****Official 2012/2013 Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball Thread****

[OKCisOK4me]

Yeah my mom is going to her first Thunder game ever Wednesday night and it'd be crap if the lowly Hornets beat us at home!

[Bellaboo]

Yeah my mom is going to her first Thunder game ever Wednesday night and it'd be crap if the lowly Hornets beat us at home!

I sold my tickets to a lady at work who is going to her first Thunder game tonight......are her initials M.H. ???


And we're going to kick the Hornets/Pelicans butts.

[OKCisOK4me]

No, these tickets are from my uncle and I'm going with my mom...but her first name is Mary ;-)

[SoonerBoy18]

Well sorry for that semi jinx. Lol

[Jim Kyle]

'Twere a real nail-biter!!!

[OKCDrummer77]

We had a 9 game winning streak back in February 2010, our second season. It took us to another level - from "We're kinda good" to "Hey, we might make the Playoffs" - which, of course, we did.

[OSUMom]

That was an ugly, ugly game. But a win is a win.

[ljbab728]

That was an ugly, ugly game. But a win is a win.

You're absolutely right. I'm sure that Miami would have been pleased with an ugly win tonight instead of an ugly loss at home against the Warriors. All that matters in the NBA is wins and losses. San Antonio could change their game tonight around in the second half but they are trailing at Utah at half. The Thunder could be alone with the best record in the NBA after tonight. (Memphis lost again)

[ljbab728]

In a very entertaining game the Jazz beat the Spurs by 3 points with a 3 point shot at the buzzer. The Thunder are on top for now anyway.

[Anonymous.]

Don't discount the Warriors... They can be for real come playoff time.

Nice to see the Spurs get sunk by a buzzer. Feels good after Parker man handled us (mostly RW) in Game #1 this season.

[dankrutka]

I'll go ahead and discount the Warriors. They've made nice strides this year, but they're not ready to make a serious run. Come playoff time I see them as the 7th or 8th best team in the west at best. I fully expect all the teams ahead of them already innthe standings and the Mavs (Dirk will be back) and Lakers (no way they're this bad all season... see the Heat two years ago) to be bigger threats come the end of the season.

[Stan Silliman]

I'll go ahead and discount the Warriors. They've made nice strides this year, but they're not ready to make a serious run. Come playoff time I see them as the 7th or 8th best team in the west at best. I fully expect all the teams ahead of them already innthe standings and the Mavs (Dirk will be back) and Lakers (no way they're this bad all season... see the Heat two years ago) to be bigger threats come the end of the season.

You said it. The Mavs have learned to play without Dirk and have a prescription for scoring while
he's resting. When the Lakers get Nash back, they'll be 20 % better and I'm guessing Pau Gasal
will be a factor with Nash around.

Can the Grizzlies get through the season without injuries? Right now they're overloading Marc
Gasal's and Zack's minutes. That can take a toll late in the season.

I expect, at the end, it'll be the Spurs and the Thunder fighting for 1st in the West. With neither
team having the winning percentage it had last year.

[dankrutka]

Can the Grizzlies get through the season without injuries? Right now they're overloading Marc
Gasal's and Zack's minutes. That can take a toll late in the season.

Huh? Neither of them are in the top 20 minutes played per game. On the other hand, KD plays the 3rd most minutes in the NBA: 2012-13 Regular Season NBA Player Stats and League Leaders - Minutes - National Basketball Association - ESPN.

[OKCisOK4me]

I'll go ahead and discount the Warriors. They've made nice strides this year, but they're not ready to make a serious run. Come playoff time I see them as the 7th or 8th best team in the west at best. I fully expect all the teams ahead of them already innthe standings and the Mavs (Dirk will be back) and Lakers (no way they're this bad all season... see the Heat two years ago) to be bigger threats come the end of the season.

I won't discount the Warriors. They've started a road streak 5-0 for the first time since 78-79. I was born in 78...so that's a looooooong time. Best thing is to not discount any team in this league. It's happened to the Heat twice now--losing to Golden State and recently lost against the Wizards! Russell Westbrook recently said you gotta have your game face on at all times cause any team can win at any time. It's the NBA. Our boys luckily didn't end up like the other big boys last night.

[dankrutka]

Anyone can win in the NBA on any night.... In the regular season. The playoffs are actually much more predictable.

