OKC - Five-peat! Final summary

[Phil89]

10/2/11

Rookie game selections announced



The rosters for the Rookies vs Sophomores game have been announced today.
The Clippers will have both of their number 1 picks playing. Blake Griffin for the Sophomores and Declan Giles for the Rookies.
The Sophomores will go in favourites given the inclusion of players like John Wall, Evan Turner and Derrick Favors.

[kibaxx7]

Good to see Brockman in the Rooks-Sophs game. That's how it's done.

[Andrew]

Westbrook isn't taking the snub lying down.

[Phil89]

11/2/11

Rookies vs Sophomores

Giles the stand-out as Rookies win comfortably



ROOK - 15 30 31 24 100
SOPH - 16 27 16 26 85

Player of the Game: Declan Giles


ROOK _______ SOPH
41-96 - FGM/A - 34-76
7-28 - 3PTM/A - 0-4
11-17 - FTM/A - 17-24
29 - Rebounds - 48
27 - Assists - 12
15 - Blocks - 7
19 - Steals - 5
16 - Turnovers - 32
13 - Fouls - 11


Top Scorers
Declan Giles - 40
Evan Turner - 27
John Wall - 26
Damion James - 19
Dirk MacDermott - 18
Ignacio Carlos - 11
Blake Griffin - 11

Assists
Ignacio Carlos - 14
Ronald McNamara - 6

Rebounds
Blake Griffin - 16
Derrick Favors - 8
Declan Giles - 8
Tiago Splitter - 7
Evan Turner - 6
Greg Monroe - 6
Ronald McNamara - 6

Video Highlights
Udoh blocks Johnson.


Giles borrows a move from Griffin.


Giles denies Griffin in the paint.


James pulls out a party piece late on.

[Phil89]

13/2/11

Eastern All-Stars vs Western All-Stars

West humiliates East



EAST - 20 17 11 24 72
WEST - 31 29 36 29 125

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant


EAST _______ WEST
28-70 - FGM/A - 56-93
0-6 - 3PTM/A - 7-13
16-24 - FTM/A - 6-6
29 - Rebounds - 34
10 - Assists - 32
5 - Blocks - 13
4 - Steals - 13
21 - Turnovers - 9
3 - Fouls - 16


Top Scorers
Deron Williams - 24
Brook Lopez - 20
Kevin Durant - 20
Brandon Roy - 20
Rudy Gay - 17
Kobe Bryant - 16
LeBron James - 11
Dwight Howard - 10
Al Horford - 10
Dwyane Wade - 9
Amare Stoudemire - 8
Chris Paul - 8

Assists
Kevin Durant - 6
Deron Williams - 6
Chris Paul - 5
Brook Lopez - 4

Rebounds
Al Horford - 11
Dwight Howard - 10
Kevin Durant - 7
Amare Stoudemire - 6
LeBron James - 5
Brook Lopez - 5
Pau Gasol - 4
Rudy Gay - 4

Video Highlights
Bryant dunks over Stoudemire.


Paul beats the buzzer at the end of the first quarter.


Gay spins around defenders and dunks.

-----
Couple of records broken in this game. Fewest points in a game (72) and largest margin of victory (53).

Felt a bit nostalgic playing with Rudy Gay and Brandon Roy.

[Andrew]

Great performances by the two MVPs, nice to see Durant get the honour in the big game. Woeful effort by the East in that one, though.

[Phil89]

15/2/11

Paul traded to Blazers in 8 player deal



It was the main topic of discussion during the all-star weekend. Superstar Chris Paul wanted out of New Orleans.
A few days later and he's gotten his wish. He was traded to Portland today in a deal involving 8 players.
The deal sees the Blazers get Paul, forward Emeka Okafor and veteran guard Stephon Marbury.
New Orleans get Rudy Fernandez, Marcus Camby, Andre Miller, Jerryd Bayless, Luke Babbitt and the Blazers' 2011 2nd round pick.

