Category: OKC Thunder Blog

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Thunder to resume play August 1st vs Jazz

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced the schedule for its eight seeding games to restart the 2019-20 season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida today.

The Thunder will open play on Saturday, Aug. 1 versus the Utah Jazz. The team will then face the Denver Nuggets on Aug. 3 before its contest versus the Los Angeles Lakers on Aug. 5. Oklahoma City will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Aug. 7 then complete a back-to-back on Aug. 9 and 10, facing the Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns, respectively. Oklahoma City’s final two seeding games will be Aug. 12 versus the Miami Heat and Aug. 14 versus the LA Clippers.

All eight of the Thunder’s seeding games in Orlando will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Oklahoma. Additionally, all games can be heard via the Thunder Radio Network, led by flagship station WWLS-The Sports Animal (98.1 FM) in Oklahoma City.

ESPN will televise two of Oklahoma City’s games (Aug. 1 vs. the Utah Jazz and Aug. 5 at the Los Angeles Lakers) while NBA TV will broadcast two of the team’s games (Aug. 3 vs. the Denver Nuggets and Aug. 7 at the Memphis Grizzlies).

Given the updated game schedule and format for the 2019-20 season, the Thunder has solidified a playoff berth for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, joining the San Antonio Spurs as the only other team to accomplish the feat in this timeframe. This also marks the team’s 11th straight season with a record above .500, good for the longest active streak in the NBA.

Thunder sign guard Luguentz Dort to multi-year contract

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed guard Luguentz Dort to a multi-year contract, Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today.

During the 2019-20 season, Dort has appeared in 29 games (21 starts) for the Thunder and averaged 6.2 points to go along with 1.9 rebounds and 0.79 steals in 22.0 minutes per game. Oklahoma City has posted a 16-5 record (.762) with Dort in the team’s starting lineup this season.

The Montreal, Canada native scored a career-best 23 points Jan. 29 at Sacramento after shooting 5-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc and became just the fourth Thunder rookie to knock down five or more threes in a single game. Additionally, Dort registered the second-best shooting night by a Thunder rookie on Feb. 23 versus San Antonio when he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field en route to 15 points during the Thunder’s victory versus the Spurs.

Dort was signed to a Two-Way Contract by the Thunder last July after one season at Arizona State where he earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 All-Defense Team honors.

Rest is a good thing for Thunder center Steven Adams

Here’s the Oklahoman reporting on Thunder center Steven Adams, who plays like his life depends on it and can use rest whenever it’s available:

A defensive anchor. A steady rebounder. A guy who didn’t care if he ever touched the ball. All kinds of entities have people like Stone Cold. Businesses. Families. Teams. Things just go smoother when he’s around. It’s always a little strange when he’s not.

But I’m also delighted when Adams sits. Because I know he’s resting. Adams is big and physical. He deals out plenty of punishment; some day, make yourself watch an entire game without following the ball. Just keep your eyes peeled to Adams and watch how many shoves and bumps and collisions he causes. But for every one of those skirmishes, there’s punishment coming back his way. Adams hits the deck a lot, in part because he does play hard and he doesn’t give up on plays, and it doesn’t take too far into the season before you can see him rising gingerly from the hardwood.

Worries me greatly. Adams hasn’t missed much time – like I said, 16 games total over the last four years and just 31 in his entire seven-season career. But Adams always looks injured. Wrapped up. Worn out. Then like Samson tied to the pillars, his feats of strength break through.

Adams always appears to need about two weeks off, though he never gets it.

On the last Thunder game before league play was put on hold

Here’s the Oklahoman editorializing on the last game the OKC Thunder played before league play was put on hold, a Sunday, March 8 105-104 win against the Celtics in Boston, with comments from point guard Chris Paul:

After the 105-104 win, Paul told Thunder sideline reporter Nick Gallo that he hadn’t gotten that excited in a long time. Paul also talked about how great a win it was, how much fun the team was having, how together everyone was.

I knew that game was in the final days before the coronavirus shut down the NBA, then all of sports in this country, but since the past few weeks feel like a few years, I couldn’t remember if the Thunder played any more games after that game in Boston.

I went to check my calendar.

(Yes, I’m old — I still keep a written calendar in a day planner.)

That game in Boston was Sunday, March 8. The Thunder then had two days off before a home game Wednesday, March 11 against the Jazz.

You know what happened there.

So, that game at Boston, that masterful win against the Celtics was the last time the Thunder played.

That win was OKC’s 8th in their last 10 games. It was their third win in a row, for a 40-24 record, tying them with the Rockets for the 5th best winning percentage in the Western conference.

