With Mavs upset of GS, Denver is now in the 1 slot - at least momentarily. GS has the much easier road down the stretch and should end up at 1 despite the current standings.

Have to go 7-2 to get to 50 wins. Have maybe two games left that are easy so odds are low they hit that milestone.

Have to go 7-2 to get to 50 wins. Have maybe two games left that are easy so odds are low they hit that milestone.

Over/under win total closed at 48.5 most places in Vegas. Prior to All-Star game that looked pretty sure - now its dicey.

Can't blame Melo for this years early exit.

Wow I keep thinking we have seen the worst loss of the season and keep getting surprised. We just lost to the Grizzlie’s G league team in a basically must-win scenario.

Well I guess if Billy and the boys don’t mind facing the Warriors, then bring it on.

For having one of the highest payrolls for any professional team on planet Earth, being an 8th seed is really disappointing.

It's alright though, sports already ripped out my heart years ago so I'm numb to most everything by now. Just hope OKC doesn't get swept this year.

This team looks terrible right now, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll look that way when the playoffs roll around. I'm not dismissing how bad they've been. Just saying that if you've followed long NBA seasons, things change. Heck, this team looked legit a month ago. But, what is critical, is that the Thunder don't get the Warriors in the first round or it's going to be over quick.

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Thunder @Memphis Grizzlies Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071777

Thunder got beat by Bruno Caboclo last night.

Okay time to get real on this. OKC is currently 8th, tied with Spurs. Out of all of our realistic competition we have: Blazers, Jazz, Clippers, Spurs.

Blazers: Nurkic snapped his leg last night and this will surely hurt the Blazers. However, their remaining schedule is pretty easy. The injury is the big wrench in their record for this last stretch.
Jazz: Very easy remaining schedule, maybe drops 2 games.
Clippers: Very difficult remaining schedule, maybe drops 3 or 4.
Spurs: Easiest remaining schedule, may drop 1 game or none. However, they randomly play poorly on the road.

OKC: Of course out of all our competition above - statistically we have the toughest remaining schedule. However, I could see some of our late matchups resting players due to essentially seed lockups. Which also means whoever comes out of the G league to replace resting players, will now get their career high against us.

Bottomline: Barring miracles, we are headed to play Warriors, Nuggets, or Rockets in the first round. easily our worst matchups. One miracle situation is somehow the Rockets lose more than they should and Portland uses the injury to propel them to exceed expectations. Then we somehow magically end up in the 6th spot to play a hobbled Portland team.

Can't blame Melo for this years early exit.

Exactly. This year the blame goes to the officiating. /s/

If we get the 7 and play Denver we’ll beat em like a rented mule. They’ll be so tight you won’t be able to drive a ten penny nail in their A#@!

Houston likely up next unless we get really lucky and get the winner of Portland Utah in Round 2. We beat them so bad we’ll have to clean ‘em up with a damp sponge

West. Conf finals v Warriors. OK, you guys take it from here...:)

I’m so over Russell Westbrook.

He’s a bad leader and it’s infecting the team. This team plays arrogantly, shows up only when they want too, complains and whines at refs constantly, nothing about this team is fun to watch or enjoy. They aren’t championship much less get out of the first round material.

Congrats on having the potential to be great thunder, true greatness shows up every game and puts on the work. This team doesn’t. They’re the college kid who’s brilliant but constantly waits till the last minute and pulls all nighters before the test. That doesn’t work over the longer term.

Rant over.

If we get the 7 and play Denver we’ll beat em like a rented mule. They’ll be so tight you won’t be able to drive a ten penny nail in their A#@!

Houston likely up next unless we get really lucky and get the winner of Portland Utah in Round 2. We beat them so bad we’ll have to clean ‘em up with a damp sponge

West. Conf finals v Warriors. OK, you guys take it from here...:)

What is the basis for your confidence? , less than 55% from the charity stripe? Having Westbrook shoot the "T's"? Adams dominating the center position? The command Donovan has of his players, most notably Westbrook? It must be something. Thunder have not won a playoff series in the last 3 appearances so what will be the source of this success against Denver of all teams?

Oh Jersey Boss, I was being a bit tongue in cheek. At this point I’ll take about anything outside a first round Warriors match up. Lets get to playoffs and see what happens.

