Thunder Recap January 17, 2021

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O Canada, you’ve blessed the rest of the world with so many great people over the past century.

From actors and actresses to comedians to musicians and athletes, choosing the all-time greatest Canuck is a time consuming kerfuffle that I nevertheless am willing to tackle for the sake of this journal.

And after exhaustive research, I’ve concluded that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort proved Friday night in a 127-125 overtime win over the Bulls that they are the greatest Canadians of all time.

The proof is in the pouding chameur:

Michael J. Fox was able to travel to the future and defeat his enemy Biff with the help of his friend Doc. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was able to give Thunder fans a glimpse of the future and defeat his enemy Bill with the help of his friend Dort.

Shania Twain’s smash album Come On Over scored 7 straight Top 10 hits on the US Country Billboard charts. Lu Dort scored 10 straight points in the third quarter against Chicago. Tell me that don’t impress you much.

Jim Carrey distorts his tall lanky body for laughs in Ace Ventura and showed his dramatic chops in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Shai distorts his tall lanky body for ace layups and is making his critics look dumb and dumber by the game. Signed, an eternal sunshine pumper.

John Candy made a human sized pancake that made Macaulay Culkin do a double take in Uncle Buck. Lu Dort made a human named Zach into a pancake on the court when Levine tried to dribble past Dort and Lu didn’t buck.

Celine Dion’s voice moved me emotionally during the climax of Titanic. But Shai moved me physically out of my seat during the climax against the Bulls when he hit a game-tying bucket and-one. My heart will go on thinking about Cade, but the power of loving an epic Thunder rally is all coming back to me now.

Ryan Reynolds makes a great fictional superhero who breaks the fourth wall in Deadpool. Lu Dort makes a great nonfictional superhero who broke Zach Lavine at the end of regulation and overtime with his brick wall defense.

Justin Bieber sold over 100 million albums worldwide before he was old enough to drink. Yeah, just pick any random rebound Shai or Lu grabbed against the Bulls and they win this one.

Ryan Gosling expanded his range from his typical dramatic roles to strut his stuff in La La Land and was Oscar nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Shai broke from his usual laid back self to show some swagger after a couple of big buckets and playing the lead role in the second comeback push.

Drake started from the bottom and is now one of the most successful artists in rap history. OKC started down 22 but behind Shai’s career high 33 and Dort’s 21, now have the second most successful comeback in the NBA this season and fifth biggest in Thunder history.

Alanis Morissette dated Joey from Full House. But when Zach Lavine was trying to win the game on the final play of regulation, Lu Dort told him to Cut. It. Out.

Seth Rogen has starred in some modern comedy classics like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad and Freaks and Geeks. But while his comedy is chemically enhanced by CBD, all I need is SGA. I get my high off of Shai highlights.

Mike Myers gifted the world three iconic characters in Wayne Campbell, Austin Powers and Dr. Evil. But did you see Lu Dort hit 4 3s and swipe 6 steals against Chicago?? Schwing!! Yeah baby, yeah! And he’s not even making one…. million dollars. Party on, Lu!

William Shatner was the Captain of the USS Enterprise on Star Trek. Shai captained a 22 point comeback and in doing so, looks like he is on an All Star track.

Keanu Reeves. Yeah, Neo was the One, Ted was Excellent, and you don’t mess with John Wick’s dog. I get it. But eventually the motor in that bus in Speed was stopped. Lu Dort would never.

Steve Nash won two MVPs (but only deserved one) and now has two MVPs and another All Star on his team and yet he is 0-1 vs Shai and Dort on the season.

Eugene Levy, Dan Levy and Catherine O’Hara made us all laugh and made us all cry in Schitt’s Creek. Dort made us laugh at the Bulls’ crunch time turnovers and made us all cry about losing Cade cause our draft pick is now up schitt’s creek.

Wayne Gretzky is called The Great One and is considered the GOAT Canadian athlete of all time. But did you know he averaged only 1.9 points per game for his career? That’s 31.1 points less than Shai and 19.1 points less than Lu scored against the Bulls!

There you have it. A completely unbiased breakdown of our neighbor to the north’s finest. And the evidence shows Shai and Lu are clearly the Canadian cream of the crop.

But truly, this was a goofy but affectionate love letter to Canada. The Canadian connection for OKC has resulted in probably the two most critical core pieces moving forward. And for that, Thunder fans say merci.

The Thunder face off against the Philadelphia 76ers and Australian born superstar Ben Simmons later today. And if the two kids from The Great White North have anything to say about it, the kid from The Land Down Under is going throw another L on the barbie.

Notes:

This was OKC’s first win at home.
The Thunder are now 1-5 at home and 5-1 on the road.
Muscala hit 2 3s in OT + 3 big free throws at the end of regulation. Two Canadians and one Moose teamed up to beat the Bulls.
Shout to Kenrich Williams. The always high energy reserve was a perfect 6-6 from the floor, hit a 3 and scored 14 points. He earned closing and overtime minutes against Chicago.
Isaiah Roby scored 14 in his third start of the season with Al Horford out due to personal reasons. In his three starts, Roby is averaging 14.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Good job Thunder coaches not cutting him instead of Frank Jackson.
Darius Bazley only scored 9 points on 3-12 shooting and was replaced in the crunch time lineup by KRich. While he was still active on the boards and defensively, let’s hope the shooting is just a slump from Baze.
Mark Daigneault:1 Billy Donovan: 0
Lu Dort is the best dollar for dollar player in the NBA.
The Thunder may not have more talent than most teams, but they have more effort than every team.
OKC won because the Thunder young core out-dueled the Bulls young core. Chicago has been drafting in the lottery for years. OKC hasn’t even started cashing in their treasure trove of draft picks yet.
Shai on being more animated vs the Bulls: “I felt like it was a little bit needed, me being the leader I want to be and know I can be.”
Up Next: a home game against Philly sans Joel Embiid. If the Thunder pull off the minor upset (without the 76ers’ MVP candidate), OKC would once again have a winning record.