OKC - 2011/12 - Thunder Three-peat

[Phil89]

11/2/10

Oklahoma City Thunder [38-9] vs Indiana Pacers [30-22]

Durant saves the day against Pacers



Oklahoma City came into this game looking to level the season series against the Pacers after a dramatic loss in Indiana earlier this season.
In front of a pumped up home crowd, they got off to the perfect start. They lead 27-22 after the first quarter. Jeff Green had 8 points.
The Pacers cut the lead in the second, mostly due to Danny Granger finding his touch. Thunder lead 48-46 at the half.
Indiana looked like taking the game away from the Thunder early in the third, but a 16-0 run got them right back into the lead 77-70 after three.
The Thunder seemed to be in control of the game in the fourth. With 4 minutes to go they had a comfortable lead of 12 points.
However, the Pacers produced a late run and had a 107-104 lead with 30 seconds remaining. Durant hit a long three to level the scores at 107-107.
The next play, Danny Granger tries a jump shot over Durant from just outside the paint, he misses and Durant grabs the rebound.
The Thunder hold the ball for the last possession. They get it to Durant, but he is double teamed and can't get a good look.
He manages to find Rudy Gay at the top of the key. He throws up a jump shot with 2 seconds left. Nothing but net! Thunder lead 109-107.
Indiana take a time-out with 0.5 seconds left. A three could steal the win. They inbound to TJ Ford, he attempts a three, but Durant blocks it.
Thunder win in dramatic circumstances. Durant has 40 points, stretching his scoring streak to 18 games.
Oklahoma City win their 6th game in a row and head into the All-Star break on a high, leading the Western Conference.

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant

OKC - 27 21 29 32 109
IND - 22 24 24 37 107

Top Scorers
Kevin Durant - 40
Danny Granger - 33
Rudy Gay - 27
Troy Murphy - 20
Jeff Green - 19

Assists
TJ Ford - 16
Russell Westbrook - 9

Rebounds
Jeff Green - 12
Troy Murphy - 11
Mike Dunleavy - 11
Ben Wallace - 8
Kevin Durant - 7
Danny Granger - 7

[Phil89]

Here are the squads for the Rookie Challenge:
Rookies | Sophomores
BJ Mullens - [C] - Marc Gasol
Blake Griffin - [PF] - Michael Beasley
Earl Clarke - [SF] - Danilo Gallinari
Christian Eyenga - [SG] - Rudy Fernandez
Stephen Curry - [PG] - Derrick Rose
Substitutes
Jonny Flynn - [1] - Russell Westbrook
Tyreke Evans - [2] - Ramon Sessions
Jrue Holiday - [3] - Eric Gordon
Hasheem Thabeet - [4] - Courtney Lee

Notable Rookies not selected: Brandon Jennings, James Harden, Omri Casspi, DeJuan Blair, Taj Gibson.
Notable Sophomores not selected: OJ Mayo, Kevin Love, Brook Lopez.

I might use the Sophomores because they have much better players. Although, Mullens is on the Rookie team and it would be a bigger challenge.
Not sure how Clarke and Eyenga got selected over those guys that missed out

[Bucket]

Brilliant win. Good day for Durant. I love this guy. But why Harden and Jennings are not select ?

[kibaxx7]

If you don't have a Thunder in the Sophs, then play with the Rooks.

[Phil89]

Well there's Westbrook, but I think I will play as the Rookies. I could play Mullens + 4 point guards Would have been nice to have Harden in there.

[Andrew]

Nice video. Should have saved it, borrowed a long ethernet cable and uploaded it to EASW, I reckon you could submit that for one of the top 5 countdowns. Stuff like that doesn't happen all that often.

Another fantastic clutch performance by Durant, great win heading into the All-Star break.

[Azzdogs]

To bad Harden missed out

[Phil89]

Nice video. Should have saved it, borrowed a long ethernet cable and uploaded it to EASW, I reckon you could submit that for one of the top 5 countdowns. Stuff like that doesn't happen all that often.

