Thundercats are GO! & Melo Drops 50 on NY
Thunder 108, Bucks 90
The most anticipated game of the week was not a matchup of star teams or top contenders, but it was the matchup of young stars – specifically Brandon Jennings and Kevin Durant – that caught the eye of the NBAtoday.net staff. Though this game was a sort of disappointment, the Thunder showed us flashes of absolute upside and a high ceiling of potential.
No matter what matchup you look at from this game, it was nearly dominated by the Thunder.
Jennings was kept in check on 3-11 shooting and 12 points by Russell Westbrook (20 pts, 6 rbs, 7 asts). Michael Redd scored only 8 compared to Thabo Sefolosha’s 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Bucks best chance to win a matchup was on Ersan Ilyasova’s 13 points and 12 rebounds, but that was outmatched by Kevin Durant, who had 33 points and 12 rebounds!
The Thundercats took advantage of a sellout crowd and a national game on ESPN to roll to their ninth win. Oklahoma City led 51-50 at the half, and then they came out and scored the first 17 points of the second half! Milwaukee was 0-13 to start the half and did not score for the first 6 minutes and 31 seconds. With the options of scoring on the Bucks, this is pretty incredible.
Shooter of the Game: James Harden. This boy is just warming up – and he’s not even really a shooter! Harden was 6-7 from the field and made all 3 of his three-point attempts for 15 points.
Nuggets 128, Knicks 125
Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony has played some amazing games over his career; but none of them will stand out as easily as his game on Friday night.
In front of the home crowd at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Melo poured in 50 points in an MVP-worthy night. Melo was 17-28 from the floor and 15-16 from the foul line. His final two points came with 16 seconds left with a pair of pressure packed free throws. Melo is the only player in the NBA to score at least 20 points in every game this season, and he is the second man to score 50 this season (Brandon Jennings). Also, it was the ninth 50-point game in Nuggets history.
Lost in Anthony’s half-century output was a pretty good game against the Knicks. It turns out the rest of Melo’s teammates came to play too. Chauncey Billups tallied 32 points with 4 three-pointers and Earl Smith (yes, I’m calling him that) nailed 4 threes as well for 17 points.
In the loss, Al Harrington was a point shy of his career-high with 41 points and 10 rebounds. David Lee banged in 23 points with 10 rebounds, as the Knicks shot 49% from the field. But the Nuggets shot 53% and controlled the tempo of the game. They forced the Knicks to run with them, but NY is just not as good as the Nuggets when it comes to fast breaks.
Granted, these two games were by far the most intriguing of the late night matchups, but here are the rest of your late game scores:
Spurs 92, Rockets 84
San Antonio Spurs + Defense = an old fashioned Spurs win
It took five games, but the Spurs won their first road game in Houston on Friday night, thanks to a 7 ½ minute scoring drought by the Rockets in a measly 12-point third quarter. During that stretch, Houston missed 16 consecutive shots, which simply did them in.
Tim Duncan (21 pts, 12 rbs) and Antonio McDyess (15 pts, 14 rbs) each recorded double-doubles. Tony Parker dropped 19 points and 7 assists in the win.
Grizzlies 106, Trailblazers 96
The most disappointing team on Friday night is certainly the Blazers who lost to the Grizzlies by 10 at home. Portland trailed 29-15 after the first quarter and by 22 at halftime.
Five Grizzlies scored in double figures to help them to their 5th win in 7 games – led by Zach Randolph with 21 and Marc Gasol and OJ Mayo each scored 19. I’m not saying the Grizzlies will make any noise in the playoff run this year, but the NBAtoday.net staff has said it before, and I’ll say it again – the Grizzlies can beat any NBA team on any given night.
Suns 120, Timberwolves 95
When you’re playing a team in the midst of a 14-game losing streak, there isn’t much you have to do to pick up a win. And when you lead a game by 21 points after the first half against this team, you don’t have to do anything other than let the next 24 minutes just run out.
That was the case for the Suns against the lowly T’Wolves on Friday night in Minneapolis as Phoenix dropped Minnesota to their 15th straight loss. The Suns shot 59% from the field and had 31 assists as a team. For the 16th straight game (every game this season), the Suns scored 100+ points. There was very little doubt of that not happening against the Wolves.