Playoffs are different than the regular season. I don't see the Warriors as having much of a chance of beating the Thunder, Spurs, Grizzlies, Clippers, and probably even the Mavs and Lakers by the end of the season. They'll very likely be a 5-8 seed in the playoffs. I don't see them beating any of those top 4 teams without home court (or even if they had it). They have no playoff experience and they're the type of team that will struggle with the more physical playoffs. They're a great story, but they have first round exit written all over them. Again, we'll see how it plays out, but I'm confident that they won't be a serious threat come playoff time.

[Teo9969]

The Thunder are definitely the favorite out of the west. From there, if Memphis can make some moves to shore up their bench, they would be #2 (with a great chance to knock off any team because of how great their front court is). San Antonio and the Clippers round out the Top 4. From there, there is a drop off and I don't think any team is going to beat one of those 4 teams in the first round.

Dallas and LA will be threats, but LA is going to struggle just to make the playoffs (I'm guessing they'll be 4 games under .500 going into the all-star break if not worse). Dallas, even with Nowitzki, doesn't really seem like a team that is going to make a serious run. They could maybe beat the Clippers in the first round, but I don't see them beating any of the other big 4.

[OKCisOK4me]

Yeah, we'll find out on Tuesday morning how big of a favorite the Thunder are for the west. We're 1/2 a game up on San Antonio, unless they've played and won since their loss at Utah. We play them at home on Monday and the guys will be more fired up for that one than this last game and the one tonight. SA can't win that game as those wins will go in their pocket for a better chance at home court advantage come post season. We have to win on Monday.

[BrettM2]

Yeah, we'll find out on Tuesday morning how big of a favorite the Thunder are for the west. We're 1/2 a game up on San Antonio, unless they've played and won since their loss at Utah. We play them at home on Monday and the guys will be more fired up for that one than this last game and the one tonight. SA can't win that game as those wins will go in their pocket for a better chance at home court advantage come post season. We have to win on Monday.

Lost to Portland last night. Big deal for us is that we can't have a let down tonight because it is only the Kings when we play SA on Monday. If our guys can stay focused, we have a good shot to beat the Spurs and keep this streak going.

[Bellaboo]

Dup post, so I deleted.

[OKCisOK4me]

Lost to Portland last night. Big deal for us is that we can't have a let down tonight because it is only the Kings when we play SA on Monday. If our guys can stay focused, we have a good shot to beat the Spurs and keep this streak going.

Well, heck, that sucks for SA, but I ain't hurting, lol. I think they (our guys) kinda had their let down against the Pelicans. That game was just abysmal in the first half. I think (knocking on wood) that they'll be on point tonight.

[BrettM2]

Well, heck, that sucks for SA, but I ain't hurting, lol. I think they (our guys) kinda had their let down against the Pelicans. That game was just abysmal in the first half. I think (knocking on wood) that they'll be on point tonight.

I hope you're right. Our guys don't generally have off nights two games in a row, so hopefully they'll come out hungry. I'd like to see Martin with 20 by half and RW0 with double digit assists, but no one plays in the 4th quarter.

[king183]

I have two tickets for tonight's game against the Kings I cannot use and will be selling. If anyone from OKCtalk is interested, PM me. They're in Section 212. I'm selling for $100 total, which is below face value. They also come with a parking pass.

Update: Sold.

[Anonymous.]

Although the term is overused, tonight is definitely a "trap game". Kings will play their best ball, meanwhile Thunder may be looking ahead to Monday night.

Spurs are finally showing some signs of ability to lose. OKC has revenge on their minds for the first game of the season. Especially on Russell to pester the crap out of Tony.


We traded our tickets for tonights game for some different tickets on Monday. So tonight we will be couch cheering.

[OKCisOK4me]

Well, it looks like they're going to score more points this first half than on Wednesday so that's a good sign!

[dankrutka]

You all should remember that (a) the Thunder have had an easy schedule up to now, (b) the Spurs have had a tough schedule, and (c) regular season record does not mean a team will advance furthest in the playoffs. For example, Chicago finished with the best record two years ago and there was zero chance they were beating the Heat. Last year, the Spurs were #1 and we know what happened. It's fun to analyze who the "best" team is now, but it matters way more how teams are playing in April and what they're capable of overall.