12/25 - POSTGAME | Houston Rockets (107) - (112) Oklahoma City Thunder

[Pillendreher]

Great win.

This is almost sig worthy. If Pil quotes it and agrees it might put it over the top.

I'll allow it since we played 5vs8 for extended stretches.

[dakomish23]

Melo 8/12 0 turnovers and some decent defense is really impressive.

That’s twice now he’s showed up for the marquee matchup. He can’t keep this up at his age but they’ll take it when it comes.

[Funcrusher]

The salt on twitter right now is next level... sodium.

[spearsy23]

Read on Twitter

[thekaoswithin]

The salt on twitter right now is next level... sodium.

sodium isn't actually salt haha

Good win. Ref's had it in for us, as usual, but good to see them power through it.

I liked how Donovan let Andre hit a few FTs then pulled him out til the 2 minute mark. That's the luxury of having Paul freaking George as your secondary wing defender.

Melo can clearly crank it up a notch, preserves that energy for when it counts.

[dakomish23]

get them one more guy. Solidify this rotation. The potential is there. Bradley is my pick but having that one other guy they could somewhat count on should go a long way.

[Funcrusher]

get them one more guy. Solidify this rotation. The potential is there. Bradley is my pick but having that one other guy they could somewhat count on should go a long way.

There are better options than Bradley but I agree with you in principle.

[dakomish23]

get them one more guy. Solidify this rotation. The potential is there. Bradley is my pick but having that one other guy they could somewhat count on should go a long way.

There are better options than Bradley but I agree with you in principle.

That might be available? Who?

[M2J]

get them one more guy. Solidify this rotation. The potential is there. Bradley is my pick but having that one other guy they could somewhat count on should go a long way.

There are better options than Bradley but I agree with you in principle.

That might be available? Who?

My vote would be a potential guy that can run the point. Combo guard type with offense.

[dakomish23]

There are better options than Bradley but I agree with you in principle.

That might be available? Who?

My vote would be a potential guy that can run the point. Combo guard type with offense.

Who is that guy?

[Rotten Apple]

Melo 8/12 0 turnovers and some decent defense is really impressive.

That’s twice now he’s showed up for the marquee matchup. He can’t keep this up at his age but they’ll take it when it comes.

Cant keep it up at his age? It's not like he's out there sprinting 94 feet, jumping out the gym. They're rhythm shots, timely shots and patient shots and they'll probably fall at an efficient clip going forward. Everything has been effortless the past few games.

[bondom34]

1. Bradley isn't good.

2. Glad someone else noticed this.

Read on Twitter

[Andre Roberstan]

That might be available? Who?

My vote would be a potential guy that can run the point. Combo guard type with offense.

Who is that guy?

Not a lot of great combo guards available for cheap. Langston Galloway maybe? But he's not really a point...he's a small 2.

[Dn4sty]

My vote would be a potential guy that can run the point. Combo guard type with offense.

Who is that guy?

Not a lot of great combo guards available for cheap. Langston Galloway maybe? But he's not really a point...he's a small 2.

Marcus Smart?

[Funcrusher]

get them one more guy. Solidify this rotation. The potential is there. Bradley is my pick but having that one other guy they could somewhat count on should go a long way.

There are better options than Bradley but I agree with you in principle.

That might be available? Who?

Tyreke Evans, Lou Williams, Will Barton, Rodney Hood, Alec Burks, Marco Belinelli (can be had cheaper), Justin Holiday are probably the prime candidates. Really want Evans or Williams out of that group. Hood/Burks too if they weren't so injury prone.

[ozwizard8]

how can there be people who prefer huestis or abrines over roberson.

Roberson played great last night.
He wasnt playing like this in other games. Offensive issues are still there. SG cant shoot creates problem when other players are not playing with %100 effort. Hacking Roberson is also an issue.

He was great last night lets hope him to keep up. Opponent teams would exploit his shooting issues in playoffs so Donovan should continue to give more minutes to Huestis/Grant. We'll probabaly need them to play in postseason.

Abrines is more of a regular season player. In a Xmas night you can see all big 3 is focused for this game. We were good on offense we didnt need Abrines at all. In tight schedules you'll need a 3pt shooter like Abrines.

***

WB started to play like animal in last couple weeks. That alone helps us to get wins.
And like GSW game Melo-PG13 stepped up. Roberson was also great on D.
I really dont remember a bad game from Adams this season. He's most consistent performer in the team. Another solid game.