According to an insider, Paul had a wish list of teams that he wanted to be traded to. New York, Orlando, Dallas and Portland.
After already completing big deals this season New York and Orlando didn't have the pieces to make any strong offers.
Dallas are currently twelfth in the western conference and looking increasingly unlikely to make the playoffs this year.
That only left Portland as a viable option for Paul. They are third in the west and looking to go deep in the post-season.

Given that Paul had made up his mind on leaving, the Hornets decided to take the opportunity to dump Emeka Okafor's contract.
New Orleans will concentrate on rebuilding now that their best two players are no longer with them.

The Hornets feel they received the best deal possible given the circumstances. Much like Denver in the Carmelo Anthony deal.
They acquire a mix of expiring veterans (Camby, Miller), solid younger players (Fernandez, Bayless, Babbitt) and a draft pick.
And they can start their rebuild straight away as they will now have only about $28m in guaranteed contracts next season.

Portland now have arguably the most impressive starting 5 in the league, with Aldridge, Okafor, Wallace, Roy and Paul.
The Hornets, who are currently in sixth place in the west and leading the south west division, add more depth to their roster.
Ironically these two teams could end up facing each other in the first round of the playoffs.

Portland receive

Chris Paul - 24 years old - PG - 34.14m - 2 years (94)
Emeka Okafor - 28 years old - PF - 39.63m - 3 years (91)
Stephon Marbury - 34 years old - PG - 442k - 1 year (70)

Projected line-up: Aldridge - Okafor - Wallace - Roy - Paul


New Orleans receive

Rudy Fernandez - 25 years old - SG - 2.18m - 1 year (82)
Andre Miller - 34 years old - PG - 7.81m - 1 year (78)
Jerryd Bayless - 22 years old - PG - 3.04m - 1 year (77)
Marcus Camby - 36 years old - PF - 9.26m - 1 year (75)
Luke Babbitt - 21 years old - SF - 7.44m - 4 years (66)
Blazers' 2011 2nd Round Draft Pick

Projected line-up: Camby - West - Ariza - Fernandez - Thornton

[Phil89]

16/2/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [42-8] vs Minnesota Timberwolves [17-33]

Thunder fight hard to keep their streak alive against T-Wolves



OKC - 21 29 34 35 119
MIN - 27 22 37 23 109

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook


OKC _______ MIN
47-90 - FGM/A - 40-89
2-10 - 3PTM/A - 7-20
23-27 - FTM/A - 22-26
39 - Rebounds - 38
24 - Assists - 28
9 - Blocks - 6
10 - Steals - 7
16 - Turnovers - 20
15 - Fouls - 15


Top Scorers
Kevin Durant - 37
Michael Beasley - 24
Zach Randolph - 21
Martell Webster - 21
Russell Westbrook - 21
Kevin Love - 14
James Harden - 13
Brook Lopez - 12
Shannon Brown - 12
Jonny Flynn - 12
Al Horford - 11

Assists
Russell Westbrook - 13
Jonny Flynn - 8
Michael Beasley - 6

Rebounds
Al Horford - 14
Kevin Love - 14
Zach Randolph - 8
Darko Milicic - 7
Martell Webster - 5
Kevin Durant - 5
Corey Brewer - 5

Video Highlights
Brown blocks Beasley, then sets up Horford for the dunk.

-----
Lopez fouled out with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

[Andrew]

That's a pretty good deal for the Hornets, all things considered. The Blazers gave up a fair bit but that's still a strong lineup for them.

Nice effort in the fourth to get the win.

[Phil89]

I actually figured out deals with Orlando and Dallas as well. But the Portland one seemed the fairest and most logical for the story.

Funnily enough I play the Blazers next up and again a few games after that. Perhaps a new rivalry like the Lakers and Heat?

[Houndy]

Just wondering, what were the other deals?

[Andrew]

I'd be interested in that too. A rivalry with the Blazers sounds good though.