I would have saved it if I could have. But I don't know how to. I can save photos, but I can't figure out how to save videos. I'll have to investigate getting another ethernet cable for my PS3. Would be nice to have highlights from each game on here.

To bad Harden missed out

Yeah it sucks. Can't believe he got left out for some guys I've never heard of.

[Phil89]

12/2/10

Rookies vs Sophomores

Rookies triumph over sophomores



All-Star fever has hit Dallas this weekend as the leagues best players converge on the city for the NBA All-Star Weekend.
First action of the weekend is the rookie vs sophomore game. Many of the leagues future stars were playing in this game.
The rookies got off to a good start with Stephen Curry and Blake Griffin playing well. Curry had 10 points and Griffin had 9, as well as 5 rebounds.
The sophomores had trouble containing the rookies speed and agility. Rookies lead 30-20 after an entertaining first quarter.
The sophomores came back a bit in the second lead by Derrick Rose's scoring. Rookies still lead 49-44 at the half though.
In the third the rookies again ran the ball well and scored on the break. They got their lead back up to 10 after three, 78-68.
The sophomores got to within 2 points midway through the fourth, but Griffin came up big and secured the win, 102-94.
Griffin finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists and was named the player of the game.
BJ Mullens came off the bench to score 24 points for the rookies. Marc Gasol grabbed an incredible 23 rebounds for the game.
A highly entertaining prelude to the main event on Sunday. Hopefully the All-Star game will be as exciting and close.


Player of the Game: Blake Griffin

ROOK - 30 19 29 24 102
SOPH - 20 24 24 26 94

Top Scorers
Stephen Curry - 26
Derrick Rose - 24
BJ Mullens - 24
Blake Griffin - 23
Eric Gordon - 21
Michael Beasley - 20

Assists
Derrick Rose - 7
Blake Griffin - 6
Stephen Curry - 6

Rebounds
Marc Gasol - 23
Blake Griffin - 14
Hasheem Thabeet - 10
Michael Beasley - 8
Danilo Gallinari - 6
BJ Mullens - 5

[|)e8*]

Holy crap mullens is a beast! Griffin is more of a beast though

[Bucket]

Marc Gasol 23 boards ?

[Clutch]

MONSTER game by Griffin! really do hope he comes back from injury 100% and has the same kind of impact IRL...

[kibaxx7]

23-14-6 by Blake... what a game. Mullens too, nice game by him. Did you play with the Rooks finally?

[Azzdogs]

Go Rookies!

[Phil89]

23-14-6 by Blake... what a game. Mullens too, nice game by him. Did you play with the Rooks finally?

Yeah I played as the rookies. Mullens came off the bench for his 24 points. Unfortunately Westbrook didn't get much game time for the sophomores because of Rose.

[Andrew]

I would have saved it if I could have. But I don't know how to. I can save photos, but I can't figure out how to save videos. I'll have to investigate getting another ethernet cable for my PS3. Would be nice to have highlights from each game on here.

Set markers to determine where you want your replay to begin and end (and whether you want any camera cuts etc in between), edit as necessary with the various post-production options and then save when prompted.

Great game by Griffin, sounds like it was fun to play. A shame the game's substitution logic still doesn't really account for the depth of the All-Star and Rookie Challenge rosters.

[Phil89]

