Again without Harden, the Thunder limped along all night and didn't seem too interested in their last game of the season against the Denver Nuggets. The game ended with the Thunder down by 5, 101-106, which is a punk ass bitch of a score against the Nuggets. So lame.

Playoffs begin Saturday. I'll be starting a new thread to track the playoffs, so sorry if you were going to do that*.

(*Nobody here was going to do that. I'd bet a sack full of pizza cutters on it.)

So we got beat by the Lakers. We beat them the last couple of times but when a guy on the other team elbows your 40+ point shooter in the head and puts him out for multiple games ... well, you don't score as many points as you usually do.

I missed the first half of tonight's game against the Kings. The Kings are next to last in the Western conference so -- ho, ho! -- surprise that they were up by 3 going in to half time. Stupid Thunder. I'm not sure what happened in the first half of the game but by the time I turned it on all of our starters were on the bench and all the guys we normally put in when we're ahead by 20 were playing. It was a 1 point battle back and forth for the lead until eventually the Thunder's scrubs pulled ahead, winning by 7 or so.

The Thunder is battling for first seed in the Western conference and are 1.5 games behind the Spurs so it looks like we'll be #2, which most analysts are saying is a better position. If the positions stay the same, we'll face Dallas in the first round, probably LA in the 2nd, and then the Spurs in the 3rd, unless something crazy happens.

I think the Thunder vs. Dallas will go 5 games, maybe 6. The Lakers should have no problem with Denver (sorry ICJ). Clippers/Memphis is a coin toss. San Antonio should crush the Jazz.

The east is all about Chicago and Miami.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFyMbTmHnXo[/youtube]

Yeah, I meant the Heat. I had LeBron Dummy on the brain.

I almost wish the Thunder were ranked #2 or #3 in the West. Going in to the playoffs with a target on your back is never ideal ... although the trade off is, of course, home court advantage -- something that's invaluable for the Thunder, who play in "loud city" and always play well at home.

Regular season ends either this week or next week, then I think there's a week off before the playoffs begin.

[quote="Flack"]It's very likely in the finals we will face the Lakers in the west, and [b]Cleveland[/b] in the finals. This week, we beat both teams.[/quote]

How many games are frigging left? The Cavs have a lot of games to make up!

HURR IM THE HURRMAN You meant Heat, I'm betting. Sorry. I do want you to know that people read this, and that you are my "go to" source for basketball news, Flack.

Last night YOUR Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in an embarrassing blow out. One can only hope that the Thunder is getting this crap out of their system before the play offs. Last night's game puts the Thunder at a season record of 1-3 against the Clippers. With last night's win, the Clippers cinched a spot in the playoffs, their first time back since 2006.

And while I would never root against the Thunder, it's always good to see Blake Griffin (University of Oklahoma alumni) and Chris Paul (who played his rookie year here in Oklahoma with the Hornets) do well.

Despite a rough couple of weeks, the Thunder regained the number one spot in the West, with about a week left in the normal season.

Good God, man.

It sucks when your team isn't playing as good as they should be playing. In the first half of the game against the Lakers, we ended down by 5 points. We couldn't hit anything. Kevin Durant, one of the best shooters in the league, started out 0 of 8. The only applause the Thunder in LA was when Derick Fisher came out.

And then, in the 3rd, the Thunder turned on the heat. Harden came out shooting. Westbrook found his little 2 point jumper zone. Durant started driving. Westbrook ran past Bynum (who has to be a foot taller than him) and dunked on him. Here they were! Here were my Thunder!

Gasol couldn't stop us. Bynum couldn't stop us. The only person who could stop us was the legend, Kobe Bryant. But did he? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HE DID NOT.

THUNDER WINS BY 9, 102-93.

It's very likely in the finals we will face the Lakers in the west, and Cleveland in the finals. This week, we beat both teams.

Well, that was easy. 109-94, Thunder wins. No drama and no injuries. By the end of the game our 3rd string was in, so it looks like everybody will get lots of rest between now and Thursday.

Tonight, YOUR Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Portland Trailblazers. Tip off is in about 2 minutes.

So the thing is ... we're playing Portland on the road, and so far this season we're 2 and 1 against the Trailblazers, so that's not the issue. The issue is, Thursday night is the Lakers, which is a big, big game. We've only played the Lakers once this year and we beat them, which means they'll be coming for us. Plus, if you'll remember, we embarrassed them pretty badly during that game. And we just got Derick Fisher from the Lakers, so I'm sure they'll attempt to shut him down as well. That'll be a tough battle, especially after coming off of Portland tonight.

So we're all on board that the Sports Guy is a dickshit. Excellent. That's what I like to see out of you guys. That's good hate right there.

[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]Frankly, I don't think Oklahoma City does Durant for LeBron James + more stuff. I think Kevin Durant is the most valued player, because LeBron James is a socially awkward manchild.[/quote]

Definitely, no way. I mean, part of it is the culture of Oklahoma. I mean, Kevin Durant is a guy who walks over to the crowd and kisses his mother after each and every game. LeBron James is a guy known for taking off to another team for a chance at a championship. That doesn't really fly here.

Then there's the fact that Durant is 4 years younger than James, AND the fact that we just beat Cleveland by 15 ... yeah, I can't see that trade going down.