And finally to the only team that Minnesota has beaten this year…
Kings 109, Nets 96
No matter how the Nets play, they just won’t win.
The Kings controlled this game from tip off with a 13 point first quarter lead, and a 17 point halftime advantage. Normally, the Nets hang in tough in the first half and fade into the third quarter night. Well, when you lose 16 straight, it’s hard to lose all in one way. So instead, the Nets tried to show up for the second half.
New Jersey continuously went hard to basket the entire fourth quarter, but they couldn’t finish and just didn’t get the calls. As a result, the are 0-16 on the season, and undoubtedly will lose on Sunday night against the defending-champion Lakers to tie the NBA record for a winless start to a season.
-Shooter
Very impressed with the Zombie Sonics. That team is loaded with young talent; Durant is creeping into the Kobe-Wade-Lebron-Carmelo category of all-around players, Westbrook is a tremendous 2-way point guard (reminiscent of Gary Payton in my opinion), and Harden and Green are developing in the perfect situation as high draft picks, since they only need to be support players, rather than carrying a bad team and developing bad habits. They are much like the Hawks of the west, but with one huge difference. Durant. He is the championship-level player you need to be a force in the league. Atlanta doesn’t have that. Although Joe Johnson is a nice player, he is not now, nor ever will be on that level. That’s what is so scary about OKC. They are building the team Cleveland should have when Lebron came into the league. If they can keep everyone around for 2-3 more years, I smell a Finals appearance.
As for the game, a big assist to Scott Skiles awful coaching. I can’t understand how this guy handles substitutions. He took Jennings out frequently and early, never played Redd and Jennings together at all other than the start of the game, even when they were down and in need of scoring, and took out his hot players during runs. A Vinny Del-Negro level of coaching ineptitude from Skiles tonight.
Dr. X I like your comparison for Westbrook there. I definitely see signs of Payton in his play. The Thunder have built great through the draft but the next thing we have to see is if they can lure big time free agents in. If they happen to make the playoffs this year they won’t get a lottery pick and it’s tough to get a GREAT big man outside of the lottery and that is one position they need to make it to a future Finals. They are one big man free agent acquisition away from being a 4-6 type seed in the next year or two.
I disagree Basher. The Thunder don’t need a big man. It doesn’t fit their style of play. They are a fastbreak team and a big will slow them down. This team needs a pure shooter, a guy like joe johnson. He is a free agent and this acquisition would make the Thunder extremely dangerous. Now, their starting five would be:
1. Russell Westbrook
2. Joe Johnson
3. Jeff Green
4. Kevin Durant
5. Nenad Kristic
Then they would still have Kevin Ollie, James Harden, and Etan Thomas coming off the bench.
They would now be like the Suns, but who can play D…..haaaaaaaNASTY!
I think teams like this don’t necessarily need an all-star big, I mean look at Jordan’s Bulls. They were fueled by all-world team defense and the hyper-competitiveness of Jordan. Durant is one of those very rare guys that has that in him. Remember Lebron brought an embarrassingly bad Cavs roster to a finals, so I think the Zombie Sonics are in quite good shape. What I think they need right now is a backup PG (Kevin Ollie isn’t any good), because Westbrook goes so hard on both ends, and a veteran who can help guide the young guys and play some clutch minutes.
I agree with the Doctor. They won’t have the money to sign Joe Johnson, or anyone like that anyway.
Rafer Alston will be a free agent next year. Ideal backup who can contribute. In terms of a veteran guy to help the young guys, I feel like a James Posey-esque type player would be huge for this team. Every great team has a solid sixth man. Michael Finley maybe? I know off the top of my head he’ll be a FA.
Etan will be a free agent. He’s done well but he’s not worth the 7 mill he’s making. They’ll still have Collison, and another cheap big man that’s available will be Drew Gooden.
Someone needs to hire me as GM.
Every Championship team needs a big man, period. The first 3 championships Jordan had Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright. Grant averaged about 12 ppg and 8 rpg in the first 3-peat. That is all you need with Jordan.
The second 3-peat they had a scoring big man in Kukoc and a rebounding machine in Rodman which is more than the Thunder will ever have. You need a big man, that’s all there is to it. The Thunder have ZERO interior defense.
