OKC - Five-peat! Final summary

[Phil89]

13/11/11

Thunder up: A recap of the Oklahoma City's amazing rise



Much has changed in Oklahoma City over the last three seasons. They've gone from lottery contenders to dual champions.
In the 2008-09 season, their first since the move from Seattle, they managed only 23 wins and 13th place in the western conference.

The last three years



2009-10 Season
In the 2009-10 season they did some deals to clear up cap room and also brought in OJ Mayo from Memphis. He was a great addition.
Mayo averaged 25.9 points per game and along with Green and Westbrook, helped take a lot of scoring pressure off of Durant.
They won 62 games and finished with the best record in the NBA. Their first playoff adventure as a new franchise awaited.

Up against the vastly experienced Spurs, they showed no signs of their lack of post-season experience, sweeping them in 4 games.
Next up they cruised past the Rockets in 5 to reach the western conference finals, where Steve Nash and his Suns were waiting for them.
Although the history books will show a sweep for the Thunder, there were still two incredible games that will live long in the memory.
In game 2 Oklahoma City came from 13 points down after the first quarter to steal a last second win thanks to some Durant magic.
Even more amazing was game 4 in Phoenix. With the Suns on the verge of elimination, they put up an almighty fight to stay alive.
Phoenix led 57-52 at the half. Thunder outscored them 73-68 in an exciting second half though, and the game went into overtime.
The teams couldn't be separated after two overtime periods. The game finished 189-188 in favour of the Thunder after triple-overtime.
Some amazing numbers were put up by both teams. For the Thunder, Mayo scored 60 points, Durant had 40 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds.
Green almost had a quadruple-double after finishing with 30 points, 9 assists, 17 rebounds and 6 blocks. Westbrook had 14 points and 13 assists.
For the Suns, Nash was sensational as always. He scored 39 points and an incredible 27 assists. Jason Richardson was on fire too, with 46 points.

The NBA Finals saw the Thunder meet up with eastern conference champions Miami, who were seeing instant returns from their 'big three'.
In a repeat of their regular season meetings, the home team won in each of the first four games and the series was tied at 2-2.
It seemed as though Miami would continue that trend in game 5. They battled back from an early deficit to lead by 11 with a quarter to play.
Led by Durant, the Thunder produced a stunning 43 point fourth quarter to overrun the Heat and take a 3-2 lead back to Oklahoma City.
Game 6 was another closely fought affair, with Miami leading by a point at the half. The Thunder opened up a crucial lead in the third though.
The fourth quarter was a shoot-out, but the Thunder managed to match the Heat and held on to win 119-116 and record their first championship.
Durant was deservedly crowned Finals MVP to go along with his regular season MVP and defensive player of the year awards.


2010-11 Season
The Thunder wasted no time in bolstering their roster during the 2010 off-season. Firstly they re-signed forward Jeff Green to a 5 year $47m deal.
They then used the cap room they'd made through various trades on all-star center Al Horford. Corey Brewer was also brought in as back-up.
After starting the season 13-4, the Thunder announced a shock trade. On November 29th they traded a homesick Mayo back to Memphis.
Interestingly they re-acquired young guard James Harden in the deal. He was part of the original trade that brought Mayo to Oklahoma City.

A week later they completed another big trade for Nets center Brook Lopez, which set off a flurry of big moves around the league.
The Lopez deal involved 3 teams. They were Oklahoma City, New Jersey and Miami. It saw a total of 7 players switch teams.
Oklahoma City got Lopez from the Nets, as well as veteran guards Ronald Murray and Eddie House from the Heat.
New Jersey acquired all-star forward Jeff Green, center Nick Collison and the Thunder's 2011 first round draft pick.
Miami received forward Travis Outlaw from the Nets and back-up point guard Acie Law from the Thunder.

With Lopez and Horford in the front court, they went 51-11 for the rest of the season and finished with a 67-15 record.
It was their second straight 60+ win season and the second straight finishing with the best record in the league.
Durant won his second consecutive scoring title, but narrowly missed out to Amare Stoudemire in the MVP race.

In the first round of the playoffs the Thunder again swept the Suns. This time though by an average margin of 15 points.
It looked like it was going to be more of the same against Utah when they won by 40 in game 1 and 25 in game 2 of the semis.
After a narrow 3 point win in game 3 it seemed like the series was over for all money. Utah had other ideas though.
The Jazz won game 4 by 7 points and continued their fight back in game 5, winning by 6 points in Oklahoma City.
With the momentum firmly against them, the Thunder surprisingly won game 6 in Utah by 30 points and advanced 4-2.

In the conference finals the Thunder faced the newly formed 'fab five' from Portland. Aldridge, Okafor, Wallace, Roy and Paul.
Thunder won the opening 2 games at home and led 2-0 heading to Portland. Utah had shown that they were beatable though.
Game 3 was a see-sawing affair in which both teams had comfortable leads at different stages. The Blazers eventually won in overtime.
The comeback was halted though after Oklahoma City grabbed a vital win in game 4. Durant was key again with 36 points.
Portland let an early lead slip in game 5 back in Oklahoma City and never recovered. Thunder through to the NBA Finals again.
Westbrook put in an amazing display of passing in game 5. He equalled his own record in finishing with 26 assists.

