17/1/13
Oklahoma City Thunder [31-6] vs Detroit Pistons [26-11]
Thunder drop second straight game after Gordon explodes for Pistons
OKC - 33 38 28 18 117
DET - 35 41 20 30 126
Player of the Game: Ben Gordon
Video Highlights
Blair blocks Jack right at the rim.
Robin Lopez saves the ball but ends up assisting his brother.
badreligionau wrote:I always loved the Brook Vs Robin matchups
18/1/13
Thunder and Heat prepare to engage in battle again
Tomorrow's game will be the first meeting between these two great rivals since the Thunder beat the Heat in game 4 of the finals last season.
That victory sealed an impressive series sweep for Oklahoma City and confirmed their place in the history books with their third straight title.
For the fourth straight season these two powerhouses are dominating their respective conferences and look a class above every other team.
Both teams are laden with superstar players. For Miami there's LeBron, Wade and Bosh, whilst the Thunder have Durant, Rose and Griffin.
Brook Lopez, James Harden, Channing Frye and Mario Chalmers aren't exactly second rate players either. Both benches could be a factor too.
Reserve players like Mickael Pietrus, Mike Miller, Acie Law. DeJuan Blair, Eric Maynor and Rolf Young are all capable of valuable contributions.Key Match-ups
Kevin Durant vs LeBron James
This is the big match-up that everyone salivates over every season between two of the very best players in the league.
Durant's range and length versus LeBron's speed and strength. Both of these guys usually step up in big games between these teams.
Blake Griffin vs Chris Bosh
After starting his Thunder career in a blaze of near triple-double performances, Griffin's play this season has been a lot more workmanlike.
Despite initially being seen as the third of the Heat Amigos, Bosh has actually outshone his more illustrious team-mates and is a top MVP candidate.
Derrick Rose vs Dwyane Wade
Whilst these two probably won't start the game facing each other, there will definitely be times during the game when they will be going head-to-head.
The two Chicago-born guards are the creative heartbeats of their respective teams. Running the offense with speed and precision passing.
z02 wrote:I guess Ben Gordon forgot that he wasn't playing this game in Andrew's association.
19/1/13
Oklahoma City Thunder [31-7] vs Miami Heat [29-8]
Thunder and Heat produce another thrilling game
OKC - 21 38 33 30 122
MIA - 22 34 35 26 117
Player of the Game: Kevin Durant
Video Highlights
McGrady saves the ball and then ends up finishing off the move at the other end.
Harden nails a three at the end of the third quarter to give the Thunder a 92-91 lead.
21/1/13
Thunder sacrifice Blair to ease future cap concerns
Oklahoma City today announced a deal that has surprised it's own players, shocked fans and divided opinion amongst league commentators.
They decided to send DeJuan Blair and Nenad Krstic to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Daequan Cook, Antawn Jamison and Clement Tate.
As part of the deal the teams will swap their first round draft picks in next year's draft. A potential top five pick by the way Minnesota are playing currently.
The idea behind the trade from the Thunder's point of view was getting rid of a player who was making nearly $10m per season, but was only on the bench.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti explained, "Basically we felt we needed to get rid of one of our bigger contracts in order to sustain healthy finances."
"Regrettably it was DeJuan that drew the short straw. We would like to thank him for his contributions during his short time with our club", he added.
Presti hinted at the possibility of this kind of deal last month:General manager Sam Presti indicated that the Thunder may look to trading some of it's bench assets for high drafts pick in the future.
"Despite all of the success that we've had lately, we must not lose sight of the fact that we're still one of a smaller markets in the league."
"We can't really afford to have multiple guys on the bench earning big sums of money. Having rookies filling up some spots is a must."
"We're lucky to have three high profile guys on our team. Kevin [Durant], Derrick [Rose] and Blake [Griffin] are big sellers in our store."
"Currently we are spending $104m on player salaries. That isn't a good number even for teams playing in Los Angeles or New York."
"It's unfortunate for Gilbert that he got injured, but it may have forced our hand in terms of what we do with him at the end of the season."
"Taking his $22m off our salary bill will be a great start but we'll still have over $80m in salaries, which we may have to look at reducing."
"Before this trade we had about $80m worth of guaranteed contracts for next season, which is about the number we want to spend on a full squad."
"Making this deal brings it down to around $70m and gives us more flexibility in re-signing current players and adding free agents next year."