Yes Jordan’s team did have all-world defenders and that Thunder don’t have those guys and adding a big man in the middle will help, a lot.
People like the Basher are the reason GMs blow $73 million on Erick Dampier, and $30 million on Jerome James. Big men that are decent but not great and cost way too much money will not do much but cripple a team’s cap. OKC will be able to add pieces through the draft and reasonable MLE contracts. Plus, when you have players on such a high level leading your team like Durant and Westbrook will be, they make players around them better. That’s what happened with Grant and some of the other Bulls players. Their play was lifted by Jordan and Pippen.
Ok here we go… the Thunder’s current starting C and big man is Nenad Krisitc. Jason Kidd was his teammate for a few years, the only other NBA PG he played with. Jason Kidd brought out Kristic MAX potential, Westbrook will not be on Kidd’s level for at least 5 years (IF EVER). So it’s pretty obvious that Nenad isn’t a high level big man AT ALL and he WILL get hurt because he has every year over the last 3 years. So who will start at center now for the Thunder? Thomas, yes but he won’t lead a team to a championship EVER.
I never said get Dampier or James, not once. They haven’t brought a team to an NBA Championship and never will. It’s obvious those guys aren’t the type of talent to win you an NBA championship but why not bring a guy like Amare in (not a great defender but better than Kristic).
Let’s take a look at the last 10 champions.
2000-2002 Lakers: won 3 times in a row, their big man? Shaq.
2003 Spurs: Tim Duncan and his back was David Robinson.
2004 Pistons: Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace.
2005 Spurs: Tim Duncan, yet again.
2006 Heat: Shaq. D-wade won with Shaq and hasn’t won since he left.
2007 Spurs: Tim Duncan AGAIN.
2008 Celtics: Garnett, Perkins and Powe. Garnett future HOF status.
2009 Lakers: Gasol, Odom, Bynum. They needed Gasol to win.
Clearly the common denominator here is a BIG MAN and not a Jerome James/Eric Dampier big man but a big time future HOF-type big man who can DOMINATE a game at any time. If Ben Wallace was the worst center out of all those guys I’d take that any day.
None of those centers were a product of their environment like you say Jordan to Grant was. Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Gasol and Wallace are all good enough without a Jordan type player. These guys can create their own shots and dominate a game regardless if their teammates were Kobe, Parker, Pierce etc.
The formula to win an NBA Championship is a DOMINANT big man. Dwight Howard was that last year but the Lakers had MORE big men. You can’t tell me that the Thunder are a championship team RIGHT NOW with their current roster or will be next year either. Who are they going to add for the MLE? You can’t even get Drew Gooden for the MLE so that’s not an option and like I said before what hidden gem is going into the league next year that they can draft outside of the lottery if they make the playoffs this year? Maybe someone good but they will take 3-5 years to develop. They drafte Mullens this year and look at him, a true 7-footer and he is in the D-league.
Who won last year in the Eastern Conference Finals?
Was it LeBron and the Cavs (the Jordan-like team) or was it Howard and the Magic?
And who beat LeBron (again, today’s MJ) in the Finals in 2007? Tim Duncan’s Spurs.
That is the game today – enough said.
I’m not trying to say OKC is winning a title for sure. I’m saying they’re in great position to make a run with their roster and potential. The core players on the team are what counts, and they have as strong a young nucleus as any team out there. Obviously they will need more players if they are going to win a championship, but HOF center is not an absolute necessity, just solid guys up front. They are way more talented than Lebron’s teams, and are primed to be a force in the league if they keep those 4 young studs together.
No one said the Thunder are ready to win championship this year.
I think what we are all missing is that Kevin Durant is a different type of player. No has seen a man with that size play they way he does. Through that, they don’t need a dominant big man. They just need a center who contributes on a daily basis. This is the start of a new era in the NBA with Lebron James and Durant leading the way.
LeBron’s been in the NBA how long now? Does he have a ring? Has he had a dominating big man? Nenad contributes daily… about 10 and 5 for his career. What more are you asking for? 18 and 8? Because at that point this player would be falling into the verge of a legit big man threat.
There is a formula to winning in the NBA and you can’t do it without a great big man. This isn’t an opinion anymore, it’s a FACT.
This is an awesome debate!
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