Thunder will make WCF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFJ4dYXY9oA

Indiana Pacer @Thunder Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071792


Westbrook triple-double: 17 PTS 11 RBS 12 ASTS

I’m not being snarky here. Sincere question...
What are the top theories on what’s going on with Westbrook psychologically? It would have been unthinkable just a few years ago to think that Russ would one day lead the league in technical fouls. He smiles less than half as much as he used to. He seems angry and frustrated more often than not. A player of his talent can obviously still put in amazing performances, but Russell Westbrook is not the same Russ who was a classy part of this franchise not all that long ago. I agree with gopokes88 (above - post 493) that he is simply not the positive, inspiring leader that he was growing into such a short time ago. I also agree it’s infecting the team. The constant whining of this team and it’s inconsistent play is strange. It’s like the Baker Mayfield thing in the other direction. Baker leads and players respond. Westbrook gets angry and plays angry, doesn’t lead, gets pre-occupied playing with and taunting road crowds and then complains about fan reaction (though nothing excuses the guy in SLC). The players don’t respond to any of this.

Sorry, a little long. But what are the theories going around about what’s causing this change in attitude and personality?

I’m not being snarky here. Sincere question...
What are the top theories on what’s going on with Westbrook psychologically? It would have been unthinkable just a few years ago to think that Russ would one day lead the league in technical fouls. He smiles less than half as much as he used to. He seems angry and frustrated more often than not. A player of his talent can obviously still put in amazing performances, but Russell Westbrook is not the same Russ who was a classy part of this franchise not all that long ago. I agree with gopokes88 (above - post 493) that he is simply not the positive, inspiring leader that he was growing into such a short time ago. I also agree it’s infecting the team. The constant whining of this team and it’s inconsistent play is strange. It’s like the Baker Mayfield thing in the other direction. Baker leads and players respond. Westbrook gets angry and plays angry, doesn’t lead, gets pre-occupied playing with and taunting road crowds and then complains about fan reaction (though nothing excuses the guy in SLC). The players don’t respond to any of this.

Sorry, a little long. But what are the theories going around about what’s causing this change in attitude and personality?

not sure who you mean but Westbrook has gotten techs for a long time

per year in the leage 2,5,8,10,15,10,17,7,15,13,17

so in the last 8 years he has been under 10 one time ... he has been teched up a bunch starting in year 3.

Sorry, a little long. But what are the theories going around about what’s causing this change in attitude and personality?

I think players have reached a boiling point with the poor officiating and it's starting to show.... We've lost several games this season and the previous due to really bad calls.

And I try to remain as unbiased as possible watching sports but even I feel the Thunder get a lot more ticky tack calls made against them than some other teams do when playing them.

I've never seen such a visible disagreement among referees as last night in regard to a call when PG was fouled. The referee closest to the play (ref 1) didn't make the call - the other ref blew the whistle and called a shooting foul. Ref 1 was visibly perturbed and they had a half way heated conversation and essentially cut the baby in half and called the foul on the floor (non-shooting). Ref 1 twice slammed the ball hard on the court.

Anyway, good win and as Royce Young said "Westbrook is 6-15 shooting, but has played a dominant, fantastic overall game. Composed, calm and in total control." I'll take it.:)

Yeah, I'm going to disagree on Russ changing much this season. Russ has always been like this, but I think he feels a lot of pressure to deliver these days with PG committing long term and he's having a rough shooting season. So, frustration + expectations + Russ = lots of techs. I wish Russ would complain less and focus more defensively sometimes, but he's also having his best defensive season in a decade and all his teammates seem to see him as a leader. Recently, PG has fallen from his MVP play to something more normal and the team just doesn't have enough offense and is frustrated. Also, the D has been worse. However, the NBA is a long winding season. We just need to avoid the Warriors as long as possible and try to regain our form.

Last nights game was a painful, for me, watch. NEVER watch a Thunder Game with an Intercostal Sprain. Both sides of my Pecs. Just breathing hurts. So watching some of those stinker Ref calls was rough.

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Denver Nuggets @Thunder: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071806


Portland 118 - Atlanta 98 Final
Utah 128 - Washington 124


https://www.nba.com/.element/media/2.0/teamsites/thunder/rumble-cover-large-2.jpg
Happy Birthday Rumble

It's official. We suck.

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Dallas Mavericks @Thunder Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071819

Westbrook: Triple-double 20 PTS, 11 RBS, 11ASTS

Have to go 7-2 to get to 50 wins. Have maybe two games left that are easy so odds are low they hit that milestone.

Came up just a little short 🙄

Only good news is Spurs lost too. Thanks to Buddy H (26 pts).

I have no words left at this point. After the Warriors wipe the floor with us, we will likely see some people fired.

