A very nice way to bring in 2009

On a wild night in downtown Oklahoma City, with events going on all around Bricktown and beyond, the best show to be seen was in the Ford Center. Granted, I'm not really a Flaming Lips fan, but still. The Thunder really looked like a basketball team. A team that wasn't scrambling and searching for a way to just hang close. They looked like a team that knew what it was doing.

The offense executed in crucial situations. The defense stepped up and got stops when they needed it. They actually rebounded when they got said stop (45-35 advantage). They hit free throws (22-27). They played with intelligence and took care of the ball. It was really something.

Tonight's 107-100 win over Golden State makes Oklahoma City 4-29. There's been a lot of talk about the 1972-73 Sixers and the whole worst team ever thing. When that Philly team got its fourth win, it was 4-58. Hey, 4-29 ain't looking so bad.

Really three key moments stick out in tonight's win:

A. Jeff Green's buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter to make it 78-70 heading into the fourth with all the momentum in OKC's favor. That capped off a 27-15 quarter in favor of the Thunder in which they took control of the game. Green was unstoppable in the frame and his jumper carried much need mo into the fourth. With OKC up four with about a minute left in the third, I told my wife that the Thunder needed to be up eight to have a chance to win. And Green found my magic number. Then OKC kicked off the fourth with back-to-back buckets to take a 12 point advantage.

B. Russell Westbrook checking back in with 7:00 minutes to go. The Thunder had a nice lead, but it was being whittled away by the Warriors. Golden State was getting to the line and had a 12 point OKC lead down to three at 87-84. The defense was struggling, there was no intensity and it seemed everything was slipping away. But Westbrook checked back in, taking Damien Wilkins empty spot and immediately made a defensive impact grabbing a couple boards, deflecting some passes and picking up a steal. He got the offense moving again but more importantly, helped the defense regain itself.

C. Or the wildcard, when Dick Bavetta grabbed fellow ref Sean Wright and kissed him on the cheek when put on "Kiss Cam". Weird to everyone? Yes. Potentially rattling for the Warriors? Absolutely. But those type of things are expected when Bavetta is in play.

OKC dominated the paint, outscoring the Warriors 60-36 in the lane. A lot of that had to do with Chris Wilcox's biggest game of the year. In 36 minutes off the pine, Wilcox had 23 and nine and was solid defensively. His block on Marco Belinelli snuffed out a potential bucket and game changing play. Earl Watson finally played a nice game, scoring 11 and dishing six assists. (For the most part) he took smart shots and managed the offense well. Just eight players played, but other than the non-existent ghost that plays shooting guard, everybody was productive.

One troubling thing I've been noticing about Kevin Durant is his poor entry passes. He holds the ball too long, pumps it too much and throws it away too often. Against the Warriors, he turned it over four times and three of those were on terrible post entry passes. But other than that, he was really good. This was probably the best he's taken the ball to the rim this season. He handled the ball well, controlled it and got in the lane and finished. He was selective again on three pointers and took what was given to him. A Kevin Durant that uses tonight's repertoire along with his deadly smooth jumper could be a Kevin Durant that is a perennial All-Star and unstoppable scorer. And with Green playing well beside him, there's really something exciting brewing. The two combined for 51 points and if that can become a nightly trend, there's reason to be excited about the future.

Got to give it up to Oklahoma native Kelenna Azubuike though. He had 24 (23 in the second half) off the Warriors bench and hit back-to-back treys that tightened things up. I've always liked him.

Unlike the first game between these two squads, the Thunder wasn't playing from behind all night. The Warriors held the lead for most of the first half, but OKC was right there. There was incredible balance offensively with three Thunder players scoring over 20. As mentioned, Green was very awesome, Durant was excellent and Wilcox played his best game of the year. OKC was dominant on the glass and gave itself second chances with 14 offensive boards. The Thunder turned 20 Warrior giveaways into 24 points.

Two sequences can kind of sum up the effort of the two teams. On one possession early in the third, Stephen Jackson went to the rim and thought he was hacked. He sat on his butt at his own end with his elbows on his knees as OKC took off and had a full possession 5 on 4. The Thunder scored and Jackson finally got up. Late in the fourth, Wilcox didn't give up on a play after feeling he was fouled and streaked into the lane and tossed Belinelli's runner into Loud City. As Tom Ziller said, you can't accuse the Thunder of quitting. They played hard. They're trying to win. And maybe they're figuring out how.

The best part about tonight's win is that it wasn't against a team that was quitting. This was a team riding a two game winning streak with one of those against maybe the best team in the league. They were playing with confidence and most likely were focused to get a third straight win against the consensus worst team. But OKC stepped up. This game ended just a five game losing steak. That's an improvement from the previous two wins ending 14 and eight game losing streaks. So maybe next it will just be three in a row before a win. Then two. Then one. And then maybe a winning streak.

