The AP reports: A week after passing up a chance at a winning shot against the Utah Jazz, Allen Iverson hit an off-balance runner with 0.2 seconds left to give the Detroit Pistons a 90-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night… Iverson led the Pistons with 22 points, and Tayshaun Prince added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Durant had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder. The Pistons looked sluggish for most of the first three quarters. Oklahoma City shot 39 percent through three periods, but trailed only 66-63 heading into the fourth.
Category: OKC Thunder Blog
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Dec 23: Hawks 99, Thunder 88
The AP reports: If only Joe Johnson had hit a few more jump shots. Maybe a higher percentage from the field would’ve left him satisfied after his second career triple-double. Johnson had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his first triple-double in nearly three full seasons, and Marvin Williams scored 21 points in the Atlanta Hawks’ 99-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night… Kevin Durant scored 28 points for the Thunder, who have lost 10 of 11. Oklahoma City fell to 1-13 on the road and 3-26 overall despite a combined 26 rebounds by Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox… Jeff Green tied a career high with 14 rebounds and finished with 18 points. Wilcox, in 24 minutes, had 19 points and a season-high 12 boards.
Thunder sign Nenad Krstic to offer sheet
Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has signed center Nenad Krstic to an offer sheet.
Under terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement the New Jersey Nets, who retained Krstic’s rights when he signed with Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia’s Superleague A, now have seven days to match the multi-year offer. Per team policy the terms of the offer sheet were not disclosed.
An InsideHoops.com source associated with the Nets says that the team is leaning towards not matching the offer.
Krstic (7-0, 213), the 24th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Nets, is averaging 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1 block in 21 minutes per game for Triumph in Superleague play. The Serbian national holds NBA averages of 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in four seasons with New Jersey.
Jeff Green needs to rebound
The Oklahoman (Mike Baldwin) reports: Thunder coach Scott Brooks has harped for weeks that Jeff Green needs to improve his 5.5 rebounding average. He’s even sent Green text messages on game days. Green responded with a 10-rebound performance Sunday night. “I was guarding one of the best rebounds in this league in Ben Wallace,” Green said. “I tried my best to keep him off the boards. When the ball went up, I tried my best to go get boards, and they were dropping right in my hands. And Nick (Collison) and Kevin did a good job blocking their man out.”
Dec 21: Cavs 102, Thunder 91
The AP reports: LeBron James scored 31 points and Mo Williams provided the kind of scoring punch expected out of him when he was brought in to be LeBron’s sidekick as Cleveland finished a four-game road trip with a 102-91 win Sunday night over the Oklahoma City Thunder… Mo Williams, who was brought in this offseason to reinforce for LeBron in a three-team trade that also involved the Thunder, scored 20 points and Delonte West hit his first five shots and finished with 18 points against his former team. Kevin Durant scored 26 for the Thunder, who were playing for the first time since snapping a franchise-record 11-game home losing streak. Russell Westbrook added 24 points and matched his career-high with 11 assists and Jeff Green scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Dec 19: Thunder 91, Raptors 83
The AP reports: With orange and blue streamers falling from the rafters and the crowd standing to cheer, it could’ve easily been mistaken for a much more significant victory. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, every win has become something to savor… Kevin Durant had a tiebreaking 3-pointer among his 24 points, rookie Russell Westbrook scored 19 and the Thunder snapped an 11-game home losing streak with a 91-83 win against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. It was the team’s first win at the Ford Center in 47 days… Bosh led the Raptors with 22 points and 16 rebounds for his 13th double-double, but he didn’t have enough help after Jermaine O’Neal missed the second half with a sore left shoulder. Andrea Bargnani took the place of the injured six-time All-Star, who said he expected to play Saturday night at San Antonio, and finished with 16 points off the bench.
Dec 16: Clippers 98, Thunder 88
The AP reports: What the Los Angeles Clippers used to get from Elton Brand they’re now getting from Zach Randolph, and it’s proving to be a winning formula. Randolph had 22 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double, and rookie Eric Gordon fueled a 10-point run in the fourth quarter as the Clippers put away the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-88 Tuesday night to stretch their win streak to three… Eric Gordon, who scored the first six points in a 10-0 run that provided the Clippers with an 87-73 lead, also finished with 22 points. Baron Davis scored 19, Marcus Camby added 13 points and 15 rebounds, and Al Thornton had 12 points as all of the Clippers starters’ reached double figures. Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 23 points, and Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox scored 13 apiece.
Durant and Green need help in OKC
With 2 wins and 23 losses, the Oklahoma City Thunder barely qualify as an NBA basketball team. I’m not sure they’d even dominate the D-League at this point.
Thunder fans can be happy, though, because the team is young and fun to watch, even when they lose, which is quite often.
I’m not using “fun” lightly. I mean it. When they play with energy they’re a pleasure.
Two relatively bright spots are Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. Rookie point guard Russell Westbrook has also shown talent, though he’s struggling with his shot.
The problem is, aside from that, there’s been nothing.
Durant is shooting very well (46.3% and a fantastic 48.4% from three-point range) for 23.1 points per game, but aside from his 5.1 rebounds he isn’t a player who makes teammates better just yet. He’s a scorer, but not a playmaker.
Green, who has nice versatility, is also shooting extremely well from both two and three-point range, for 15.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He’s a nice fill-in-the-blanks type of contributor.
Westbrook is tossing up bricks, and not creating as much as hoped just yet. But he’s shown legit talent and has a bright future, though he may not turn out as good as the Thunder hoped when drafting him.
Then you have bench fodder.
The team spent several years rounding up rookie centers, but so far Johan Petro, Robert Swift and Mouhamed Sene don’t even combine to be a really good starter.
Assuming they want to hold on to Durant, Green and maybe Westbrook, the Thunder don’t have enough ammo to make a real trade that matters. They just need to keep developing their youth, round up first round picks, and continue to build for the future.
Until then, fans should enjoy the young, athletic players and focus on entertainment value, not wins-losses.
There’s been a good basketball atmosphere in Oklahoma City
Dec 14: Spurs 109, Thunder 104
The AP reports: Tony Parker knows a 26-point first-half lead is no sure thing — even against the team with the worst record in the NBA. Parker scored 22 points, and Tim Duncan had 20 points and 12 rebounds to help San Antonio win its sixth straight game, 109-104 over Oklahoma City on Sunday night. The Spurs led by 26 points in the first half before the Thunder cut it to two points in the final minute… Matt Bonner added 17 points, and Roger Mason had 14 for the Spurs. They combined to make five 3-pointers in the first quarter when the Spurs took a 21-point lead that they pushed to 26 in the second quarter. Jeff Green led the Thunder, 2-23 after their seventh straight loss, with 33 points, and Kevin Durant had 28. The pair of second-year players combined to go 26-of-47 from the floor and scored 61 of the Thunder starters’ 70 points… Ginobili had 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added six assists.
Dec 13: Mavs 103, Thunder 99
The AP reports: Dirk Nowitzki had one of the best scoring nights of his career, Jason Terry put up another 20-point game and the Dallas Mavericks shot better than 50 percent from the floor. Despite those performances, the Mavericks still needed a late rally to fend off the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder. Nowitzki scored a season-high 46 points, Terry added 28 and Dallas won for the 11th time in 13 games, beating the Thunder 103-99 on Saturday… Jeff Green scored 25 points and Kevin Durant added 22, but none in the fourth quarter. Rookie Russell Westbrook chipped in with 19 points and eight rebounds.