Memphis Brings 10 Game Losing Streak To The Ford Center

You could say that the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies are heading in opposite directions and it wouldn’t be anywhere close to being inaccurate. After Monday night’s win over the Nets that Thunder are 5-5 over their last 10 games while the Grizzlies are currently riding a 10 game losing streak. The last win for Memphis came on January 4th with a twenty point blowout of the Dallas Mavericks.

When these two non-powers hook up in the Ford Center tonight both teams will feature coaches who didn’t start the season at the helm. Scott Brooks took over for Oklahoma City in November while Lionel Hollins was introduced at the new Memphis Head Coach on Sunday. The two teams are separated by only one win with the Grizzlies having 11 and the Thunder with 10.

Lineups
Grizzlies: Mike Conley, 6-1, O. J. Mayo, 6-4, Rudy Gay, 6-8, Darrell Arthur, 6-9, Marc Gasol, 7-1.

Thunder: Russell Westbrook, 6-3, Desmond Mason, 6-5, Kevin Durant, 6-9, Jeff Green, 6-9, Nick Collison, 6-10.

Oklahoma City has shown significant improvement under Scott Brooks and this is a game that the fans should expect to see their team win. With the recent success of the Thunder along with the dismal performances put out there by Memphis a home loss would simply be unacceptable.

Memphis is getting outscored each night by an average of 7 points and out rebounded by two despite having a 7-footer under the basket.

Oklahoma City Thunder Continue In Right Direction

Since New Year’s Eve the Oklahoma City Thunder have a 7-6 record and are showing significant improvement every night. They’ve moved from the NBA’s basement to being tied with the L.A. Clippers and Sacramento Kings for last place in the West and are a game ahead of the Washington Wizards who now have the league’s worst record.

Oklahoma City’s latest victim was the New Jersey Net’s who flew in on an icy night and were sent home with a 94-85 loss. At one point Oklahoma City had a 30 point lead and while the winning margin was much narrower the significance of the victory and the means by which they achieved it were unchanged. Oklahoma City fans are used to seeing 30 point deficits this season it is just the Thunder that they are used to seeing be the victims in a rout.

Oklahoma City won by dominating the boards and playing tenacious defense against New Jerseys top scorers. Vince Carter was held to just 8 points on 2-12 shooting and Devin Harris had just 10 points on 4-17 shooting. On the night New Jersey shot 40% from the floor and 14 turnovers later they walked out of the Ford Center on the losing end.

The Thunder shot a less than impressive 41% from the floor but had five players score in double figures led by Kevin Durant’s 18. Russell Westbrook, Nick Collison, Jeff Green and Nedad Kristic also turned in double figure performances on offense but Kristic’s may have been the most critical.

Since joining the Thunder 10 games ago the 7-0, 260 center has given Oklahoma City a much needed physical big body inside. However, because of his range he isn’t limited to just scoring in the low post. He has been the catalyst to Oklahoma City’s recent success. The Thunder are a long way from being a playoff caliber team but now they are even further away from being the team that we thought would set an NBA record for futility.

What N.J. The Fans Are Saying

Here are a few excerpts from what Nets fans are saying at The Star Ledger’s website.

Posted by superjohnfan on 01/26/09 at 11:00PM

I would rather be humiliated by the World Champions twice in one week than be behind thirty points to a nine win team at any time at anyvplace.
The Nets once again showed they play their best ball not by design, but when the substitution patterns, the game plan, and the play book are thrown out the window.
Larry Frank can coach. Whether he can coach this group is ultimately the question.
Individual players look to have put their best play behind them.
The team as a whole appears to have their best playvbehind.
And what passes as a coaching seems more pedestrian and stale than the play of the team.
I think the Nets put better talent on the court than the Knicks.
It looks as though the Knicks will catch and pass the Nets in the standings.
If they do the reason is simple, the Knicks have a better coach.

Posted by Jackhoops on 01/26/09 at 11:44PM

I was so disgusted - not for the first time this season - that I switched to the Knick game and there I saw five guys playing at full speed, attacking the rim on offense, and hustling on defense, and winning against a very good team. The Nets, in contrast, were playing slomo offense - Harris takes the ball down and dribbles for a while and the either shoots (unsuccessfully) or passes so late that the other has to rush a shot. Meanwhile, Carter stands on the side waiting for something to happen. On defense, KC always seemed to have a step on them.The big problem is that Harris had a few really good games and now appears to believe he owns the ball and the game: he has lost the team concept. Carter, the best scorer by far, is at his whim, and the rookies just wait for him to do something; meanwhile the whole game slows down and defense against the Nets becomes too easy.Has the coach lost control or are they team and coach a bad match?