This is fascinating with how this team has completely flipped upside down in a matter of weeks. I believe this is one of the craziest collapses in NBA history.

Is it coaching? Is it the players? Why is Russ shooting a 40 footer at the end of a tied game with 11 seconds left on the shot clock? Why is Adams being overworked on defense? Where did the pick and roll go? Why is PG playing through a hurt shoulder since the ASB?

Honestly I don't even know if a coaching change would do anything. Barring a miracle in the playoffs, we will likely see some big moves this summer. Starting with Adams (pending on Nerlens) and probably Schroeder.

Ownership has to be furious.

It’s not coaching. Except for Popovitch, Spolstra, Carlisle and maybe a couple others there isn’t a coach that pro players will even listen to. The blame lies on the effort of the players. We’ll find out how ticked the owners are after the season this year because if they are there should be a major overhaul of this team from G-league players all the way to the GM. If not then they don’t really care either. What seems to be the general attitude of this team is bad and while Presti is considered a genius by many he put this dysfunctional group together.

Its mostly coaching. Problem is its hard for a coach to make stars change. It has the “feel” that maybe he tried and they have quit on him. Rick or Pops would have had this years team in top 2.

One example of bad coaching is we get lead on a nicely designed play, score one for coach. But then he puts Dennis out on defense when we needed to stop Mavs from scoring. Deduct one from coach.

He is also horrible in using timeouts to stop runs all season long costing us games imo. And has been mostly bad at end of game management and not called timeouts to set up plays plus move ball up.

Almost every game he has at least 4 TOs left on 4th qtr with less than 4 minutes left. He must be using them as tokens to cash in?

Another point is not trying other players when team is doing bad. Even 4 minutes can change the flow. Yesterday early in 3rd he called TO (nice) and sent in Felton/Dennis. They made a nice run. When Mavs made a counter run 5 minutes later he let them eat up all the comeback. And be never played Felton again in game. He is lost and I think players have quit on him.

Hope we get GS round 1. Not that we can win 4 but the players seem to get motivated playing GS so maybe at least we can see full effort for a change. I hate half effort games we’ve all seen since ASB.

I’m so glad I haven’t been able to watch the last half of this season. Absolutely terrible from the clips I see.

Its mostly coaching. Problem is its hard for a coach to make stars change. It has the “feel” that maybe he tried and they have quit on him. Rick or Pops would have had this years team in top 2.

One example of bad coaching is we get lead on a nicely designed play, score one for coach. But then he puts Dennis out on defense when we needed to stop Mavs from scoring. Deduct one from coach.

He is also horrible in using timeouts to stop runs all season long costing us games imo. And has been mostly bad at end of game management and not called timeouts to set up plays plus move ball up.

Almost every game he has at least 4 TOs left on 4th qtr with less than 4 minutes left. He must be using them as tokens to cash in?

Another point is not trying other players when team is doing bad. Even 4 minutes can change the flow. Yesterday early in 3rd he called TO (nice) and sent in Felton/Dennis. They made a nice run. When Mavs made a counter run 5 minutes later he let them eat up all the comeback. And be never played Felton again in game. He is lost and I think players have quit on him.

Hope we get GS round 1. Not that we can win 4 but the players seem to get motivated playing GS so maybe at least we can see full effort for a change. I hate half effort games we’ve all seen since ASB.

Dream on Alice. I saw how motivated the Thunder were at home against a Durant less GS 2 weeks ago. The GM is afraid to call Westbrook out on his lack of leadership, poor play, and azzhole post game behavior. What coach would want to be part of this? Donovan will be glad to get fired and take the UCLA job.

At least if Presti needs to find the next great coach he can just mine this thread for some fantastic candidates. :p

Trey Young needs a big night against the Spurs tomorrow night and give a little hope to Thunder clawing its way to the 7. Oh, I know...what difference will it make? In the famous words of Mack Brown, let me answer that one for Chris - It will make the difference in not playing the best conglomeration of talent in the NBA in years. So, needless to say, I for one, am NOT hoping for GS.

Dream on Alice. I saw how motivated the Thunder were at home against a Durant less GS 2 weeks ago. The GM is afraid to call Westbrook out on his lack of leadership, poor play, and azzhole post game behavior. What coach would want to be part of this? Donovan will be glad to get fired and take the UCLA job.

Whats with the name calling? I didn’t even reply to anyone and talked 100% Thunder. Is it an insider only thing?

