Oklahoma City Thunder 2017-18

[Jake]

The Thunder pathetically lost to a bad team again, keeping them two games below .500.

This team has been so disappointing.

[Thomas Vu]

On the plus side, the bench has scored the most I've seen it score with 29.

[Easy180]

Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook lost to a team led by Caris Levert and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Not sure what to say after that opening statement.

[dankrutka]

Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook lost to a team led by Caris Levert and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Not sure what to say after that opening statement.

At least Caris Levert had a great night for my fantasy team.

[Anonymous.]

Yikes that was pitiful. What even is this free throw percentage?!

Russ is totally different this season. Guess he burned everything up for his MVP.


EDIT: So I guess Russ has an injury, right hip.

[Laramie]

Thunder are 4 - 1 in December. Wins over Minnesota 111-107, San Antonio 90-87, Utah 100-94 @home & an OT @Memphis 102-101.

Brooklyn game in Mexico City is another below .500 team we let slip away.

Beat the struggling Charlotte Hornets (9-16) @home tomorrow, OKC should be poised to hit the road against Indiana (PG13 homecoming), Pacers are 16-11 with a 4 game win streak; Thunder snapped the Jazz' recent 6 game win streak.

Thunder will have a day of rest before back-to-back @ Philadelphia & New York both .500 teams. If we can go 2-1 on the road against Pacers. Nets & Knicks, I'll take that.

Note: When Charlotte reacquired the Hornets nickname, it's confusion since the Hornets use to call New Orleans & OKC home.

[Anonymous.]

PG seemed pissed in his post game interview last night. Melo left without talking to anyone after the game.

Why is Felton and Russ playing together? That lineup is getting wrecked. Why is Dakari getting basically zero minutes? We have no confidence in a backup center. Felton shot 10 times. PLEASE get Grant more involved, he is so athletic. The weird use of Collison and Patterson is super cringe-worthy.

Presti is on the phone today, if he hasn't been already the last two weeks.

Billy is getting the ax earlier than I thought, my original guess was AS Break, but maybe even before 2018. Also maybe we should just try to get a shooter for PG or something, he looks like he hates it here right now.

[Laramie]

Paul George's overall stats in OKC are higher than there were in Indiana 2016-17.

If you're looking for someone who could put this team on the right path; Billy Donovan (has all the answers) is where we need to start. He's accountable...


Jeff Van Gundy is one you would want to consider if Billy Donovan is forced out.

[dcsooner]

The real question that must be asked is will Oklahoma City Thunder fans continue to support (attend games/buy tickets) the team during down or even losing seasons? Is the Thunder OKCs team? and will the team receive support based on that fact alone? Has there been an allegiance established over ten years that will endure?

Many are skeptical that the market will sustain through droughts. thoughts?

[dankrutka]

The real question that must be asked is will Oklahoma City Thunder fans continue to support (attend games/buy tickets) the team during down or even losing seasons? Is the Thunder OKCs team? and will the team receive support based on that fact alone? Has there been an allegiance established over ten years that will endure?

Many are skeptical that the market will sustain through droughts. thoughts?

Yes, it’ll be fine. I have no doubts. OKC has the population to support the team and one sport pro teams tend to do very well. I’ve been to a lot of arenas and I don’t think most people realize how bad the atmosphere and attendance are in a lot of NBA cities. I went a game in NOLA last year with probably 8,000 people there. I went to a Jazz game two years ago against OKC with Russ and KD and there were probably 3,000 empty seats. Same thing when I saw OKC against Dwight and the Magic 5 years ago. I expect OKC fans to be some of the best to come for the foreseeable future. OKC’s worst game experience in franchise history is better than the average for a lot of teams.

[Laramie]

Attendance in OKC is strong; Thunder consistently rank top 15 among 30 franchises. We have a metro population base of 1.3 million; central city 635,000. Thunder have a streak of 310 consecutive sellouts since 2010 season:

OKC Arena capacities:

2002–2006 - 19,163 Ford Center

2006–2008 - 19,164

2008–2009 - 19,136 Oklahoma City Arena

2009–present - 18,203 arena reconfiguration: Oklahoma City Arena/2011 Chesapeake Energy Arena

NBA Attendance link: http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Thunder 100 - Indiana Pacers 95

Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975155

[chuck5815]

Well, this team seems to play well in the made-for-TV, storyline games (i.e. KD in OKC, George’s return to Indy). The big question is whether the team can motivate itself to beat the Charlottes and Sacramentos of the world. Hopefully they turn the corner on this road trip.

[Roger S]

Well, this team seems to play well in the made-for-TV, storyline games (i.e. KD in OKC, George’s return to Indy). The big question is whether the team can motivate itself to beat the Charlottes and Sacramentos of the world. Hopefully they turn the corner on this road trip.

I’ve noticed they have an underdog complex. They win when they aren’t favored to win.

[dankrutka]

Big 3 went 10 of 45... and won. That' incredible. Russ, PG, and Melo are all shooting so bad over such a large sample of games. It's pretty stunning. Great job by Steven Adams, Alex Abrines, and Patrick Patterson to step up on offense.

[Anonymous.]

Abrines is good when he gets substantial minutes who would have thought!?

I hope this Roberson injury has shown Billy that in order for players to get in rhythm, you actually have to let them play. Patterson with his best game for us so far. And Heustis came through on some 3 balls. The bench and Adams are responsible for what is now our best road win.

[dcsooner]

They should play Abrines more. He can play give the guy some run

[dankrutka]

Abrines hitting threes really opens up the offense for OKC. Unfortunately, Abrines playing defense really opens up the lane for the other team. Lol. Him and Melo can really put the defense at a disadvantage. However, I think it's an experiment worth trying. While I'm a Roberson defender (mostly because a lot of fans think he's garbage and don't recognize his defensive value at all), I have always been in favor of using Roberson as a situational defender, not an automatic starter. In other words, start Roberson when the matchups dictate it and Abrines when he seems like a better fit.

But, yeah, another interesting note from last night. I think one reason some guys broke out is that Billy went with those all bench units and those guys actually felt the confidence and responsibility to make plays. I just think there's a lot of offensive deference to the Big 3 when one of them is on the floor that maybe playing all bench units more is necessary to get those guys going.

Still a lot of good signs for OKC long term if they can address some of the larger offensive problems.

[Laramie]

It's our turn... ...ugly wins, we'll take them just like ugly losses.

[Jersey Boss]

I'm looking forward to Adams v. Embrid. Westbrook needs to feed Adams in all 4 quarters, not just the first 3.

[Laramie]

.
Oklahoma City Thunder 119 - Philadelphia 76ers 117

Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/id/400975172

[Jake]

Gonna be tired for tomorrow's game lol

[Easy180]

Westbrook, George and Anthony get beat easily by a team led by Michael Beasley.

[Laramie]

.

Oklahoma City Thunder 95 - Denver Nuggets 94

Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975198

[Anonymous.]

If OKC can put together a solid string of Ws heading into Christmas against HOU, then we could be sniffing the 4th-5th seed. Beating Jazz twice this week would help gap ourselves into the playoff picture.

We need Adams to come back soon. Not sure how many more heroics Russ can pull off. PG is playing miserable, he bricked at least 6 wide open shots against DEN @ home. Abrines is finally getting minutes that put up the much needed threeball we have always lacked. I think we may have finally found that catch and shoot 3 guy. It was nice to see Melo actually pass the ball and find teammates, he needs to shoot probably 4-5 more times, it would be solid if he had about 10 or 12 shots each game.