[rise]

Wow, Portland has four All-Star caliber players plus a solid center in Emeka Okafor!

[Phil89]

Ok, here are the other deals I came up with. (Wages shown are for the current season, not the full length of the contract)

Dallas
Chris Paul - $16.36m - 2 years - (94)
Emeka Okafor - $12.54m - 3 years - (91)
----------------------------------------------
$28.90m total

New Orleans
Jason Kidd - $8.50m - 1 year - (84)
Jason Terry - $11.16m - 1 year - (79)
Brendan Haywood - $7.63m - 5 years - (82)
Rodrigue Beaubois - $1.24m - 2 years - (81)
1st round pick
----------------------------------------------
$28.53m total

Basically the Hornets would have gotten a couple of expiring contracts, a good replacement center and a promising young point guard.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Orlando
Chris Paul - $16.36m - 2 years - (94)
Emeka Okafor - $12.54m - 3 years - (91)
----------------------------------------------
$28.90m total

New Orleans
Jameer Nelson - $7.60m - 2 years - (85)
Vince Carter - $18.92m - 1 year - (79)
Brandon Bass - $4.00m - 2 years - (78)
2nd round pick
----------------------------------------------
$30.52m total

In this one they would have gotten Carter's big expiring contract, Nelson to replace Paul and Bass to replace Okafor.

[Andrew]

Those would've been pretty good deals too. The Blazers deal strikes me as a little more likely though and the potential for a rivalry with them is definitely appealing as well.

[Phil89]

18/2/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [43-8] vs Portland Trail Blazers [31-20]

Thunder pull away in final minute of Paul's Portland debut



OKC - 32 23 28 34 117
POR - 30 27 24 28 109

Player of the Game: Brandon Roy


OKC _______ POR
50-91 - FGM/A - 40-90
2-8 - 3PTM/A - 2-9
15-20 - FTM/A - 27-34
30 - Rebounds - 33
28 - Assists - 17
15 - Blocks - 10
10 - Steals - 5
20 - Turnovers - 18
19 - Fouls - 12


Top Scorers
Brandon Roy - 44
Kevin Durant - 35
James Harden - 21
Al Horford - 19
Gerald Wallace - 16
Emeka Okafor - 14
Chris Paul - 14
Brook Lopez - 14
Russell Westbrook - 11
Greg Oden - 10

Assists
Chris Paul - 7
Al Horford - 6
Brook Lopez - 5
Russell Westbrook - 5
Gerald Wallace - 5

Rebounds
LaMarcus Aldridge - 11
Emeka Okafor - 11
Al Horford - 10
Brook Lopez - 8
Kevin Durant - 6

Video Highlights
Durant makes the tough shot despite contact.

-----
Horford finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals.
This is also Durant's 12th straight 30+ point game.

[Andrew]

Decent debut for Paul. Good win, looks like a rivalry certainly isn't out of the question.

[Phil89]

Definitely. That game was closer than the final score suggests. Neither team lead by more than 5 until I broke away in the last minute.

Tough stretch coming up. Lakers, Clippers, Dallas and Portland again I think.

[Phil89]

19/2/11

Season's trades recapped after trade deadline passes



It seems that the flurry of activity normally seen on trade deadline day happened already during the season.
In all 54 players from 20 teams traded places. Including big names like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams.
The teams not involved were Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Indiana, LA Lakers, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Sacramento and San Antonio.