Felton was good. He run the 2nd unit well with PG13.
Huestis made couple good blocks which helped us to gain momentum.
If J.Grant can shoot better than %33 3pt shot he would become much more valuable player. Solid game.

I wont give much credit to Donovan for this game. Like any win/loss he should get his credit.
But I think games against GSW-Houston was more about our players motivation.
Those 2 wins against GSW and Houston on National TV should boost confidence in this team. Having Melo and PG13 changes the scenery in tough moments. They'll bring the necessary help to WB in playoffs.

[bondom34]

https://streamable.com/z085j

Loved this.

[Pillendreher]

We really need to do something about our wing and Center backup situation. Everybody on the bench save for Felton and Abrines is playing out of position.

Patterson plays the 5 almost exclusively (84 %). The same with Grant and the 4 (81 %) and with Huestis and the 3 (84 %). Patterson should not be restricted to playing Center with the bench. He's just wasted like that.
Huestis is not fast enough to keep up with Guards/faster wings. We act like he is, yet he isn't. Same goes for Grant, but Grant is also unable to provide any kind of rim protection.

We need to trade for a real backup Center. Get rid of Grant so Patterson can play the 4. Find a decent SG.

This would fix so many of our problems.

[sleestak33]

how can there be people who prefer huestis or abrines over roberson.

Roberson played great last night.
He wasnt playing like this in other games. Offensive issues are still there. SG cant shoot creates problem when other players are not playing with %100 effort. Hacking Roberson is also an issue.

He was great last night lets hope him to keep up. Opponent teams would exploit his shooting issues in playoffs so Donovan should continue to give more minutes to Huestis/Grant. We'll probabaly need them to play in postseason.

Abrines is more of a regular season player. In a Xmas night you can see all big 3 is focused for this game. We were good on offense we didnt need Abrines at all. In tight schedules you'll need a 3pt shooter like Abrines.

***

WB started to play like animal in last couple weeks. That alone helps us to get wins.
And like GSW game Melo-PG13 stepped up. Roberson was also great on D.
I really dont remember a bad game from Adams this season. He's most consistent performer in the team. Another solid game.

Felton was good. He run the 2nd unit well with PG13.
Huestis made couple good blocks which helped us to gain momentum.
If J.Grant can shoot better than %33 3pt shot he would become much more valuable player. Solid game.

I wont give much credit to Donovan for this game. Like any win/loss he should get his credit.
But I think games against GSW-Houston was more about our players motivation.
Those 2 wins against GSW and Houston on National TV should boost confidence in this team. Having Melo and PG13 changes the scenery in tough moments. They'll bring the necessary help to WB in playoffs.

Roberson's game: turned down over 25 wide open, completely unguarded shots that any remotely competent wing could have scored 15-20 points
allowed Harden to conserve energy since he was his defender and he doesn't even need to be guarded which also allows him to stand by the lane and clog it or double team
went 2-4 on free throws once they started "hack-a-Roberson" and that was only because his 1st free throw miraculously banked off the backboard. a 30 million dollar player that can't be put in the game for long stretches because he can't shoot a free throw...that's hilarious.
Harden averages 32 pts. and 9 asts....in this game he had 29 and 14 so he CLEARLY surpassed what he normally does offensively so Roberson (and George) were unable to keep him from doing what he always does.

To Roberson's credit he did make a few plays but as you can see the negatives he causes game in and game out dramatically outweigh anything he ever does defensively and his defense clearly does not make an impact on the better players in the NBA. You put a competent two way player in his place in this game and OKC wins by 20 points going away because that 8 points Roberson scored would become 24. A decent D-League wing would have scored that many with all the open looks Roberson got. OKC won this game because the Big3 and Adams all shot over 50% (I don't know it that's happened this year) and they are starting to actually move and pass more offensively.
Let's keep in mind the Rockets didn't have Chris Paul in this game so they weren't close to being full strength. OKC played out of their minds and still barely won. Yes it's a good win but I don't think they win this one if Paul plays.

[Pillendreher]

Roberson's game: turned down over 25 wide open, completely unguarded shots that any remotely competent wing could have scored 15-20 points

Roberson on the floor last night: 141 ORtG.

You put a competent two way player in his place in this game and OKC wins by 20 points

NetRtG with Roberson on the floor last night: +31.8

Man, we would have won by 80 if not for Roberson!!!