Oklahoma City are spending $104m on wages at the moment, but injured point guard Gilbert Arenas' $22m deal is not expected to be renewed.
The Thunder chose Blair as the player to be traded for several reasons. The main one being that Lopez has proven himself to be an all-star calibre center.
Secondly, rookie Crawford Mayer has shown enough this season to suggest that he is fully capable of holding down the backup center role in the team.
You also have to consider that neither Harden or Maynor were considered to be traded as the long-term depth in their positions isn't strong enough.
And obviously Durant, Rose and Griffin are untouchable in terms of being traded. They're the franchise's money earners and the star performers of the team.
Daequan Cook returns to the team that traded him to Memphis in December 2010 in the deal which brought James Harden back to the Thunder.
He originally joined the Thunder from Miami as part of the Heat's clear out in preparation for forming their 'big three' during the 2010 off-season.
Viewed as mainly a three-point specialist, he could be used in the same way Shannon Brown was a couple of seasons ago. A quick-scoring weapon.
Even though their new draft pick is almost certainly going to be a top 5 pick, the upcoming draft class has been described as weaker than recent seasons.
The top prospects according to respected draft experts are USC guard Ian Zimmermann, Louisville center Howie Jeffries and Illinois forward Ed Turner.
For Minnesota this deal is a bit of an insurance policy, because they now have Blair to play center if Nene decides to leave at the end of the season.
Blair will be looking to finally cement himself a starting role having spent his career playing backup to Tim Duncan, Al Horford and Brook Lopez.
Krstic adds a decent backup big man for their bench. The Timberwolves are his fifth NBA team in just four seasons, including two spells at the Thunder.
They released him at the end of the 2010 season. He then signed a 1-year deal with Detroit. After one season they decided to release him as well.
Next he signed a 1-year deal with Miami. Again he was released after just one season. This season he signed another 1-year deal with the Bucks.
But after only a couple of weeks in Milwaukee he was traded back to Oklahoma City as part of the Derrick Rose/Russell Westbrook blockbuster deal.
And now, after just four months back in Oklahoma City, he is again on the move after being added as filler in the DeJuan Blair trade to Minnesota.
Minnesota receive
DeJuan Blair - 23 - C - $39.94m - 4 years (80)
Nenad Krstic - 29 - PF - $442k - 1 year (74)
Thunder's 2012 1st round pick
Projected line-up:
Nene - Zach Randolph - Ron Artest - Luke Ridnour - Jonny Flynn
Bench options:
DeJuan Blair, Wesley Johnson, Nenad Krstic, Wayne Ellington, Curtis Jerrells
Oklahoma City receive
Daequan Cook - 25 - SG - $4.91m - 1 year (75)
Antawn Jamison - 36 - PF - $2.51m - 1 year (71)
Clement Tate - 20 - SF - $711k - 1 year (60)
Wolves' 2013 1st round pick
Projected line-up:
Brook Lopez - Blake Griffin - Kevin Durant - James Harden - Derrick Rose
Bench options:
Eric Maynor, Crawford Mayer, Rolf Young, Daequan Cook, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett
-----Thunder waive duo and sign rebound-machine Humphries
Only a few hours after announcing the trade of DeJuan Blair to Minnesota, Oklahoma City made another announcement about some more roster changes.
Firstly they reached buyout agreements with recently acquired second year rookie forward Clement Tate and seldom used shooting guard Tony Allen.
Allen, who was signed to a one-year deal for the league minimum, hardly saw any game time as Tracy McGrady was preferred as backup to Harden.
And Haitain-born Tate, who was drafted by Minnesota with pick 33 in the 2011 draft, was unlikely to see any game time behind Durant and Rolf Young.
After that they signed 27 year old rebounding forward Kris Humphries to a two year deal supposedly worth $2.30m. He will be backup to Griffin.
He had been a free agent since the end of last season when the Nets opted not to re-sign him. He will link up with former team-mate Brook Lopez.
Former sixth man of the year Jamison was retained as he could be a handy backup option in case anyone picks up an injury heading into the playoffs.
Oklahoma City now have a solid second unit. Their only concern is Gilbert Arenas being out long term with his torn anterior cruciate ligament injury.
He could yet return in time to play a role in the playoffs though. Although given the amount of time out of the game, it would likely only be a cameo.