29/11/10
Oklahoma City
OJ Mayo + Daequan Cook
<->
Memphis
James Harden, Hasheem Thabeet and Second round pick

06/12/10
Oklahoma City
Jeff Green, Nick Collison + First round pick
<->
New Jersey
Brook Lopez + Travis Outlaw

---

Oklahoma City
Travis Outlaw + Acie Law
<->
Miami
Ronald Murray + Eddie House

09/12/10
Charlotte
Gerald Wallace
<->
Portland
Joel Pryzibilla + First round pick

---

Cleveland
Mo Williams
<->
Los Angeles
Baron Davis + First round pick

---

Houston
Aaron Brooks
<->
Phoenix
Goran Dragic + First round pick

---

Utah
Deron Williams
<->
New Jersey
Devin Harris, Derrick Favors + First round pick

---

Chicago
James Johnson
<->
Toronto
First round pick

---

Denver
Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups + Renaldo Balkman
<->
New York
Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, First round pick + Second round pick

---

Atlanta
Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans, Jordan Crawford + First round pick
<->
Washington
Kirk Hinrich

23/01/11
Orlando
Rashard Lewis
<->
Washington
Gilbert Arenas

---

Orlando
Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat + First round pick
<->
Phoenix
Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark

---

Golden State
Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric
<->
New Jersey
Troy Murphy + Second round pick

25/01/11
Utah
CJ Miles
<->
Los Angeles
Randy Foye

03/02/11
Memphis
Cole Aldrich
<->
Cleveland
Ryan Hollins

15/02/11
New Orleans
Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor and Stephon Marbury
<->
Portland
Rudy Fernandez, Andre Miller, Jerryd Bayless, Marcus Camby, Luke Babbitt + Second round pick

Winners
Portland
The Blazers added three all-star quality players in Chris Paul, Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor.
They lose some depth in Przybilla, Fernandez, Miller, Camby, Bayless and Babbitt. Also both of their 2011 draft picks.
Importantly though, they still have center Greg Oden and promising guard Nicolas Batum coming off the bench.

Oklahoma City
The Thunder added more height to combat tall teams out west like the Lakers, Spurs, Mavericks and Kings.
An all-star calibre center in Brook Lopez and 7 ft 3 giant Hasheem Thabeet, who has some potential.
They also re-acquired young guard James Harden from Memphis after OJ Mayo got homesick.
Mayo was their second top scorer last season, but they feel that Harden has the talent to emulate him.

New Jersey
The Nets acquired a superstar in Deron Williams and an all-star in Jeff Green.
They were also able to dump Murphy's $52m contract in exchange for Wright and Gadzuric.

Orlando
The Magic made drastic changes this season as they felt their roster had become too stale to compete for the title.
They added Arenas, Richardson and Turkoglu to bolster their offensive play. Losing Gortat shortens their roster though.

New York
They added another superstar in Carmelo Anthony and have the opportunity to added another one or two in the off-season.
They could possibly have 15m-28m of cap room to spend during the next free agency period.

Losers
Charlotte
They gave up their star player in Wallace for a veteran center and a first round pick.
They may struggle to convince the likes of Barbosa, Augustin, Landry and Diaw to re-sign next season.

Denver, New Orleans and Utah
All three teams were forced to trade their franchise players and scramble for the best deal possible.
Their new players will have to adjust quickly to their game plans if they plan on featuring in the playoffs.
The Nuggets, Jazz and Hornets currently occupy 6th, 7th and 8th in the western conference respectively.

[Phil89]

20/2/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [44-8] vs Los Angeles Lakers [37-16]

Lakers end Thunder's winning streak at 18



OKC - 31 28 33 36 128
LAL - 38 29 27 37 131

Player of the Game: Kobe Bryant


OKC _______ LAL
49-96 - FGM/A - 56-103
5-16 - 3PTM/A - 7-16
25-28 - FTM/A - 12-14
35 - Rebounds - 46
24 - Assists - 34
8 - Blocks - 4
7 - Steals - 4
11 - Turnovers - 15
11 - Fouls - 17


Top Scorers
Kobe Bryant - 40
Kevin Durant - 39
Lamar Odom - 24
Brook Lopez - 22
Steve Blake - 20
Ron Artest - 17
Al Horford - 17
Russell Westbrook - 17
James Harden - 14
Pau Gasol - 14
Shannon Brown - 11

Assists
Kobe Bryant - 12
Russell Westbrook - 9
Kevin Durant - 5
Ron Artest - 5
Steve Blake - 5

Rebounds
Pau Gasol - 17
Brook Lopez - 15
Kobe Bryant - 9
Ron Artest - 7
Kevin Durant - 7
Al Horford - 6
Lamar Odom - 6

Video Highlights
Lopez blocks Odom.