Trey Young needs a big night against the Spurs tomorrow night and give a little hope to Thunder clawing its way to the 7. Oh, I know...what difference will it make? In the famous words of Mack Brown, let me answer that one for Chris - It will make the difference in not playing the best conglomeration of talent in the NBA in years. So, needless to say, I for one, am NOT hoping for GS.


GS, Rox and Den are all tough outs. We will get one of them. If not mistaken if (lol, I know) we beat GS then NBA does not reseed? So we would play the winner of 4/5 which is Utah/Portland and we can win that series. Then in 3rd round its Rox/Den and they will have duked it out already.

I know its a pipe dream but if we take out GS we get hard/soft/hard series vs the nornal hard/hard/hard series. If we gain to 7 seed then its Rox and likely Denver then likely GS. I think thats the one flaw in not reseeding is if 8 seed can take out 1 they get 4/5 winner. So overall its an easier path even though round one is the hardest team.

It sure would spice up the playoffs.

^Just based on the rosters, i’d prefer to take my chances against Denver and then see what happens from there. At this point, have to rely on help from SA (to lose) to have that even happen. If they win out, we are 8 and you’ll get that shot v GS.

I will say that I did my ticket re-location this afternoon and in all the years we have had Thunder tickets today presented better options to move/upgrade in the same price categories than in the past. Maybe a sign of higher level of non-renewal? Not sure.

Whats with the name calling? I didn’t even reply to anyone and talked 100% Thunder. Is it an insider only thing?

Don't take it personally. Just a euphenism for dreaming that this team gets up for GS, contrary to what I saw in the most recent matchup.

^Just based on the rosters, i’d prefer to take my chances against Denver and then see what happens from there. At this point, have to rely on help from SA (to lose) to have that even happen. If they win out, we are 8 and you’ll get that shot v GS.

I will say that I did my ticket re-location this afternoon and in all the years we have had Thunder tickets today presented better options to move/upgrade in the same price categories than in the past. Maybe a sign of higher level of non-renewal? Not sure.

We’ve lost 6 in a row to Denver its a bad matchup. Adams just does not play well vs them, one of the few teams he struggles with.

We have beat GS this year when focused and even gave them a hard road game in 2nd game of season with Russ out and still adapting to roster. If we are goimg to lose to them anyways why not get them first? If we win our second series is one we should win. And we can beat Rox who can take out Denver.

Way early but:

GS then Jazz then Rox

Or

Rox then Denver then GS

I choose A

Rick or Pops would have had this years team in top 2.




I hope you don't mean Carlisle.

Don't take it personally. Just a euphenism for dreaming that this team gets up for GS, contrary to what I saw in the most recent matchup.

So, name calling is allowed here or is it just certain posters allowed to? Pretty childish

There was no reason ro resort to namecalling I had not even had any discussion with you. And out of the blue a name calling. Its either right or it isn’t and I’d like to know what kind of board this is for reference. I just did not see that coming why did you attack me with name calling? What spurred it? I hadn’t even posted in this thread til the other day and for sure had no interaction with you. Does this make you feel superior? Is it a hazing? I am confused which is why I assume its an insider thing and only insiders are allowed to randomly attack other posters.

Very immature at best.

I hope you don't mean Carlisle.

Yes, Rick. He was the last coach to win a title with a team not conspired of super players. He beat the LBJ super team of Miami too. Did it with Dirk. He has been devoid of talent since forced into several years of tanking.

Rick is a fine coach much better than Billy

Rick is a fine coach much better than Billy

That I can agree with. It was the top 1 or 2 team part I didn't agree with.

Saying he did it with Dirk I think would be disrespecting Barea, Terry (even though I don't like either of them), Kidd, Butler, Chandler, and maybe to an extent Stojakovic. At the time they were considered really good players. Not quite Dirk level, but they played a huge role.

We’ve lost 6 in a row to Denver its a bad matchup. Adams just does not play well vs them, one of the few teams he struggles with.

We have beat GS this year when focused and even gave them a hard road game in 2nd game of season with Russ out and still adapting to roster. If we are goimg to lose to them anyways why not get them first? If we win our second series is one we should win. And we can beat Rox who can take out Denver.

Way early but:

GS then Jazz then Rox

Or

Rox then Denver then GS

I choose A

You'd prefer to avoid either one, but Denver is much less playoff tested. We'd be underdog in both but I promise you the series betting line on OKC-Denver would be much closer than OKC-GS.

Denver plays at GS tonight by the way.