The Thunder will get an (unlikely) chance for two in a row Friday night against the very tough Nuggets. But after a good night like this, I think the page is turning a bit. Wins like this can help you to start shaking the "We're going to lose every game" feeling. OKC is no pushover. Winning is a long shot, but it's becoming a more realistic possibility on a night-to-night basis.

A nice way to kick off the Ron Adams/Nenad Krstic era. And an even nicer way to put 2008 in the books and head to 2009 (let's just ignore the fact that the team won only four times in 2008). Maybe this is a good sign for the team heading into the new year. New year, new coach, new player and a win to boot. Hopefully, this is a symbolic way to turn the page and make 2009 better than 2008.

Warriors vs. Thunder: Pre-game view

vs.

Golden State Warriors (10-23) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (THREE AND FREAKING TWENTY NINE)
Wednesday, December 31
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
7:00 CST

TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

View from the other side: Golden State of Mind

More than anything, tonight is about overcoming a mental block. The Warriors aren't necessarily more talented than Oklahoma City, but OKC can't seem to shake that its supposed to lose. And the Thunder plays like it. It's obvious; especially in the fourth quarter. If the Thunder's winning late, they played scared. If they're trailing, they play careless.

Golden State has been decent at home (6-7) but awful on the road (4-16). The last time OKC and Golden State locked up, all signs pointed to a Thunder victory until the ball was actually tipped. Golden State was playing without any of its most major stars and with guys that have seen the court as much as Mo Sene and they still beat OKC by 10 and led virtually the entire game. The only good thing to come from that pathetic night was Kevin Durant's 41 and the light show he put on in the final two minutes. But that game was easily the most frustrating of the year.

You'd think the Thunder would come out and look to get revenge. You'd think. But sometimes I wonder if they've accepted the fact that they stink and are just waiting for April 15 -- the last day of the season. So you have to toss all expectations out the window. If this group had finished and won a few games they should have (Memphis, Atlanta, LA Clippers, Minnesota), I'd be calling victory tonight. But since that just hasn't happened, I'm trying to picture 3-30 and convince myself it isn't at bad as it looks.

I really don't know why you want a team to win other than to just give you reason to care. As everybody says, you can't crown a winner before the game starts. Who knows what can happen? But in OKC's case, most times, we all know what will happen before the tip. And so does the team. And that's the problem. One team doesn't expect to win. The other thinks, "We better not effing lose to those jokes." That makes for one squad trying harder than they should against a 3-29 team and the other creating new ways to lose.

This isn't one of those, play-tough-hang-in-there-stay-close-and-give-yourself-a-chance games. It should be (but won't be) the type of game you win. The Warriors stink on the road, play bad defense and are really, really average. But I thought the same thing in Washington last week. And the same thing against the Clippers. And the same thing against the Grizzlies. And the same thing... you get the point.

It would be really nice to have Nenad Krstic tonight because, well, OKC needs everything it can get. But he won't be in uniform as he waits on his work visa to get finalized. That sucks. Let's just hope Kevin Durant follows up on Ziller's prediction and goes for 50. KD played poorly against Phoenix and typically he follows a bad one with a really, really good one. And if Russell Westbrook can do half of what he did against the Suns and Jeff Green chips in another solid performance, the Thunder could have a fighting chance. Look at me, I sound like Dan Shaughnessy with all these "ifs". But it is the truth -- OKC just can't seem to get all three clicking together. In the Thunder's three wins Durant, Green and Westbrook have combined for 58 percent of OKC's points. Sure, there has been losses where all three played well, but OKC has to have everybody clicking in order to win. And the those three are the most important parts.

I'm trying to go into this game with no expectations, or in other words, with the full expectation of a loss. But for some reason this one has the feeling of the Raptors game a little. Except that Golden State hasn't gotten a coach fired and completely quit on the new guy. But a below average team that's bad on the road is coming in and the Thunder's just due. They are. But again, no expectations other than the obvious ones, but I have that sneaking suspicion OKC could surprise. (Translation: I'd love to make a win prediction for the Thunder but I obviously realize how futile and borderline psycho that is, so in order to not sound like a loon, I'm pulling a Lee Corso and tossing out a butt-covering "Closer than the experts think" call so I can kind of get the best of both worlds.)

Kevin Durant wows, but Thunder doesn't in 112-102 loss to Warriors

This was bad. This was just a bad loss. As if the other 19 weren't awful, this one was the worst. I know there was a late push that was pretty good, but it shouldn't have come to that.

Let me break it down this way:
1. Golden State came in to the Ford Center on a nine game skid, sitting at 5-15. In other words, a very beatable team.

2. Golden State was playing without two of its top players, Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson. Oh, in that case, an extremely beatable team.