14/2/10

Western All-Stars vs Eastern All-Stars

East win in thriller after late comeback



After the excitement of the rookie challenge on Friday, it was time for the game the fans had been waiting for all season.
The leagues best players came together to play a game in front of over 100,000 people in the massive Cowboys stadium.
It was the West that came out strongest in the first. Durant had 13 points, Gay had 10, D-Will had 9 and Garnett had 8 for the East.
The West were knocking down all their shots early on. They went into the first break with a comfortable 36-25 lead.
The second quarter wasn't as free flowing as the first and less points were scored. The East managed to reduce the lead to 53-49 at the half.
Kevin Durant continued his regular season form in this game. He was hitting all his shots and would eventually finish the game top scorer with 27.
In the third the game got more serious and defense was stepped up by both sides. The East managed to reduce the lead to 73-71 with one to play.
The East pulled out to an 8 point lead midway through the fourth. But missed shots and good defense from the West allowed them back in.
The East lead 89-87 with 45 seconds to go. Deron Williams managed to steal the ball off Derrick Rose, pass it to Durant, who put it in over Bosh.
Scores were tied 89-89 with 33 seconds to go. West were on a 8-0 run and looked to have all the momentum.
Chris Bosh then drove passed Durant to get a lay-up. East lead 91-89 with 19 seconds left. West bring the ball down the court, pass it to Gay.
He gets passed Danny Granger with a nice crossover move and gets to the rim for a tomahawk jam. Scores tied again, 91-91. Timeout East, 9.6 seconds left.
Mo Williams attempts a jump shot from just inside the arc, but misses. Dwight Howard gets the rebound and is fouled by Al Jefferson.
He makes the first free throw, 92-91. But he misses the second. Durant grabs the rebound and quickly calls for a time-out with 5.7 seconds left.
Durant inbounds to Williams, he gets it over to Jefferson, but he is too far out to shoot. He gets it to Roy, but his long three attempt fails.
East hold on to win 92-91 in a highly entertaining game. Dwight Howard was named player of the game for his 18 points and 18 rebounds.

Player of the Game: Dwight Howard

West - 36 17 20 18 91
East - 25 24 22 21 92

Top Scorers
Kevin Durant - 27
Rudy Gay - 20
Dwight Howard - 18
LeBron James - 17
Deron Williams - 17
Dwyane Wade - 15
Kevin Garnett - 14
Chris Bosh - 12
Mo Williams - 11

Assists
Deron Williams - 7
Dwyane Wade - 5
Mo Williams - 5
LeBron James - 4

Rebounds
Dwight Howard - 18
Kevin Garnett - 15
Al Jefferson - 9
Brandon Roy - 9
Dirk Nowitzki - 8
Dwyane Wade - 6
Kevin Durant - 5

[Azzdogs]

It seems you gave your Thunder players the ball alot.

[Phil89]

I tried not to favour them. Green and Wallace hardly got any game time at all. Though at one stage I did have all my guys on with Deron Williams.

[Andrew]

Nice write-up as always, shame you couldn't take home bragging rights with a West victory but an exciting conclusion nevertheless. Good luck in the second half of the season!

[Phil89]

18/2/10

Oklahoma City Thunder [39-9] vs Toronto Raptors [28-21]

Thunder flat after All-Star break



Oklahoma City came off the All-Star break with a home game against Toronto. They had 6 players involved and hoped they weren't tired for this game.
The Raptors looked the fresher of the two teams in the first quarter. They managed to open up a 34-26 lead by the first break.
The Thunder bounced back in the second behind Kevin Durant. He had 20 points by half time. Thunder were even leading 54-52 at the half.
However, the Raptors upped their game again in the third. Jose Calderon was running their offense wonderfully. Raptors lead 78-72 with one to play.
The Thunder tried to come back in the fourth, but they left their run too late. Raptors ended up winning fairly easily, 102-94.
A plus for the Thunder was Durant notching up his 19th consecutive game of 25 points or more. Next up, Portland at the Ford Center.

Player of the Game: Jose Calderon

OKC - 26 28 18 22 94
TOR - 34 18 26 24 102

Top Scorers
Kevin Durant - 33
Chris Bosh - 26
Hedo Turkoglu - 25
Jose Calderon - 24
Jeff Green - 22
Rudy Gay - 20

Assists
Jose Calderon - 12
Russell Westbrook - 5

Rebounds
Jeff Green - 11
Chris Bosh - 8
Andrea Bargnani - 6

[Bucket]

Oh no, you lose , but what a game by Jeff 22 points and 11 rebounds.

[kibaxx7]

Both Dwight and KG with double-doubles, now Green Nice games.

[Azzdogs]

Hopefully you'll bounce back strong in your next game.

[Andrew]

Shame about the loss but good to see Durant's streak continue nevertheless.