OKC vs. DEN -- NBA Playoffs!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:47 pm

The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Denver Nuggets in round one of the NBA playoffs.

First game is tonight!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:51 pm

If this goes seven games, my understanding is that the series will end right before the last second of the Mayan Calendar.

I've sort of grown attached to these Denver Nuggets! Not enough to watch a game in person, but it's fun to see a team with a chance to be good without the one or two superstars everyone says you need in the NBA.

Are we doing predictions in this thread? Are people predicting things? I'll go 4-1 OKC.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:15 am

Wow, what a game! I hope everybody tuned in late and missed the Thunder's awful playoff debut. At one point they were 6-16, with the Nuggets 3 for 3 from the 3-point line. Eventually the Thunder played through those butterflies and rallied back, being down by just 1 at the half.

During the third and most of the fourth quarter, Russel Westbrook and Kevin Durant showed why they were All-Stars. Between the two they managed 72 points. When Durant starts raining 3-pointers from 5 feet outside the line, you're in trouble. Nuggets made an 8-0 run in the fourth to take the lead by one, but eventually the Thunder came back with a 107-103 win. As one announcer said, "Well, it's just too bad we didn't see any action tonight ..."

The Nene/Perkins rivalry seems to be heating up. Nene's a brute who can hit from outside or dunk on you. Perkins is our relatively new guard which we traded Green (our 20-point-a-night guard) for. There's already bad blood between these two and, after Perkins sent Nene out of the game with a banged right knee, expect this to escalate.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:17 am

I'm going to say 4-2, OKC. George Karl is 0-10 in playoff series where he loses game 1.

Also, it was nice to see Chris "the Bird Man" Anderson again. He played here for a couple of seasons for the OKC Hornets until he got kicked out of the league for drugs. Glad to see he's using his money for other things now ... like tattoos.

ICJ · Post by **ICJ** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:12 am

Flack wrote:The Nene/Perkins rivalry seems to be heating up. Nene's a brute who can hit from outside or dunk on you. Perkins is our relatively new guard which we traded Green (our 20-point-a-night guard) for. There's already bad blood between these two and, after Perkins sent Nene out of the game with a banged right knee, expect this to escalate.

Luckily, with how Stern incompetently schedules these things, a guy in this series could have ACL surgery and if that person's team managed to extend thing long enough, there'd be time for a full recovery.

I am only familiar with Perkins because Bill Simmons, who is loathsome and contemptible, won't shut up about him. He's under the laughable impression that, although his team had KG, Pierce and Ray Allen it in fact was PERKINS ALL ALONG that made them go or whatever other nonsense he puked forth on the Internet about the trade. Jesus Christ, he sickens me to my very core.

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:17 pm

Flack wrote:The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Denver Nuggets in round one of the NBA playoffs.

First game is tonight!

Chocolate Thunder vs. Chicken McNuggets? I see a food fight!

---
K.C.: Now let me get this straight. You'll pay for the tour and I should change my name?
Suit 1: No, you'll still be K.C. We just want them to change their name to 'The SunLife Band'.
Suit 2: (long pause) It's funky.
- Commercial for Sun Life Insurance, starring K.C. and The Sunshine Band

[youtube][/youtube]

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:17 pm

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commenta ... son/110419

From ESPN.com:

We're only one game in, but it's already time to face the factuality: If the other teams in the West don't come with their A+ games each time they step onto the court to face the Thunder, they'll be collecting more L's than Penny Marshall's sweaters.

(You might need to be over 35 to get that one.)

Playing Oklahoma City right now? A time to fear. A time to recognize. The Thunder are for real. Seriously and dangerously real. Not just because of their 107-103 Game 1 victory at home over the Nuggets to open up the playoffs on Sunday night, and not just because they avoided the upset fate that had Los Angeles, San Antonio and Orlando losing home-court advantage one game into their series.

Don't let the two superstars fool you. Don't think that what Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley said on TNT after Game 1 -- they both used the word "worried" when they suggested the Thunder won't go far relying on two players scoring 72 of the team's 107 total points -- is law. Don't think that Oklahoma City is two elite players surrounded by a bunch of Bobcats.

Don't be surprised if six weeks from now, we're still writing columns about them.

Just because Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook duo-handedly saved the Thunder from coming out of the gates like the Lakers, the Spurs and the Magic, don't fall into a conviction that a) this isn't a team; or b) those two aren't enough to win series. Plural.