A familiar face awaited the Thunder in the Finals, the Miami Heat. It is quickly becoming the biggest rivalry in the game.
In the last two season these two teams have been a league above everyone else, winning a combined 249 out of 328 games.
It was the re-match that the fans and media wanted. But more importantly it was the re-match that Miami wanted.
With both teams having improved their roster depth since the last Finals, this was going to be an even better series.

This was evident in game 1. Miami snatched a hard fought 5 point win in Oklahoma City after 2 overtime periods.
Game 2 saw the Thunder recover from an early deficit to overrun the Heat and tie the series 1-1 heading to Miami.
With a quarter left to play in game 3, it seemed like it was a lost cause for the Thunder. They trailed by 12 points.
However, they showed their fighting spirit and narrowly missed out on stealing a famous victory, losing 108-106.
The Thunder rallied in game 4 to tie the series again. They avoided going two games behind with a gutsy team effort.
Game 5 was the turning point in the series. The Thunder won in and took the lead in the series for the first time.
They now had two games back in Oklahoma City in which to seal the series and their second straight championship.

Miami were unable to replicate the Thunder's mental toughness when trailing in the series and playing on the road.
The Thunder began game 6 in a fashion that seemingly stunned the heat into submission. They led 38-22 after one quarter.
They continued the onslaught in the second quarter and led 71-44 at the half. There would be no comeback for Miami though.
The second half passed by and the Thunder closed out the game and secured another title in front of their adoring fans.
Durant continued his award winning spree by collecting his second Finals MVP trophy in a row. A dynasty was taking shape.


2011-12 Season
Things continued to fall into place for the Thunder during the 2011 off-season. They re-signed Lopez and Westbrook to long term deals.
Next they added some more quality in their front court with forward Kevin Love and former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins.
This resulted with Al Horford being traded away to San Antonio for George Hill. But the Thunder finally had the squad depth they wanted.

Surprisingly the Thunder lost their first game of the season in Oakland against the improving Warriors. New players finding their role could explain it.
Since that opening game though they haven't looked back. Winning in Sacramento (x2) and Portland, and at home against Dallas, Memphis and San Antonio.
Newly acquired Kevin Love is fitting right in with the fast-paced Thunder. He has slightly more range than Horford and helps spread the floor better.
He and Lopez haven't quite been pulling in the rebounding numbers the Thunder had hoped they would, but they are still contributing offensively.
Between them they are adding 28 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks per game. George Hill is leading the reserves off the bench nicely.
He's one of six Thunder players averaging over 12 points every game. The bench is adding a welcome 38 points per game.

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Building a winning team



General manager Sam Presti has played a key role in the Thunder's success. His deals have arguably assembled the most complete roster in the NBA.
In the last two and a bit seasons he's sent 13 players to new teams and received 13 in return, signed 8 from free agency and released 13 more.
He explained, "Yes, we've made a lot of deals over the past couple of seasons, but our plan was always to build a squad with quality and depth."
"To add young guys with potential and ambition. We feel we've achieved our goal with our current group of guys."

Coach Scott Brooks added, "I've got to give credit to Sam and all the background guys for giving me such a great group of guys to work with."
"There are no egos within this group. They all play for each other and give 100% for the team every single game."

Acquiring this level of talent does come at a cost though. There have been several players sacrificed for the good of the team.
Players traded away which the Thunder would have liked to held onto like Horford, Green, Mayo and Maynor.
But Presti realises this is part of the game, "You can't get quality players unless you give up some of your own."

[Andrew]

Great write-ups, nice to have those retrospectives on hand. I'd recommend adding a link to that post in the first post of the thread.

[Phil89]

Thanks, good idea.

I felt it might be a good idea to recap everything for any new readers after the merging of the sections.

[Cruzerr]

Read it-Loved it, mainly becuz I have missed a bit of this

[Phil89]

14/11/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [6-1] vs Atlanta Hawks [3-5]

Team effort secures 7th straight for Thunder



OKC - 34 32 20 35 121
ATL - 24 30 22 22 98

Player of the Game: Kevin Love




Video Highlights
Brown has no hesitation taking the long three.


Westbrook gets the block and then takes it all the way to the basket.

[Phil89]

16/11/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [7-1] vs Charlotte Bobcats [3-4]

Westbrook stars as Thunder ease past Bobcats



OKC - 24 32 31 40 127
CHA - 19 34 25 19 97

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook




Video Highlights
Harden makes a tough off-balance shot over Barbosa.

[Phil89]

18/11/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [8-1] vs Milwaukee Bucks [2-6]

Thunder keep their unbeaten home record intact against Bucks



OKC - 28 37 30 34 129
MIL - 21 28 23 30 102

Player of the Game: Kevin Love




Video Highlights
Love makes a three after being left wide open.

[Andrew]

Head and shoulders above your opponents right now.