[quote="Tdarcos"][quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]Bill Simmons said the second-most untradeable player in the NBA was Kevin Durant. Congratulations![/quote]
When a guy says someone is untradeable does he mean the guy is so valuable they can't afford to let him go, or is it that he's so valueless no one would take him if they wanted to trade him?[/quote]

http://bit.ly/GWtnwW

In this context, it means he is so valuable that no other team could possibly give Oklahoma City a package of players, picks and cash to make it worth their while to trade him.

Frankly, I don't think Oklahoma City does Durant for LeBron James + more stuff. I think Kevin Durant is the most valued player, because LeBron James is a socially awkward manchild.

[quote="Ice Cream Jonsey"]Bill Simmons said the second-most untradeable player in the NBA was Kevin Durant. Congratulations![/quote]
When a guy says someone is untradeable does he mean the guy is so valuable they can't afford to let him go, or is it that he's so valueless no one would take him if they wanted to trade him?

If you watch the beginning of this video recap of tonight's game, you can see LeBron James and Dwayne Wade acting like jack asses before they hit the cout.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60a6RR0WFVI[/youtube]

If you watch the end of it you'll see that the Thunder rolled over those two morons, 103-87.

WHO WILL STOP US? THE ANSWER IS NOBODY!

("Nobody" = "The Lakers" in the playoffs.)

Thunder win in double overtime, defeating Minnesota 149-140.

I'm still exhausted after watching that game.

Oh, and this one's for ICJ:

[img]http://www.robohara.com/pix/blog/Mason-Bradford.jpg[/img]

So here's my run down of the game.

As I previously mentioned, the last time these two teams met was a disaster for the Thunder. Not only did the Clippers -- [i]the [b]Clippers![/b][/i] -- push us around, but the game's highlight reel was of former OU player Blake Griffin dunking over/through Kendrick Perkins. While I don't see an official Clippers/Thunder rivalry forming just yet, there was but one word on the Thunder's lips last night: revenge.

Oh, and two more words: Derek Fisher. Former Laker Derek Fisher was traded to the Rockets, bought out, and signed by the Thunder at 5pm. "There's no way he'll play tonight," said the guys on the Sports Animal. 30 minutes later, it was announced Fisher had passed his physical. "There's no way he'll suit up," they said. When the team came out for pre-game shoot around, Fisher was with them. "There's no way he'll play," they said. Again, they were wrong.

The Thunder drew first blood and never trailed. By the time of the Clippers' first time out, the Thunder led 18-10. Even when late in the first when the score was tied, it just "felt" like the Thunder were winning. The Thunder's game plan was obviously to shut down Blake Griffin, which they did. Griffin scored a total of 7 points, the least amount of points he has scored in any NBA game.

Remember yesterday when I said I expected Kendrick Perkins to get a T in the first quarter? He did. By the end of the first half, Perkins, Sefolosha, Westbrook and Harden all had technicals. If the Clippers were expecting to meet a soft Thunder line up last night, they came to the wrong game. At half time, the Thunder led by 16.

Kevin Durant ended the night with 32 points and Westbrook had 19. Westbrook only had one less point than the Clippers' two stars combined (Chris Paul only scored 13).

In the first half the Clippers rained 3 pointers. They were 6 of 8 in the first half alone, the only reason the score was even close. With the Thunder defense focused on the inside, that left a lot of outside shooters open.

Thunder win it, 114-91. Friday the OKC Thunder take on the Timberwolves. Next week, the Thunder face the Lakers. Kobe has already referred to Fisher as an opponent that he will not take it easy on, so that should be an interesting match up.

It all happened pretty quickly, but here's a quick rundown:

The Lakers traded Fisher (mostly because of his age) to the Houston Rockets a few days ago. The Rockets bought out his contract, and Fisher was free to go wherever. I read somewhere that he wanted to go to Chicago, but that didn't work out. The Miami Heat wanted him, but due to restrictions could only offer Fisher the bare minimum. At 37 Fisher is wanting one more title and the Thunder have the drive (and, probably more so, the money), so they signed him.

But check this out -- on Monday, the Thunder were "talking" with Fisher. I don't think it was a done deal until Wednesday. The first I heard about it was at lunch on Wednesday, that they were in talks. On the radio on the way to the game, they said Fisher had just passed his physical. Then when the team started warm-ups, he was out on the court, but they said he wouldn't play. Then in the second quarter they sat Westbrook and out comes Fisher and people go nuts. Then in the 3rd, they set up one of those quick pass plays where they kick the ball all the way around the court. Collison goes in for a dunk and kicks it out to Fisher who drains a three, and the place ex-PLO-ded.

Mayner, who is Westbrook's backup point guard, is out for the season with a knee injury. Fisher is now both that and our "wily veteran" who is 10 years older than our oldest starter.

Next week the Thunder play the Lakers and THAT will be interesting to watch.

More: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7719497/derek-fisher-signs-oklahoma-city-thunder-uniform-wednesday-night

EDIT: Sefolosha and Perkins were born in 1984. Durant and Westbrook were born in 1988; Harden and Ibaka, 1989. That makes the average birth year of the starting Thunder line up 1987. Fisher was born in 1974.

Wait, why is this? I did some checking and I don't see an Oklahoma/Fisher connection.

Sell it to me!!