The Thunder have players at every position. Unknown. Unheralded. Players who know their roles but aren't just role players. James Harden. Eric Maynor. Serge Ibaka, Thabo Sefolosha. And they have benefited from the addition of Kendrick Perkins just as much as Boston seems to have been hurt by his subtraction.

"I think Kevin and Russell are great teammates," coach Scott Brooks said after the Game 1 win. "Obviously, they've developed into All-Stars. & But we're a good team. We're not a Kevin and Russell team. We're a Thunder team. Guys all chip in."

Oklahoma City has the energy and intensity of an NCAA mid-major winning deep into the tournament -- and a Hall of Fame-caliber player with the demeanor (and game) of George Gervin. The Thunder are the only team in the NBA playoffs out to prove that last year was not a fluke.

Every year entering the playoffs, there is one team nobody wants to face. It's that team that has nothing to lose and feels as if it's balling on the house's money. Losses don't faze this team; wins don't surprise it. In 2008, it was the Golden State Warriors, who eliminated the No.1 seed Dallas Mavericks. Two years ago, it was the Chicago Bulls, who pushed the then-defending champion Celtics to the seven-game brink.

Last year it was & it was them.

OKC scared L.A. last season, although the Lakers will never admit it. In some ways, their opening-round series (it went six games) seemed more compelling than the seven-game series that was the NBA Finals. The Thunder learned from that, learned they belonged.

They learned then that they had to make the outcome of this year's playoffs different. They learned what "nothing to lose" feels like. They became that team to fear.

Yes, the Thunder won Game 1 Sunday on a fluke. A missed offensive goaltending call (the league admitted it on Monday) that gave them a one-point lead with less than a minute left. But this was "Upset Sunday," and the Thunder found a way to survive. Down 13 early, in only this team's seventh playoff game, they didn't fold.

Get used to that. They won't fold and they won't go out or down easily. They've learned how not to give games away. If they are to lose, someone will have to beat them.

They are an NCAA-replica team in a pro basketball tournament. They'll play every game with the same "survive and advance" mentality that UConn, Butler and VCU did a few weeks ago. And if things fall into place, the Thunder could find themselves with the same Kemba Walker-inspired results.

Or very, very close to it.

So can a "college" team actually win an NBA championship?

Without making too much out of one win, the answer is: Most definitely. And one of the differences between the Thunder team in these playoffs and the one that showed up here this time last year is that it knows it now.

Now, can they show it and prove it to the 15 other teams left standing? With every game, can they generate more fear?

Brooks said during the game Sunday that the key is making stops and making 3s. He realizes for this team, it's really just that simple. He knows just how good the Thunder really are, not just how good they can be.

The anti-Heat, that's what they were called in a recent GQ story. Who are we to disagree?

The lightning has already struck. And once that happens, we all know what follows.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:53 pm

Good God! I just came back from the bathroom and OKC is up 43-17 with 9 mins left in the first half!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:42 pm

106-89, final. Series is 2-0.

See y'all in Denver!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:03 pm

Scoop Jackson wrote:We're only one game in, but it's already time to face the factuality: If the other teams in the West don't come with their A+ games each time they step onto the court to face the Thunder, they'll be collecting more L's than Penny Marshall's sweaters.

(You might need to be over 35 to get that one.)

I don't understand why people say sports writing is in the toilet.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:00 pm

Tonight's game was a result of the Thunder having a very good night and the Nuggets having a very bad one. The Thunder's good, but not good enough to be taking a 25-point lead against any other team in the Western conference.

In game one Nene dropped 22 points while Gallinari brought another 18. In game two, Nene scored 16 and Gallinari only scored 7. The Thunder on the other hand split up their attack; in game one they had three shooters (all starters) in double digits -- tonight, they had five.

The real story was, the Nuggets couldn't get anything together. They only sunk one bucket the first five minutes of the second half. The Nuggets are lucky that Durant only had a good game (23 points) and not a great one (41 points in game one). The pain could have been much worse.

It's too early to call this series -- we'll have to see how the Nuggets perform at home (George Carl referred to OKC as "The Green Bay of the NBA"). The winner of this series will play the winner of Dallas/Portland. The Thunder went 1-2 against Dallas and 3-1 against Portland this year.

Goooo Portland!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:54 pm

Game 3 tip-off in 10 minutes!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:17 pm

The OKC Thunder goes up 3-0 in the series, barely beating the Nuggets on their home court despite a slew of poor calls in the Nuggets' favor and even more non-calls during a physical confrontation. I'm not one to normally complain about the officials but this game was filled with both bad and missed calls. I have long heard the rumors of referees making calls to keep games close (particularly in the playoffs), and while I don't want to believe that, games like this make a guy wonder.

