry on, Trade Machiners. #WhyNot
Up Next:
Let’s try some predictions…I think the Thunder’s winning ways carry over into Tuesday, but can see Friday’s game in Miami being overlooked before a matchup with the Celtics on Sunday.