Posted by whitebeemer on 01/27/09 at 2:38AM

I'm sorry but the nets need a new coach,frank is too calm,if the coach doesn't have that fire, the team doesn't have that fire! He has no passion!

Posted by cdoggnets on 01/27/09 at 4:35AM

This type of loss would ordinarily do-in the coach of any other team. At least threaten his job a little...light a fire under him. Is he in the teacher's union or something? Is he untouchable? The season is slipping away and it doesn't have to. Save the season and hire Mike Fratello, you know he wants the job, and he'd be perfect. Just have him switch jobs with LF.

Thunder No Longer NBA’s Most Inept Team

Break up the Oklahoma City Thunder! Known in 2008 as the NBA’s whipping boy something happened to the league’s most recent relocated franchise since the stroke of Midnight on December 31st. For the first time in its brief history Oklahoma City won back-to-back games on Wednesday night when they beat the Detroit Pistons 89-79 at the Ford Center. While they are virtually no threat to anyone at making the playoffs the Thunder have won 5 of their last 9 games going into Sunday night’s contest against the Miami Heat.

Suddenly the Thunder no longer have the lowest number of wins in the NBA. There are two other teams (LA Clippers, Washington Wizards) who are just as inept. However, unlike Oklahoma City the Wizards are 2-8 in their last 10 games and the Clippers are 0-10 while also riding 12 game winning streak. One could easily make a case that the Thunder are the hottest of the worst teams in the NBA and certainly moving in the right direction under interim Coach Scott Brooks.

Hornets Return To OKC

The New Orleans Hornets return to the city that gave them shelter for two seasons in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Now the Ford Center crowd faces the decision of cheering for the team that drew the NBA to Oklahoma City or for the team that has made the Sooner state their new home.

Points	Team	Total
Chris Paul	N.O.	20.7
Kevin Durant	OKC	21.5
Rebounds	Team	Total
Tyson Chandler	N.O.	8.9
Robert Swift	OKC	6.3
Assists	Team	Total
Chris Paul	N.O.	11.9
Earl Watson	OKC	5.6

There hasn’t been a lot to cheer for in the way of wins this season for the Thunder but there really were no expectations either. The Hornets can’t say the same! They bear the weight of the expectation of making a deep playoff run but have only produced a .500 record to this point. I could make the argument that New Orleans has been more of a disappointment this season than the Thunder have.

Oklahoma City could be the remedy to right the New Orleans ship. After playing in the Ford Center on Friday night they travel back to the Big Easy to host the Thunder on Saturday night. They could be two games above .500 by the end of the weekend.

Thunder Hit Season’s Low Point

The 2008-09 NBA season is only 12 games old but you have to believe that the Oklahoma City Thunder have already reached rock bottom. After going 0-2 on a weekend road trip to New York and Philadelphia when they had a legitimate chance to go 2-0 or 1-1 at the worst they came home and dropped an 11 point decision to the Houston Rockets. Then came Wednesday night’s game against the 1-9 LA Clippers. It wasn’t just a game that the Thunder could have won it is a game that they should have won when you consider that they were playing on their home floor.

Oklahoma City jumped out on the Clippers and enjoyed a 15 point lead in the second quarter and then some how the switch got turned off. LA went on a 14-2 run to end the half and then a 23-4 run in the third quarter to take a 15 point lead of their own and never looked back on their way to a 108-88. I did mention that the Clippers had only one win coming into the game, right?

Basically it was a two horse race for the worst team in the Western Conference and not only did the Thunder win it hands down they also staked their claim as the worst team in the entire NBA. I know that the Washington Wizards have their say about that but right now I would take them to win over the Thunder by double digits.

Inconsistency Drops Thunder To 1-9

I’m glad that I’m not P.J. Carlesimo because I would have no idea of how to motivate a group of underachievers to play four quarters of basketball. Apparently Carlesimo doesn’t either because the Thunder have yet to do it this season. The fans, and the NBA for that matter, have no idea what the true potential of this team is because they consistently play inconsistently. You can almost take it to the bank that they are either going to lay down in the first half and then become competitive in the second or be competitive in the first and then lay down in the second half. We saw examples of both this weekend on the Thunder’s road trip to New York and Philadelphia.

Against the Knicks on Friday night Oklahoma City was outscored 68-44 in the first half before becoming competitive in the second before losing 116-106. Then on Saturday evening in Philadelphia the Thunder were outscored 64-43 after a competitive first half in a 11-85 loss to the 76ers. Ultimately a team’s success or failure is based on expectations and no one realistically expected the Thunder to compete for a championship but we did expect them to compete. Maybe we should have just expected them to be consistent!