3. For most of the night, Oklahoma City trailed by double-digits, was down 19 at the half and by as much as 21.

4. The Thunder turned the ball over 20 times, including 15 in the first half alone.

5. And on top of that, shot 12-20 (60 percent) from the free throw line.

6. Kevin Durant did put up a mesmerizing 41 and we'd like to welcome Nick Collison back (15 and 10), but other than that, everyone flopped. Jeff Green had maybe THE WORST shooting performance I've ever seen. By my count, he airballed five times and barely caught the front of the rim once. On one of the rimless shots, I swear he missed it by a solid two feet. It was like it slipped out of his hand or was throwing an oop to Casper.

7. The first half was a very P.J.-esque performance. No intensity. No fire. Terrible, terrible defense and just an overall lack of basketball competency.

8. After playing his best game as a pro against Miami, Russell Westbrook made me want to run face first into my television tonight. Funny how rookies can do that to you. He was 4-13 from the field, had six turns and on top of it, he missed multiple key shots that could have pulled OKC within a real possibility of winning.

9. This is your home court. You're supposed to be better here, not worse. The momentum was building for a solid home win. The crowd could feel it with the tip. But then for three quarters, OKC tosses out a real stinker.

10. The Warriors shot 50.6 percent from the field and for much of the game were over 60 percent. Oh, and also had SEVEN players score in double figures.

No improvement talk tonight. We have already broken the Oklahoma State Cowboy record for most moral victories in a season. Scott Brooks said enough of those. I agree. The game is at home and you're supposed to win. And you lose. No excuses for this one. It's time to man up and win sometimes.

This was probably the most frustrating game of the season because I'd seen the improvement leading up and expected a good night. Who was I kidding? There's just a complete failure to execute in the most crucial situations. It's plagued OKC all season long and it will likely continue to plague it.

And for your Brian Davis watch, he said "triggers" or "triggered" 11 times and for good measure tossed in three "Rock-a-bye-babys." I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.

One day off and then one of the two Thunder victims comes to the Ford Center as Memphis plays OKC Wednesday night.

Warriors vs. Thunder: Pre-game view

vs.

Golden State Warriors (5-15) at Oklahoma City Thunder (2-19)
Monday, December 8
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
7:00 CST

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

My apologies on the lack of Bolts today as I'm busy this week (I'm graduating Friday!) and so things are a bit hectic. Hectic in the sense of "I want to make sure I'm actually graduating." Saturday night was a night meant for celebrating OU's third straight Big 12 title and seeing as the Thunder lost - I thought I could skip out on a post game wrapper. Kind of like college: Every now and then you just feel like skipping class, even though I could have easily went. Oh well.

Tonight's game against the Warriors has OKC returning to the Sooner State after a good week and a half spent on the road. Though the losses keep piling up, the team is finally playing solid basketball for four quarters. The pieces aren't in place to win, but it's clear something has changed for the better under Coach Brooks. No more of these 30 point holes to dig out of just to make it respectable.

And how about Russell Westbrook. He played easily his best game as a pro scoring 30 on 10-18 shooting. But lost in that line was his seven rebounds and also the fact he attempted only one three. He finally took smart shots for an entire game, didn't force it to the rim and played within himself. I think this is a sign of things to come from Westbrook.

In the last two games of the road trip, Kevin Durant didn't shoot well at all, didn't assert himself and didn't score. He had just 34 in the two games combined on 11-35 shooting. But even without his contributions, OKC lost by just six and nine, respectively. That's good, I guess. In the sense that the team *tried* to pick up the slack for its off star.

With tonight's game, Golden State wants to run and take quick shots. Under Coach Scotty, the Thunder have done a bit of the same. Jamaal Crawford gives the Warriors a complete other dimension to that run and gun style, because of his athleticism and ability to score in bunches. He's fit right in to the system and is playing well. Though somehow, the Warriors have not. At all. One advantage the Thunder should have is on the boards, especially with the return of Nick Collison. He played extremely efficient against the Heat and adding him back into the rotation could be a big boost. The key is keeping Andris Biedrins off the boards as he pulls down 11.9 rebounds a game and I think the combo of Collison and Chris Wilcox should be able to limit him for the most part. Also, the Warriors play horrid defense, but so does OKC. So there should be some points scored tonight.

Right now, there's just a consistency missing. When the Thunder's playing great defense, they're missing shots. When they're knocking down everything, the defense and rebounding lacks. They're doing enough to stay close for 48 minutes and at least give themselves a chance to win (unlike the first 12 games), but enough of this hanging around. Looking at the schedule, there's some chances to get a few wins this December. The team is without a doubt playing better. It just has to get over the hump and why not start tonight at home against a very beatable opponent. The problem is other struggling teams see "Oklahoma City" on their schedule and they immediately think, "Sweet, here's a chance to get back on track." The Warriors have lost nine in a row. So the Thunder is going to need intensity and effort tonight and good performances and solid contributions from everyone to win this thing, because Golden State is seeing this game as their chance to break it.