Oklahoma City Thunder 2016-17

[Anonymous.]

3 in a row dropped at home. Ibaka has a career high and a game-winner against us... man that one hurt. The entire team played great, but ORL got hot from 3 in the 4th and that is all she wrote.

[Laramie]

Two back to back 2 point home losses: 110-108 vs. L. A. Clippers & 119-117 loss to the 3 - 6 Orlando Magic. Three straight home losses with the 112-102 loss to Toronto on Wednesday, Nov., 9th.

Serge played the best overall game of his career against us.

The 6 - 4 Thunder will need to pick it up on the road against the 5 - 5 Pistons tomorrow night in Detroit.

[Urbanized]

Ain't even mad at Serge. Glad he got a huge standing ovation on intro. Obviously his trade circumstances and the two players' relative microscopes are different, but he has handled himself with 100% more grace than KD post departure. It's pretty often that a player goes off when they face an old team - especially one that dealt him - so he did what they do.

[Roger S]

I blame last nights poor offense in the first half on Payton's hair distracting our shooters.... I'm pretty sure I saw it jump out and alter a few shots in the 1st Quarter!!!

[Anonymous.]

No surprise, we got spanked in our second back-to-back. Was really hoping for a better showing tonight, but everyone but Westbrook and Grant were basically trash.

4 in a row for the L column.

[Thomas Vu]

Neither reggie nor drummond were there either

[Laramie]

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Oklahoma City Thunder 105 - Houston Rockets 103

Highlight: https://vine.co/v/5TnKKm0b6H3/embed/simple?audio=1

Box Score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400899614

[Jake]

Making it to the playoffs should be the goal for this team.

[Anonymous.]

Russell brings OKC all the way back to take the lead at the end of the Lakers game, only to have Swaggy P sink us for a game winner. Man that one hurts.

[Celebrator]

Russell brings OKC all the way back to take the lead at the end of the Lakers game, only to have Swaggy P sink us for a game winner. Man that one hurts.

Swaggy P with A LOT of help from the refs!!!! #thanksgivingtravel

[Urbanized]

Still holding fast to my feeling that this team is a 4-6 seed, and that simply making the playoffs is setting the bar too low. Other than GSW, the losses have pretty much all been close games where OKC got off to a slow start. That part is easier to correct than late-game collapses.

It's a long season, and we're still in November fercryinoutloud. The team is still gelling, finding chemistry and toying with the rotation a bit. Many of the key pieces had never even played together until a month ago. The future is bright; especially with a good player move or two.

[Anonymous.]

I hear that.

If you think about it, we have been beaten by an (essential) game winner in 3 losses.

Jamal Crawford
Serge Ibaka
Swaggy P

These are painful. We need Cam back, and we need Adams to become more solid. Russ is playing out of his mind, and many times for losses.

[Bill Robertson]

Swaggy P with A LOT of help from the refs!!!! #thanksgivingtravel

I was listening to the third quarter on the way home last night and Matt Pinto made a great comment. "The referees are missing a great game tonight ". Very fitting.

[Laramie]

I was listening to the third quarter on the way home last night and Matt Pinto made a great comment. "The referees are missing a great game tonight ". Very fitting.

You're right SoonerSoftail, if I didn't know any better; you would think the officials had it in for Westbrook.

Thunder losses have been stressful for the fanatic or average OKC fan. It's a matter of Westbrook trusting team members, making them better contributors to the total team effort. In my opinion, Billy Donovan is so much better than Scott Brook--as a loyal supporter of Scott Brook, who resented his initial firing; even I can see the difference.

These close game losses have been difficult to watch & swallow:

Fri, Nov 11 vs LA Clipper 110-108
Sun, Nov 13 vs Orlando Magic 119-117
Sun, Nov 20 vs Indiana Pacers 115-110 OT
Tue, Nov 22 @ LA Lakers 111-109

Thunder will need to build chemistry with all of these new roster members (Abrines, Christian, Grant, Huestis, Lauvergne, Oladipo & Sabonis).