You'd prefer to avoid either one, but Denver is much less playoff tested. We'd be underdog in both but I promise you the series betting line on OKC-Denver would be much closer than OKC-GS.

Denver plays at GS tonight by the way.

They don’t reseed right? If so and if all stays same and making assumptions on winners here is choices:

8 seed: GS then Jazz/Port then Den/Rox

7 seed: Den then Rox then GS

The 8 seed path is easier even though we get GS first. If GS is unbeatable why not play them first? We can beat either Jazz or Port. Then Dev/Rox and and we match better vs Rox.

I know it sounds crazy but I prefer 8 seed and take on GS first. Then get an easier 2nd round. Sure, we likely can’t get by GS but I wanna see it anyways.

That I can agree with. It was the top 1 or 2 team part I didn't agree with.

Saying he did it with Dirk I think would be disrespecting Barea, Terry (even though I don't like either of them), Kidd, Butler, Chandler, and maybe to an extent Stojakovic. At the time they were considered really good players. Not quite Dirk level, but they played a huge role.

We have totally given away so many games this year and Rick would have won most. Add 10 games to record and we are at top 2.

The way the team has been playing it look like they have thrown in the towel. PG is not nearly the same player he was earlier and it appears the injury has taken it's toll on him. If he doesn't come around soon this team doesn't have a shot no matter what team they play. They just lost to two of the bottom feeder teams that were playing back up players. Plus the Thunder bench is pretty much crap outside of Schroder here and there. Bottom line,it's not looking good for the Thunder going forward. Maybe they can break out of the funk and PG finds his shot but I'm not holding my breath.

I almost wonder if the team is coasting right now to help everyone rest up for the playoffs? A silly theory I know, but it makes me wonder.

I almost wonder if the team is coasting right now to help everyone rest up for the playoffs? A silly theory I know, but it makes me wonder.

I have wondered the same... Also have wondered if they just aren't showing everything they've got to try and catch whoever they play first round off guard.

If it turns out to be GSW and they take them down... as already mentioned in this thread it gets easier after that.

If we took on and beat GS it would rock the BB world and change the narrative quite drastically. Can you imagine KD, Klay, Curry, Green, Cousins and Kerr losing in first round. That would be life changing from both spectrums (winners and losers).

A few days ago I saw a Vegas betting odds lost of favorites to win West. OKC was still 2nd best behind GS. If you wanna be the best you gotta beat the best

This is as of March 28th and if anything Thunder odds are longer since then - just odds to win the West:

Golden State Warriors -375
Houston Rockets +625
Denver Nuggets +750
Oklahoma City Thunder +2000
Portland Trail Blazers +2800
Los Angeles Clippers +3000
San Antonio Spurs +3000
Utah Jazz +3000
Sacramento Kings +200000

The Thunder's chances against Denver in Round 1 are significantly better than GS.

Lakers @ Thunder

https://lockervision.nba.com/assets/uniform/Oklahoma%20City%20Thunder/OKC_AE_1_1.jpg

https://lockervision.nba.com/assets/uniform/Los%20Angeles%20Lakers/LAL_SE_4_2.jpg

Series tied 1-1 in a 3 game regular season series.

7 p.m.
Television: TNT - Radio: WWLS-AM 640 / 98.1 FM

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRwxp5qx9LY

Los Angeles Lakers @Thunder Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071834

Westbrook 20s Triple-double: 20 PTS, 20 RBS, 21 ASTS

2nd time in NBA history following: Wilt Chamberlain 22 PTS, 25 RBS, 21 ASTS

Hopefully that Westbrook 60 piece is the spark that this team needs to push through and win out. If by some miracle, POR passes HOU and gets the 3rd spot with us in 6th, I will be the happiest fan ever.

I almost wonder if the team is coasting right now to help everyone rest up for the playoffs? A silly theory I know, but it makes me wonder.

The starters are still playing 35-40 minutes per game, so no (physical) resting is happening! Mentally maybe...

Denver got mauled by GS last night - score was not nearly as close as the 14 points.

For Thunder's sake, Denver needs to bounce back and beat Spurs tonight in back to back for both teams (at Denver). Rockets at Clippers tonight also has seeding implications.

Denver got mauled by GS last night - score was not nearly as close as the 14 points.

For Thunder's sake, Denver needs to bounce back and beat Spurs tonight in back to back for both teams (at Denver). Rockets at Clippers tonight also has seeding implications.

good night for the thunder with denver and the clippers losing

^Pop was bounced in the first minute of that game - not sure I have ever seen that before.:)