Projected line-up:
Brook Lopez - Blake Griffin - Kevin Durant - James Harden - Derrick Rose
Bench:
Eric Maynor, Crawford Mayer, Rolf Young, Daequan Cook, Kris Humphries, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett
Inactive:
Gilbert Arenas (Inj.), Antawn Jamison
22/1/13
Oklahoma City Thunder [32-7] vs Dallas Mavericks [14-25]
Thunder bench hold off late Dallas run
OKC - 37 29 25 27 118
DAL - 29 25 19 31 104
Player of the Game: Derrick Rose
Video Highlights
As the clock winds down, Mayer sets up Humphries with a nice pass.
Rose lobs one up for Durant to finish.
-----
Fourth quarter was garbage time. I left my reserve guys in even though Dallas came back strong late on.
24/1/13
Oklahoma City Thunder [33-7] vs Houston Rockets [18-23]
Late run sees Thunder overcome Rockets at home
OKC - 18 28 23 36 105
HOU - 16 24 26 27 95
Player of the Game: Brook Lopez
Video Highlights
Rose finds Young on his way to the basket.
Lopez shows off his point guard skills with this pass to Durant.
Young hits a three to give the Thunder a 69-68 lead with a quarter left to play.
25/1/13
Free agent bonanza as teams gear-up to fight for playoff berths
With the season passing the halfway point and the playoff picture becoming clearer with each week that passes, teams are starting to finalise their rosters.
The main additions have been veteran players who can offer leadership and experience whilst playing a role off the bench for their new team.
Big names like Chauncey Billups, Manu Ginobili, Ray Allen and Stephen Jackson have all been given a second chance at playing NBA level basketball.Free Agent Signings
Atlanta signed G Gerald Henderson ($1.71m/2yr).
Charlotte signed F Earl Clark ($2.56m/2yr).
Chicago signed C Jermaine O'Neal ($1.26m/1yr) and G Tony Allen ($1.15m/1yr).
Denver signed G Patrick Mills ($1.42m/2yr).
Detroit signed G Gary Neal ($1.65m/2yr).
Golden State signed C Kwame Brown ($2.52m/2yr), F Dante Cunningham ($1.42m/2yr) and G Daniel Gibson ($2.14m/2yr).
Indiana signed C Hasheem Thabeet ($1.71m/2yr), F Stephen Jackson ($1.26m/1yr) and G Matt Carroll ($1.26m/1yr).
LA Clippers signed C Shelden Williams ($2.00m/2yr) and G Chauncey Billups ($1.26m/1yr).
Memphis signed F Steve Novak ($2.00m/2yr).
Miami signed C Eddy Curry ($1.26m/1yr), F Jordan Hill ($1.71m/2yr) and F Austin Daye ($1.71m/2yr).
Milwaukee signed C Kosta Koufos ($1.65m/2yr), F Ian Mahinmi ($1.85m/2yr) and G Ray Allen ($1.26m/1yr).
New Jersey signed F Darrell Arthur ($1.71m/2yr), G DeShawn Stevenson ($2.52m/2yr) and G Mike Bibby ($1.26m/1yr).
Orlando signed F Gary Forbes ($1.59m/2yr) and G Keith Bogans ($1.26m/1yr).
Philadelphia signed C Desagana Diop ($1.26m/1yr).
Portland signed F Derrick Caracter ($1.42m/2yr) and G Manu Ginobili ($1.26m/1yr).
San Antonio signed C Joel Przybilla ($1.26m/1yr) and G Marquis Daniels ($1.15m/1yr).
Utah signed C Hamed Haddadi ($1.65m/2yr) and G Sonny Weems ($1.85m/2yr).Grant Hill, Vince Carter, Elton Brand and Andres Nocioni were supposed to be included in this too, but they wanted more than the league minimum salary.
26/1/13
Oklahoma City Thunder [34-7] vs New Orleans Hornets [20-19]
Durant & Griffin star as Thunder win first game of Hornets double-header
OKC - 35 38 26 37 136
NOH - 38 29 33 30 130
Player of the Game: Blake Griffin
Video Highlights
Durant steps back and nails a three.
28/1/13
Oklahoma City Thunder [35-7] vs New Orleans Hornets [20-20]
Hornets hit back immediately in second game in Oklahoma City
OKC - 25 27 22 29 103
NOH - 26 29 30 30 115
Player of the Game: Al Thornton
Video Highlights
Rose beats the shot clock with a three.
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