Tuesday Bolts – 2.23.10
Small announcement: Daily Thunder Night is on for this Friday at TapWerks in Bricktown. I’ll have a lot more details in the coming days, but I’ll be there at 5 p.m before the Thunder plays Minnesota and you’re welcome to pile in around then. The first 50 people to show get free parking (TapWerks is about two blocks away from the Ford Center). We’ll also likely have some door prizes and drink specials available. I’ll have more details as we get closer to it, but I just wanted to give a heads up so you can maybe make arrangements to be there. If it goes well, we’ll make an effort to do these more often, for things like the draft and away game watch parties.
The Thunder won this award called a “Stevie” that honors businesses for excellent in… stuff. The Thunder won the category “Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year.” I’d say that’s well deserved.
Power rankings! Stein has OKC at SIX: “A trade for a vet would have been nice, and ”Durantula” still doesn’t work for me as a nickname, but there isn’t much else here to protest. Not when OKC is a tidy 20-8 during Durant’s streak of consecutive 25-point games.”
Chris Mannix from SI: “Kevin Durant extended his streak of 25-plus point scoring performances to 28 and helped the Thunder extend their season-high winning streak to nine. Still, as much as Oklahoma City’s offensive firepower gets the headlines, it’s the D that deserves the credit. After finishing 27th in the NBA in defensive field-goal percentage last season (47.5), the Thunder have improved to second best (43.7) this season.”
Up to FOUR on NBA.com: “Kevin Durant’s streak of 25-plus points is at 28 and the Thunder’s winning streak is at nine. Russell Westbrook is averaging 19.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 9.3 assists during the latter. He recorded his second career triple-double on Sunday.”
If OKC loses tonight, everyone should know it’s Mike Baldwin’s fault. He has a story today showing the longest streaks in NBA history. Talk about jinxing it.
On the B.S. Report yesterday, Simmons had Rockets GM Daryl Morey on. They talked about the Thunder a surprising amount (Simmons is infatuated with us). Give it a once over.
Taylor Griffin on his return to OKC: “About 2 head 2 shoot around. I been hearin rumors about the Skirvin hotel in OKC being haunted but I know I slept great! ?!?”
Baldwin on OKC catching some breaks: “Give the Thunder credit. They’ve made their own breaks by playing standout basketball for two months, going 20-7 dating back to a pre-Christmas win at Phoenix. In the midst of the easiest portion of their schedule, the Thunder can put some distance between them and the Hornets, Rockets and Grizzlies to nail down a playoff berth and be a viable contender for the No. 4, 5 and 6 seeds. Especially if they keep winning games and catch some breaks.”
Truth and Rumors on Scott Brooks being the leading candidate for Coach of the Year: “Scott Brooks may need to add space to his personal trophy case if his Thunder keep on winning. But the Thunder’s lead man will tell you that’s the last thing on his mind. “The last individual award I won was MVP of my college team,” Brooks said. “You think I care about individual awards?” Maybe not, but if the Thunder continues its winning ways, Brooks might have to make room on his mantle for the Red Auerbach Trophy.”