Thunder players test negative for coronavirus

The Oklahoma City Thunder consulted with infectious disease experts for a recommendation on the players and staff who needed COVID-19 testing based on their exposure at the game on March 11. All results have come back negative — which, as you hopefully know, is a good thing. If you get tested for something bad, coming up “negative” for the test means you don’t have that bad thing.

The Thunder say they will continue to work in coordination with team physicians, public health officials and infectious disease experts, while focusing on the health and safety of everyone in their community.

The team also understandably made sure to point out that they recognize “the stress on the state of Oklahoma’s medical system,” and that they “did not use state resources and chose an alternative path for testing of its personnel.”

NBA Players of the Week are Kyle Lowry and Dennis Schroder

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Dec. 16-22. Lowry earns the honor for the sixth time in his career and fifth time with the Raptors.

Lowry averaged 24.5 points, 10.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 39.6 minutes while helping the Raptors to a perfect 4-0 record last week. He shot .448 (30-for-67) from the field, .424 (14-for-33) from three-point range and .774 (24-for-31) at the free throw line.

Lowry began the week by recording the first of three double-doubles (20 points, 11 assist) during a 133-113 victory Dec. 16 vs. Cleveland. He then earned his franchise-best 13th career triple-double Dec. 18 at Detroit (20 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds). Lowry finished the week by leading the Raptors in a franchise-record 30-point comeback Dec. 22 vs. Dallas. He scored a game-high 32 points, including 20 points in the fourth quarter rally that resulted in a 110-107 victory.

And on the West side of things, Thunder guard Dennis Schroder has been named Western Conference Player of the Week.

From the Oklahoman, “He averaged 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and six assists, lifting the Thunder to a 4-0 record last week. Schroder, an early Sixth Man of the Year candidate, beat out a field of starters to claim the honor.”

Devin Booker returns, but Suns fall to Thunder

The Suns got their star back, but fell to a fellow mid-level Western conference squad. Here’s Arizona Sports reporting:

The Phoenix Suns got Devin Booker back on Friday after his three-game absence due to a right forearm contusion.

That was great news, even better considering the Suns are in the middle of a four-game losing streak and received a blow on Tuesday when Deandre Ayton sprained his ankle in his first game back from a 25-game suspension.

A strong bounce-back game from Booker could represent the team’s own.

Instead, Phoenix’s defensive shortcomings came back to bite them once again and Oklahoma City beat them 126-108.

The Thunder are now 14-14, the Suns 11-17.

Phoenix was a stronger team earlier in the season, but have fallen back down to Earth — yet they should remain competitive. It’ll be interesting to see how they do in the coming weeks now that Deandre Ayton, coming off a 25-game suspension that has mostly erased his season so far, is back in the mix.

Rajon Rondo fined by NBA for incidents in Lakers vs Thunder game

The NBA on Saturday announced that they have fined Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo $35,000 for the following reasons:

– Making unsportsmanlike physical contact with Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder

– Verbal abuse of a game official

– Failing to leave the court in a timely manner upon his ejection.

Rondo received a Flagrant Foul 2 and was ejected, early 4th quarter this past Thursday, on the road in OKC.

A video clip of the incident is here: http://www.nba.com/video/2019/11/23/lal-okc-rajon-rondo-112219

The Lakers are off to a fantastic start this season. Through yesteday’s games, they have a league-best 13-2 record and are currently riding a six-game winning streak.

Rondo has played in just five games this season, entirely off the bench as a reserve, averaging 7.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 5.6 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game.

 

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No Paul George for Thunder tonight vs Suns

At 9 p.m. tonight, the OKC Thunder face the Suns in Phoenix. But they’ll be doing so without not just one of their best players, but one of the league’s best players so far this season. Here’s the Oklahoman reporting:

For the first time this season, the Thunder will be without Paul George.

Thunder coach Billy Donovan announced Friday morning that George would miss tonight’s game against the Suns with a right quad contusion. Donovan was uncertain of when George sustained the injury, but said it was an ailment George has been playing with for some time.

George is having a fantastic season, and was especially excellent in December games.

The Suns have one of the league’s worst records, but Devin Booker recently returned from injury and during almost all games played in his return the team has looked far better. Phoenix has won five of their last seven games.

Thunder waive two-way player Tyler Davis

The Oklahoma City Thunder has waived two-way player Tyler Davis today.

Davis, a 6-foot-10, 266-pound center born in Plano, Texas and played college basketball at Texas A&M, played just one minute in one game for the Thunder this season. As a two-way player he naturally spent most of his time with the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League, where in 15 games (eight starts) he averaged 17.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.87 blocks in 26.7 minutes per game.

The Thunder are 21-12 this season, which through yesterday’s games is the third best record in a very tight Western conference. The team is off tonight, but tomorrow heads to Phoenix to play a Suns team that lately is playing much better basketball than they were earlier in the season.