No Durant = No Chance For Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a hard enough time winning games as it is but when you remove their leading scorer then winning becomes impossible. Kevin Durant averages 22 points a night for the Thunder and with him on the bench Wednesday night, due to a sprained ankle, Oklahoma City was outscored 109-92 by the Orlando Magic.

Durant says that resting Wednesday and Thursday will allow him to play this weekend at New York and Philadelphia. Oklahoma City desperately needs wins and with a healthy roster they actually have a chance this weekend. As a fan I would expect a 1-1 split from this weekend and would be ecstatic if the return 2-0. If they come home 0-2 it will be unacceptable because I’m tired of the moral victories that come with seeing improvement. I’m ready to see that improvement turn into a real victory.

Pacers 107, Thunder 99 – These Are The Games OKC Needs To Win!

Led by Kevin Durant Oklahoma City jumped on the Indiana Pacers Monday night and led 34-24 at the end of the first but would see that lead squandered through out the game. Durant scored 37 points but the Thunder fell 9 points shy of their second win of the season.

In typical Thunder fashion Oklahoma City followed an explosive first quarter with a sub par 17 point effort in the second and would also be outscored in all three of the final periods. It wasn’t a case of a clear talent mismatch on the floor, or even the bench for that matter, it is just Oklahoma City’s inability to play a complete game.

I believe that this team is showing signs of improvement, particularly on the offensive end of the floor, but they just haven’t learned to win games yet. That is something that becomes extremely frustrating for fans to watch because opportunity was there for the taking on Monday night and the Thunder just couldn’t take it. There are going to be nights when Oklahoma City is clearly out manned on the floor (like the Boston game last week) and then there will be times when the Thunder find opportunity for victory like Monday night. Those are the games that Oklahoma City needs to win in order to build loyalty among the fan base.

At some point (not any time soon) the newness of this franchise is going to wear off and then the product on the floor is going to have to sell itself. Hopefully by then the Thunder will have learned to seal the deal when it comes to games like this. Up next for OKC is the Orlando Magic who have won four of their last five. Tip off in the Ford Center at 7:00 pm.

Thunder Rally Falls Short In Utah

Even with Deron Williams is street clothes Utah was too much for OKC.

If Oklahoma City ever plays a complete game they could be a pretty decent team. The problem is that they only play a good quarter here or there and then throw a bunch of garbage in between. Friday night in Salt Lake City Oklahoma City scored the first 8 points of the game and then disappeared until the third quarter. Trailing 10-3, Utah went on a 21-0 first quarter run to take control of the game. If that wasn’t enough the Jazz went on a 14-2 spurt in the second quarter and led 58-29 at the half.

When you are playing on the road in the NBA and you drop off that kind of performance you aren’t going to win, even if you come alive and have an amazing second half. The Thunder outscored Utah 64-46 in the final two periods but still fell seven points short of the Jazz, 104-97.

As much as I want to get excited about the way Oklahoma City played in the second half I just can’t because the Thunder aren’t going anywhere until they can shoot with consistency. Boston showed Wednesday night that even world champions can be spotty on defense at times so I’m not worried about that because the Thunder have actually been decent on defense this year (They forced 19 turnovers Friday night). They just don’t have an offensive identity yet and that above all else is what is hurting them.

Up next for the Thunder are the 4-0 Atlanta Hawks in OKC.

Former Sonic Leads Celtics Past Thunder

Ray Allen was a star for the Seattle Supersonics from 2003-2007 before he was traded to the Boston Celtics in June of 2007. In his first trip to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder he ripped his former teammates for 18 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals to lead the Celtics to a 96-83 win.

I said in my pre-game post that Oklahoma City couldn’t afford to get off to the same slow starts that they had in their previous three games and they didn’t. The Thunder came out shooting over 50% in the first quarter and led the World Champions 29-21 at the end of one.

Next came the second quarter and a big dose of reality with a shooting slump that would last until the fourth. After an amazing first quarter the Thunder were outscored 49-26 over the next two quarters and ended up shooting a pathetic 36% from the floor for the game. Oklahoma City lost the rebound battle 49-46 and had three more turnovers than the Celtics.

They say that defense wins championships and after Wednesday night’s performance we can see why they are world champs. In addition to holding Oklahoma City to a pathetic shooting night the Celtics also had 10 steals with 8 of them coming from their starting five. We wanted to see how the Thunder compared to a championship level team and now we know.

