Monday Bolts - First Win Edition

• Joe from Thunderguru breaks down the win: "This was one of those ugly, back and forth, nobody can really deliver the finishing blow types of games that Thunder GM Sam Presti must have envisioned we would gut out on occasion when he put together the pieces on this team. I bet he dropped his ice cream cone in his lap when the final buzzer sounded (is he old enough to drink)?"

• Kelly Dwyer goes behind the box score of OKC's win: "Oklahoma City's offense stunk on Sunday night, as its level of efficiency was right around its 2007-08 league-low mark of a hundred points per as many possessions. What the Thunder did kick a little tail on was the defensive end, both in getting stops and demanding crucial turnovers from the Timberwolves."

• Berry Tramel on the collective sigh of relief cast after the win: "But after a dudsville opener against Milwaukee, a home loss to Minnesota would have made everyone — players, fans, Thundershirt vendors — wonder exactly who this team could beat."

• Mr. Monday of the Oklahoman on the win: "As you would expect, the crowd was pretty pumped. Either that or they were just glad to be somewhere not watching election coverage. Mr. Monday was tempted to run out to halfcourt and give some Electoral College projections, but nixed the idea when future Secretary of Agriculture Brad Henry walked by. Don’t want to ruin the surprise for the guv."

• Game reaction from Canis Hoopus, a T-Wolves blog: "If you were watching this game at home, there was one fairly obvious theme throughout: OKC's 2nd unit was murdering the Wolves' 2nd string. Have you ever seen a box score where a team's entire 1st unit had negative +/- while the 2nd string went nuts? It happened last night in OKC. The 2nd string troubles were noticeable from the get-go, yet if you look at PopcornMachine's GameFlows, you see the Wolves doing very little to adjust their match-ups against OKC's effective backups. Not until late in the 3rd do you see any movement beyond not leaving Craig Smith in the game with the starters during the 2nd quarter."

EDIT: And I meant to point it out but forgot, no sign of Never Been to Spain following the victory. Instead, Kool and the Gang's Celebration was played. Exactly what I didn't want. Boo.

The Thunder cracks the win column

BOX SCORE

Most times, I don't even know why I try and predict things. Sports are like Oklahoma weather - hard to know what's going to happen because in 15 minutes, everything might change.

But regardless, a tip-of-the-hat to me for going on record saying that a strong push by Russell Westbrook would carry the Thunder (1-2) to its first ever win. Also, a wag of the finger for saying OKC would come out shooting lights out. Not hardly as the team hit its first 6 of 17 shots. But oh well as the team produced an 88-85 win in front of an awesome crowd at the Ford Center Sunday night.

It was definitely a slow start offensively, but tonight, pure grit and determination got the job done. In the first eight minutes, the Thunder racked up something like eight offensive boards. The best sequence being three straight offensive grabs in which Nick Collison capped it off by diving on the floor to preserve another possession. Sequences like that are things that are going to get this city behind this team.

But how about that win. Playing a clutch, nasty, defensive fourth quarter, holding Minnesota (1-2) to 12 points and coming up with 18 in the final frame to lock away the win. Heck, OKC held the Wolves to only two points in the final five minutes. That's locking down.

These are the kind of games the Thunder can't afford to lose - home games to teams on the same level - if OKC wants to have a better season than last. It took nine games to get a win last year. Only three this year. OKC Bump anyone?

Russell Westbrook just made another strong case as to why he should be my favorite player. He sparked a 13-0 run in the third that got the Thunder back in the game. He played awesome defense and was extremely active in the passing lanes and on the ball. He hit the go-ahead shot in the fourth to put the team up 86-85 and that little floater he made in the first was just plain awesome. The guy is going to be a star. I think he is validating Sam Presti's "risk pick" more and more by the second. I have been pretty adamant about him starting, but honestly, having him off the bench might be a good thing. He can spark runs, get tough on defense and provide a really good pick-me-up for the team once he comes on the floor. I think he should see starter minutes, but maybe having him off the bench for a while is a good thing. Or maybe I'm just excited because we won.

Two things I said we going to be key tonight: free throw shooting and rebounding. In the free throw battle, OKC took four more but made three less than the Wolves. That's not good. But the Thunder made up for it on the glass by outrebounding Minnesota 50-38 with 19 of the offensive variety. 19! That's big time. And not to forget, Nick Collison had seven of the offensive boards. He is that guy that every coach is talking about in their preseason speech. "I'm going to play the guy that works his butt off and hustles every second he's on the floor." That's Nick. He's the guy that is relentless and gets things done more so with effort than skill.

Dr. Thunder wants someone to do something

But just as many have been clamoring for, Coach Peej had Westbrook and Earl Watson on the floor together down the stretch. Which worked well. Westbrook attacked and Watson distributed. The two were very complementary to each other's game.

To wrap up, this was a total team effort where everyone chipped in. Kevin Durant was ok, scoring 18 on 7-21 shooting. Jeff Green was better than ok scoring 13. Chris Wilcox was good off the bench, netting 12 with seven boards. Westbrook as mentioned was excellent, Collison great and Desmond Mason was solid off the bench. Just an all-around good game for the Thunder.

The Thunder gets two days off before taking on the defending champion Boston Celtics Wednesday at the Ford Center.

Minnesota vs. Thunder: Pre-game primer

vs.

Minnesota Timberwolves (1-1) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (0-2)
Sunday, November 2
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
6:00 p.m. CST

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

Game thread
NBA.com preview

Coming off a tough loss in Houston, the Thunder is trying to find themselves offensively. Kevin Durant got on track with a nice 26-point performance, but no one else really chipped in much. Chris Wilcox was his usual self, playing on really nice game that makes you think, "Ok, here we go. He gets it now" but then came back with a game that made you think, "Ohh, I get it now."

Tonight, the Thunder needs to crack down in two areas: free throw shooting and rebounding. The making the free throws wasn't really the problem against Houston, it was actually the shooting of the free throws. The Thunder only got nine chances at it. One reason? Russell Westbrook only played 18 minutes. Why? You tell me. The rotation was strange last night with the starting five seeing almost all the court time. Tonight, Westbrook and or other people need to attack the rim and get to the stripe. Next, Johan Petro played decent against the Rockets, but every major loose ball went the way of the Rockets. Wilcox and Collison must do a better job on the boards.

In order to win... the Thunder must keep up the defensive work, but now add on some offense. Instead of one guy having a good night at a time (Wilcox in the opener, Durant last night) a couple of guys needs to put together a good night offensively.

Prediction: OKC treats the home crowd with a better game offensively and shoots the ball extremely well. Westbrook comes off the bench to spark the team in the second half as the Thunder holds off the Wolves. Thunder 94, Timberwolves 88.