After missing at least two dunks (Nene) and shots from 5 foot out (Martin) I guess the new game plan was to just pummel the Thunder. A run in the 3rd and back-to-back three pointers from J.R. Smith in the last 90 seconds couldn't save them (almost it almost did). Down by 10, the Nuggets got within 3 and were poised to tie, but the Thunder hung on.

I loved all the fans in the front row wearing Sonics colors and holding up signs that no one could read. Let it go. Did you know there are only two players on the Thunder that played in Seattle?

Those guys can boo hoo it all the back up to Pinback's back yard. Thunder wins in the Nuggets house; series is 3-0, with game four Monday night.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:21 pm

Well, people are always gonna give you shit for the team moving, at least until Seattle gets another one.

But there's not nearly enough elite basketball players to make that happen, especially since the trend is to them becoming pussies who want to play together, instead of leading their own team.

It's why I was amazed to see writers give the Cavs shit for being so terrible. Why wouldn't their best bet be to lose 80 games a year until they fell into a couple elite guys? It's good Denver is getting a couple picks back. But they're as fucked as Houston and Indiana and a few others were by being in the "Shit Zone" where they were too good for the lottery, but too bad to do any damage in the playoffs.

I hate the NBA (I'm OK with college hoops) but this series is still finding a way to rub me the wrong way.

(Once Denver is dispatched, I will be hoping that the OKC Thunder somehow find a way to knock the Lakers out 6 games to 0. I don't care if the math doesn't work out.)

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:37 pm

I will always think of he Hornets as being OKC's "other" team, and it would be nice to see them knock the Lakers out of the playoffs. I think they're 2-2 in the series right now.

I should get more into college basketball. Everybody I know says, "you would love college hoops, it's like the NBA but without all the bullshit." I just don't know when and where to jump in.

The Nuggest are still crying about the "no fowl" call at the end of game three but, JHC, they missed 15 free throws. Make some of those and the game won't be so close.

Game 4 TONIGHT!!!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:36 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Are we doing predictions in this thread? Are people predicting things? I'll go 4-1 OKC.

Good news, Johnsey -- you were right! Bad news, Johnsey -- you were right. :(

Close games are to be expected when the 4th ranked team takes on the 5th ranked team, but Jesus, I'm not sure my ticker can take too many more games like these last two! Almost everything between games 4 and 5 were the same, except the outcome. In game 4 the Nuggets, defending their home turf, won by 3 points; tonight with the tables turned, the Thunder won by the same spread -- 100-97, final.

I was wrong about the bracket. Next round, we face the winner of the Spurs/Grizzlies series.

Good game, Johnsey!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 11:12 pm

Flack, we gotta get you into the game there for the next round. I've never been to a non-hockey playoff game in... shit, wait, that's not right, I've been to the playoffs for hockey and football.

My favorite hockey team USED to be Philly. I changed it to Buffalo. The one major-league (NHL) playoff hockey team I've seen was Philly at Buffalo, so I was covered when I switched clubs last year.

I'd bathe in gay come to see the Saints in a playoff game.

I never got the chance to see Roy Halladay pitch in the playoffs for the Blue Jays, but I had already made plans to do so, if it ever happened. By the way, in his first playoff game, he threw a fucking no hitter, only for a different team. That's the worst thing that's ever happened to me as a sports fan. Jesus Fucking Christ.

I know tickets are probably prohibitively expensive, but I like to think I am a friend of yours that plays the role of encouraging you to spend stupid amounts of money on stuff most "regular" people won't understand. Let's get you into that arena and watch the Thunder bootstomp whatever cretins they play next.

(I am assuming tickets are like $50?)

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:03 am

Here's the problem. I had season tickets last year, and in the upper section, it cost me $10/seat/game. Those seats were in the upper corner section. Then I found out they have "50 yard line" seats (I know) for $20. In the real world, $20 for tickets to a professional sporting event is crazy cheap, but compared to $10, it's more.

The point of all this is, someone told me my old seats that were $10 are now $160 for the playoffs, and the ones that line up with half court are $189. And trust me, at that height you are mostly just watching the big screens anyway.

If anyone would like to PayPal me enough cash for some courtside tickets, I will post a video of me shoving a crepe up my butt.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu May 12, 2011 6:36 pm

There's no hockey in this thread!

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Thu May 12, 2011 7:01 pm

Puck off.

OKC vs. DEN -- NBA Playoffs!

OKC vs. DEN -- NBA Playoffs!

Re: OKC vs. DEN -- NBA Playoffs!