Just my opinion: the growing pains the Thunder endure now will help bond the players in the long-term.

Let's see how things pan out following the All Star Break; Thunder players should be well acquainted with one another--by then Donovan will have his rotation reduced to a 8-10 players.

[dankrutka]

This is the easiest part of the Thunder schedule all season and the Thunder really look bad right now. They're not only losing to bad teams, but some bad teams missing their best players (see Pacers). I think this team has some flaws (e.g., lack of shooting, poor bench defense) that can only be fixed by changing the roster. Having said that, it's important not to overreact, but a 2-7 mark against a terrible schedule is never good.

[OkiePoke]

Definitely some difficulties with unfamiliarity of each other. By the end of the year, we will see if Billy can get Westbrook to make better decisions in crunch time and relying on his teammates.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^
He has 18 assists tonight as I type this, 4:20 left the 4th, and is sitting on 10.5 assists per game for the season. Not sure how any of this is Russ' fault or can be construed as not trusting his teammates.

At some points his teammates need to play defense and actually, you know, put the ball into the basket.

[Laramie]

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Oklahoma City Thunder 132 - Denver Nuggets 129 OT

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400899685

[sooner88]

^^^^^^^^
He has 18 assists tonight as I type this, 4:20 left the 4th, and is sitting on 10.5 assists per game for the season. Not sure how any of this is Russ' fault or can be construed as not trusting his teammates.

At some points his teammates need to play defense and actually, you know, put the ball into the basket.

Oladipo has filled the spot that we needed, and King Joffrey has been playing at an encouraging consistency. Adam's lack of production vs last year is concerning and I am not sure if it is related to his massive contract or the change in personnel.

[dankrutka]

Oladipo has filled the spot that we needed, and King Joffrey has been playing at an encouraging consistency. Adam's lack of production vs last year is concerning and I am not sure if it is related to his massive contract or the change in personnel.

Joffrey's shooting has been a nice surprise lately, but Adams has been and is playing better overall. Adams is absolutely the defensive anchor of the team. His hurt hand is clearly bothering him, but he's still been really good overall because of what he's bringing defensively. I wouldn't worry about Adam's contract.

[dankrutka]

^^^^^^^^
He has 18 assists tonight as I type this, 4:20 left the 4th, and is sitting on 10.5 assists per game for the season. Not sure how any of this is Russ' fault or can be construed as not trusting his teammates.

At some points his teammates need to play defense and actually, you know, put the ball into the basket.

Yeah, Russ has been amazing this season offensively. However, if Russ wants to lead this team he needs to quit having defensive lapses so often. He's the leader and it trickles down... He just gets lazy and watches his guy get open far too often still.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^
No doubt. He should be an elite defender with his athleticism, speed, skills, and basketball IQ.

[Laramie]

.

Oklahoma City Thunder 106 - Detroit Pistons 88

Box Score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400899692

Balance scoring throughout:

Adams - 16
Westbrook - 17
Oladipo - 18
Grant - 9
Lavuvergne - 6
Kanter - 12
Morrow - 21

Others are getting involved besides Westbrook. Morrow came to play and Kanter is playing much better defense.

[AP]

Yeah, Russ has been amazing this season offensively. However, if Russ wants to lead this team he needs to quit having defensive lapses so often. He's the leader and it trickles down... He just gets lazy and watches his guy get open far too often still.

Honest question. Do you think it's laziness or him giving so much effort on the offensive end that he tries to conserve energy on the defensive? When was the last time someone was asked to carry the offensive load that he has that also turned out to be an elite defender?

[Anonymous.]

Honest question. Do you think it's laziness or him giving so much effort on the offensive end that he tries to conserve energy on the defensive? When was the last time someone was asked to carry the offensive load that he has that also turned out to be an elite defender?

Lebron James probably. With the Cavaliers before he left.