[Andrew]

Shame to see it come to an end (particularly against the Lakers ) but looks like it was a pretty epic game and you put up a good fight. Just fuel for the fire should you meet them in the Playoffs.

[Phil89]

23/2/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [44-9] vs Los Angeles Clippers [24-30]

Clippers continue domination of Thunder



OKC - 20 26 27 32 105
LAC - 22 33 32 30 117

Player of the Game: Mo Williams


OKC _______ LAC
44-90 - FGM/A - 48-81
5-12 - 3PTM/A - 5-6
12-13 - FTM/A - 16-21
20 - Rebounds - 40
18 - Assists - 29
12 - Blocks - 5
12 - Steals - 2
11 - Turnovers - 19
16 - Fouls - 7


Top Scorers
Mo Williams - 39
Eric Gordon - 28
Kevin Durant - 28
Shannon Brown - 22
Blake Griffin - 18
Chris Kaman - 16
James Harden - 15
Brook Lopez - 12
Al Horford - 11

Assists
Mo Williams - 13
Russell Westbrook - 10
Eric Gordon - 6

Rebounds
Blake Griffin - 12
Brook Lopez - 9
DeAndre Jordan - 8
Chris Kaman - 7
Eric Gordon - 5

Video Highlights
One of Horford's 7 blocks in the game.

-----
They just couldn't miss after the first quarter.
I'm 0-3 against them this season.

[Andrew]

Another beastly performance from Mo Williams. At least they likely won't make the Playoffs.

[Phil89]

If they play like that against other teams then I think they can definitely scrape through in 8th.

Which would likely mean a first round meeting with me. That would be interesting.

[Phil89]

25/2/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [44-10] vs Phoenix Suns [31-22]

Brown rescues Thunder and sets up overtime win



OKC - 29 24 22 32 23 130
PHX - 22 29 21 35 13 121

Player of the Game: Al Horford


OKC _______ PHX
47-105 - FGM/A - 51-108
8-19 - 3PTM/A - 2-6
28-31 - FTM/A - 17-22
42 - Rebounds - 56
27 - Assists - 27
8 - Blocks - 10
13 - Steals - 5
16 - Turnovers - 23
15 - Fouls - 18


Top Scorers
Aaron Brooks - 44
Kevin Durant - 36
Channing Frye - 27
Shannon Brown - 27
Steve Nash - 21
James Harden - 21
Mickael Pietrus - 17
Al Horford - 14
Russell Westbrook - 14
Brook Lopez - 10

Assists
Al Horford - 12
Russell Westbrook - 9
Aaron Brooks - 8
Steve Nash - 4

Rebounds
Al Horford - 17
Robin Lopez - 16
Channing Frye - 11
Brook Lopez - 9
Steve Nash - 7
Marcin Gortat - 7
Mickael Pietrus - 6
Hakim Warrick - 6
Kevin Durant - 5

Video Highlights
Horford penetrates the lane then kicks it out for Durant who sinks a three.


Brown sends the game into overtime with this half court prayer.

-----
Notes
- Nash didn't have a huge game like usual because he was playing at SG, with Brooks at PG.
- I lead by 4 with 2 minutes left. Then somehow found myself down by 4 in the last 30 seconds.
- I put Brown in at PG and tried the 'shoot 3's and then foul' routine.
- Brown made 3 three pointers and 3 free throws in the last 20-30 seconds. Brooks made all free throws 8-8.
- Horford actually had his triple-double before overtime. Brook Lopez fouled out near end of fourth.
- They shot 27% in overtime.