Thunder gets Sun burned, 102-93

BOX SCORE

Let me just say this: I want Robert Swift to become a great player. OKC needs him to. But Lord help us if he ever becomes the face of this franchise. Nothing against the big fella, but we all know he isn't exactly easy on the eyes. The hair, the pale skin, the tats. The awkward lumbering. But if he ever gets it he could be a major piece in the Thunder puzzle.

But the good news is Big Robert played tonight. Because without him, the Thunder (1-5) would've only had eight players dressed. And the nine that were in their light blue unis played hard all night, taking the Suns (5-3) to the limit in a 102-93 loss. The Thunder tipped a ton of passes and got most loose balls. Very impressed with the hustle this evening.

You add Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, Earl Watson to the mix tonight and things might have been different. You could visibly see the team wear down late in the fourth. Phoenix started getting more of the loose balls, picking pockets and grabbing offensive rebounds. But even without them, Johan Petro played another solid game scoring 17 on 7-10 shooting. But missing Wilcox and Nick Collison not playing a lot due to foul trouble contributed to being outrebounded 38-35.

Jeff Green went down hard and appeared to have hurt his wrist. Kevin Durant limped off late in the fourth. Either these guys are all made of ceramic, they're big babies or they're really unlucky. Pretty much anytime someone went up for a rebound, slipped a little or was fouled, I just knew they sprained and ankle, blew out a knee or broke their face. Seriously. With the rash of injuries, I've got it in my head that every play someone is going to get hurt. I saw Earl Watson bend over to tie his shoe and I swear I saw his MCL snap.

Bob Swift looking ridiculous.

Other than the hustle and active hands, there were some other major positives. Russell Westbrook played his best game of the preseason. He led the team in scoring and knocked down some nice looking outside shots, but he played really, really good defense on Steve Nash. Every now and then I see Westbrook cross someone and dive to the bucket and I think I'm watching a perennial All-Star. In a few years, that hesitation-cross over move Westbrook has could be deadly. Dare I say it looked kind of Chris Paul-ish? Tonight Westbrook finished with 22 points on 7-13 shooting and was 6-6 from the line. He pulled down six boards and dished four assists, but did turn it seven times. But that comes with him playing the most minutes of the preseason (39) and having to handle the ball basically the entire game.

And the sequence with Green's awesome block then Durant ooping to Westbrook was electric. That, combined with all the blocks and steals showed how athletic this team is.

Durant was ok, netting 19, but seemed reluctant at times to try and take the game over. Green was ok as well, putting up 12 and seven, but on 4-12 shooting. Damien Wilkins might as well have stayed home tonight, as he had two points in 18 minutes on 1-5 shooting.

All in all, I think this game might be a microcosm of what lies ahead for the season (other than army of players missing with injuries). The squad played hard until the finish, but didn't have the gas or the wherewithal to finish. They couldn't secure a major defensive rebound with about five minutes left that turned into a big Sun three. They couldn't score with 40 seconds left down six. There were just small things they didn't do which resulted in the loss. They turned it 23 times and were sloppy at times. But they worked hard and showed flashes of brilliance. Just keep telling yourself as it goes on - they're young; it will come.

Oklahoma City vs. Golden State: Recapped

Is there reason to be concerned? The Thunder (0-3) lost 122-102 to Golden State (2-1) tonight, which really wasn't a big surprise. We all knew the Thunder wasn't going to be good, but with Kevin Durant taking it on the chin again with a 4-16 night from the floor, is there reason to wonder about the season? The team is 0-3 and hasn't really played all that well. Should we worry?

No.

It's preseason basketball.

If Allen Iverson were here, he'd say "Preseason? We talkin' bout preseason! Not the regular season, not the regular season, not the regular season. We talkin' bout... preseason." Obviously, "worry" is relative because we know what the expectations are for this squad.

But I'll tell you one thing to maybe worry about - Jeff Green's ankle sprain. The guy was coming on. He played well against Sacramento and was looking good for a half against the Warriors. But hopefully it was just a light tweak and he was held out for precautionary reasons.

Other than that, there's really nothing to be worried about. The team wasn't playing with a loaded gun, seeing as Nick Collison was held out and a bunch of other contributers didn't see any time on the hardwood either. The squad is playing a stream of games in just a few days so they're pacing themselves. And the point of preseason is to get better, get more acquanited with your teammates and freshen up your game. Hard to say if that's really happening right now, but again, it's preseason ball and there's still four more to come.

Negatives:
Defense. But in reality, Golden State is very good offensively. So in most cases, in order to beat them, you have to outscore them.

Jeff Green's injury. Probably not too serious, but with the growing laundry list, it's not good to have another guy out. With the rate these guys are going down, by the end of this preseason schedule, Matt Pinto may be suiting up.

Fourth quarter. The team hasn't closed well at all. Tonight they went 4-17 in the fourth and overall, have been outscored 81-56 in the money period. That's not good. Definitely the youth showing through.

Positives:
Damien Wilkins. In double-digits every night so far this preseason as he had 23 points tonight, including 3-6 from downtown. Good stuff. The Thunder is looking for another scorer like a six-year-old is looking for Waldo and Wilkins may be that answer.

The team looked much crisper and the offense showed serious life. They scored over 100 for the first time and at times looked very crisp offensively. Russell Westbrook once again impressed and John Lucas had a nice game. The team is young, but tonight it showed improvement.

Next up:
In Tulsa against the Rockets Monday night.

Box Score
And your view from the other side (even though they refuse to acknowledge our presence).