Oklahoma City plays next at the division leading Utah Jazz on Friday night.

This Could Be A Good Time To Play The Boston Celtics

The Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t in the same league as the Boston Celtics. Well, they are in the same league, literally, but Oklahoma City is a far cry from being a world championship team. So why do I feel like they might be able to beat the Celtics? It’s all about timing!

Boston played last night in Houston and won an exciting 103-99 decision over the previously unbeaten Rockets. After Oklahoma City tonight they are back to Boston to play the 2-2 Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. There is the possibility that the 1-2 Thunder are a little under the Celtic’s radar. The right team playing in the right venue under the right circumstances could pull off just the right upset.

What is unknown is if the Celtics are coming down from their emotional high from last night’s victory over the Rockets or if they are still sky high. What is known is that Oklahoma can’t afford to start the game slowly with poor shooting, as they have the previous three games, and still have a chance to win. The crowd should be energetic and could be the 6th man for the Thunder but an early deficit due to a slow start would certainly take the crowd factor away.

I’m thinking that Oklahoma City will be competitive and have a shot at winning. They are energized after experiencing their first win Sunday night and have had plenty of time to rest and prepare. It should be a good game!

Thunder Rally For First Win

Oklahoma City is consistent when it comes to NBA basketball. In their first two games this season the Thunder have started off shooting poorly and have had to try and overcome early deficits. Sunday night was no exception as they started off 3-for-13 from the field and then watch Minnesota go on a 9-0 run to start the second quarter and then a 7-0 run to start the third.

However, what would be different is that Oklahoma City would make a spurt of their own with a 13-0 run in the third quarter and then would hold the Timberwolves to just one basket in the final five minutes of the game for an 88-85 win. Oklahoma City shot a mediocre 42% from the floor but out rebounded Minnesota 50-38 which led to 25 second chance points.

Rookie point guard Russell Westbrook was the catalysts behind Oklahoma City’s comeback. He sparked the 13-0 run in the third quarter with back-to-back scores and put the Thunder up for good, 86-85, at the 2:19 mark with a layup. He ended the day with 14 points in almost twenty-five and a half minutes.

A win is a win and Oklahoma City has the very first one in their young existence and they are showing improvement. As the Seattle Sonics last year this team gave up 106.3 points per game but are only giving up an average of 90.6 points per game so far this season. They still have to get better in shooting from the floor but you have to applaud the hustle points that came on second and third efforts Sunday night.

Up next for the Thunder are the defending world champions Wednesday night in the Ford Center.

Thunder Shoot Their Way To An 0-2 Start

(Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)

It’s a good thing that the Oklahoma City Thunder is a new franchise because through the first two games fans in Oklahoma haven’t had much to cheer for. After dropping their opening game at home the Thunder lost their first road game Saturday night in Houston.

Despite being competitive through the first half the Thunder was ultimately doomed by 40% shooting, including 0-4 from beyond the three point line, resulting in an 89-77 loss. Oklahoma City also struggled to get to three free throw line making 9 of their 12 shots while the Rockets converted 27 of their 31 free throws. Quick math tells us that is a 16 point swing in favor of Houston.

The bright spot for Oklahoma City was that Kevin Durant scored 26 points. However, you get the feeling that will be the case a lot this season, a great solid effort by Durant in a Thunder loss. OKC plays Minnesota Sunday night in the Ford Center.

Thunder Silenced In OKC Debut

(Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

The crowd was set and the party was on as Oklahoma City anticipated it's long awaited debut as an NBA market. Fans showed up to Bricktown early to eat, celebrate the day and drink in the atmosphere of opening night for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They brought that electric atmosphere from the streets into the Ford Center for the historical tip off and then it was silenced by what could be described, at best, as horrific basketball.

The Thunder started 2-for-12 from the floor and never led in the game. Kevin Durant was 0-for the first half and the Milwaukee Bucks led 50-35 at the half. If only the team had been able to match the intensity of the crowd.

“I thought the atmosphere was definitely great,” Thunder forward Chris Wilcox said. “We had a lot of fans here, fan support, and I think if we get that night in and night out, a lot of games that we struggle, down the stretch we will come out with.”

It’s always good when a team has great things to say about the crowd it just usually works better when the crowd has great things to say about team as well. This team has a new home and new fans (19,136 in attendance) but the same level of play we saw from them in Seattle. They struggle scoring from the floor (43% shooting, 16% from three) and they struggle with ball control (19 turnovers). Mix all of that together and you get a 98-87 home opening loss.