[kibaxx7]

Loving the retrospective Also great all-around scoring for your team.

[Phil89]

21/11/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [9-1] vs Golden State Warriors [9-3]

Thunder come storming back from 19 points down to beat Warriors



OKC - 25 21 27 36 109
GSW - 25 33 27 16 101

Player of the Game: David Lee




Video Highlights
Westbrook makes his way through traffic before finishing at the basket.

[Andrew]

Heart of a champion. Hot shooting by Durant, how many did he score in the fourth?

[Phil89]

I'm not really sure. I think it must have been at least 15-20 points, because I gave him the ball on most plays late on.

[Andrew]

He certainly delivered.

[Phil89]

24/11/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [10-1] vs Phoenix Suns [9-4]

Brown has his best game of the season as Thunder beat Suns



OKC - 32 32 31 28 123
PHX - 26 26 27 24 103

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant




Video Highlights
Brown sinks a long three.


Westbrook finds Lopez on his way to the basket with an inch perfect pass.

[Phil89]

26/11/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [11-1] vs Phoenix Suns [9-5]

Thunder beat Suns for second time in 3 days



OKC - 27 28 25 24 104
PHX - 28 23 24 20 95

Player of the Game: Kevin Durant




Video Highlights
Durant loses his man and sinks a three.

[Bucket]

I love these retro jerseys, nice wins against Suns. Looks like Suns can't stop KD

[Cruzerr]

Looks like nobody can stop KD, you are just killing everybody.

[Andrew]

Great game indeed for Brown, nice to have that kind of shooting off the bench. The two home games against the Suns three days apart is something they need to fix in the schedule generator. Home-and-home series are obviously OK because they are scheduled in real life but I don't think scheduling that has occurred too often, without some special reason for it.

[Phil89]

I seem to get a few of those 'double-headers' each season.

[Axel The Great]

I noticed you have two potential candidates for sixth man of the year, Brown and Hill. Great scorers off the bench.

Even with Nash at SG, AB's scoring and dishing is just as much a pain in the ass.

[µTorrent]

Axel., Thats true!

[Phil89]

29/11/11

Oklahoma City Thunder [12-1] vs Indiana Pacers [9-8]

Thunder winning streak ends at 12 as comeback falls short



OKC - 22 29 19 36 106
IND - 38 20 25 30 113

Player of the Game: TJ Ford




Video Highlights
Westbrook finds Love from an inbound pass.

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I trailed by 20 points late in the second. Even got to within 2 points on two occasions.
It was one of those games where they got all the foul calls. I couldn't buy a rebound in the first half.

[The X]

Just catching up on this. So glad you got shortcuts on first page. Makes it a lot easier to catch up within 5-10 minutes

Running thoughts as I go through the last few seasons:
- Don't like you traded Maynor. I've been a big fan of his since his college days at VCU.
- Don't like that you traded Harden, along with Maynor my fav OKC players (EDIT: Glad you traded back for him )
- Not a huge fan of Jeff Green, prefer Al Horford as starting PF (I see you got rid of Love, would've preferred seeing Al stay. Good that you traded Green in Lopez deal though)
- Argghh, just noticed you did a 3 year dynasty recap about half a week ago, could've just looked at that to start with

Anyways, your dynasty looks great. Your team is stacked yet well balanced. I would've made a few different decisions along the way but hey, that's what makes each Dynasty/Association so unique. Keep up the good work

[Andrew]

Can't win 'em all. Not with NBA Live 10's comeback/"The CPU is winning this one" logic.

[Phil89]

Just catching up on this. So glad you got shortcuts on first page. Makes it a lot easier to catch up within 5-10 minutes

Running thoughts as I go through the last few seasons:
- Don't like you traded Maynor. I've been a big fan of his since his college days at VCU.
- Don't like that you traded Harden, along with Maynor my fav OKC players (EDIT: Glad you traded back for him )
- Not a huge fan of Jeff Green, prefer Al Horford as starting PF (I see you got rid of Love, would've preferred seeing Al stay. Good that you traded Green in Lopez deal though)
- Argghh, just noticed you did a 3 year dynasty recap about half a week ago, could've just looked at that to start with

Anyways, your dynasty looks great. Your team is stacked yet well balanced. I would've made a few different decisions along the way but hey, that's what makes each Dynasty/Association so unique. Keep up the good work

Good to know all my effort putting it together was worth it.

- I regretted trading Maynor, but it helped clear up cap space and got me a great bench scorer in Shannon Brown.
- Was another trade for cap room. Got him back though after seeing him in the rookie game this year.
- I liked Green. But Lopez has been great. Horford was great too, but I couldn't justify having 4 quality big guys and only 1 good point guard.
- LOL.

That's what I like about this section. Everyone has different ideas about building rosters.

Can't win 'em all. Not with NBA Live 10's comeback/"The CPU is winning this one" logic.

It was always going to be hard after that first quarter. Late in the third I went on a 9-0 run and reduced the margin to 2 and they called a time-out.
Naturally the Pacers went on their own 9-0 run and I was back to square one.