12/15 | G28: LA Clippers at Oklahoma City Thunder - 8PM CST

[Thabo Sefolosha]

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LA CLIPPERS at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
8PM CST |
Clippers: 17-11 | # in West
ROSTER:

Spoiler:

Thunder: 17-10 | # in West
ROSTER:

Spoiler:

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SUMMARY
Thunder Last 3

Spoiler:

12/10/18 vs UTA W 122-113
12/12/18 @ NOP L 114-118
12/14/18 @ DEN L 98-109

Thunder Upcoming 3

Spoiler:

12/17/18 vs CHI 7PM CST
12/19/18 @ SAC 9PM CST
12/22/18 @ UTA 8PM CST

PLAYER OF THE GAME
- 9
- 4
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- 1
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| NBA.com | | Thunder.com | | ESPN.com/NBA

[bondom34]

Avery Bradley is my guess.

[slick_watts]

i'm ready for patrick beverly to rock the baby on westbrook.

[bondom34]

That's bait.

[getrichordie]

I’m ready for Westbrook to start being some kind of semblance of Westbrook.


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[Kizz Fastfists]

I’m ready for Westbrook to start being some kind of semblance of Westbrook.

Russ has never developed the skills needed to age well and his body appears to be breaking down faster than expected. He should have had one more high quality season left in him and then dropped off next year with what we are seeing from him this year coming in his age 32 season. He is breaking down prematurely like Kendrick Perkins did.

[getrichordie]

I’m ready for Westbrook to start being some kind of semblance of Westbrook.

Russ has never developed the skills needed to age well and his body appears to be breaking down faster than expected. He should have had one more high quality season left in him and then dropped off next year with what we are seeing from him this year coming in his age 32 season. He is breaking down prematurely like Kendrick Perkins did.

Boy oh boy, is it refreshing to hear someone echo the same sentiments. This is exactly what I’ve been thinking and what I have discussed prior to the season. It certainly seemed like Westbrook would have at least 1 good year left in him this year, but I think last year’s rough start was a sign of things to come this year.

I will double down on my belief that Russ is definitely declining and say that if you do not think Russ is declining, then you haven’t been paying much attention to Thunder basketball.

Also, I truly believe that the thought that Westbrook has 2 good years left in him is why ownership okayed such a large tax bill for this year and next year.

The thought process there is two fold:

1. Stay relevant and keep fans interested.

2. Spending $ to surround Russ with talent for next 2 years certainly buys some kind of reputation that OKC ownership is willing to spend money to chase a championship.

I honestly also believe they had a plan to obtain Beal (which would have brought them closer to a title) but that it was foiled when Roberson re-injured his knee.

It’s really quite tragic that this team could easily bottom out super fast due to Westbrook’s decline and Roberson’s knee injury. I think the Thunder will be an interesting case study on how playing at a faster pace, and playing a lot of minutes can catch up with you faster than you think and wear out your knees/ankles/feet.


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[CROklahoma]

I guess we are starting to decline from that defensive juggernaut, and its not about the teams we played. We just lack the energy and consistency which we defended and played with. We dont outrun teams anymore, and from an eye test, our pace is definetly down, after Denver game.

If only Russ would return to his former self, cause, with George going mental on offense the last few games, we would outcome our bad shooting from 3p and FT line.

Its a shame, and here is the hoping Russ can clear whatever is bothering him, cause remember, this team is purely run on Russ gas, without him being him, we ain't that team anymore.

GL tonight

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[ThunderBolt]

If we lose this one do we have a right to question the validity of the previous winning streak without being considered negative or overreactive?

[getrichordie]

If we lose this one do we have a right to question the validity of the previous winning streak without being considered negative or overreactive?

What exactly is meant by “validity” here?


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[ThunderBolt]

If we lose this one do we have a right to question the validity of the previous winning streak without being considered negative or overreactive?

What exactly is meant by “validity” here?


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having force, weight, or cogency; authoritative.

[getrichordie]

If we lose this one do we have a right to question the validity of the previous winning streak without being considered negative or overreactive?

What exactly is meant by “validity” here?


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having force, weight, or cogency; authoritative.

I think that our previous winning streak certainly still holds some validity and what I mean by that is that we’ve been beating bad teams consistently so I think our floor (and consistency) has been elevated by our defense and Adams and George namely but our ceiling isn’t nearly as high as it was last year (Westbrook decline; still no wing help), especially on the offensive end.

You also have to take into account that better bigs just kill us. Davis/Randle ... Jokic/Plumlee.

The way our team plays is that our offense feeds into our defense and we haven’t had a good offensive game so our defense has been having to work super hard which isn’t sustainable.


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[Pillendreher]

If we lose this one do we have a right to question the validity of the previous winning streak without being considered negative or overreactive?

To me the blueprint for this team's success has been clear for weeks: Defensive discipline, generating more cracks at the basket, being good at converting the easiest opportunities at scoring points. Neither the winning streak nor this recent sloppy play did change anything in that regard imo. We're simply seeing what happens when they don't value what they need to be doing. The defense needs to be there, every night, every possession. No lazy switching because Westbrook is too busy defending air. No late rotations. No easy backdoor cuts for opposing teams. Sometimes you can't do anything about teams making shots and that's when we're toast more often than not because we can't match the shotmaking, but the team has to give itself a chance by not inviting teams to score on them. Without Roberson they can't play lazy defense because he's not there to bail them out of bad possessions.

The magic # still seems to be 50 eFG% though: 14-2 when they hit that as a team, 3-8 when they don't. Which speaks to the team's defensive stability most of the season and also to their inability to make shots consistently.

[getrichordie]

If we lose this one do we have a right to question the validity of the previous winning streak without being considered negative or overreactive?

To me the blueprint for this team's success has been clear for weeks: Defensive discipline, generating more cracks at the basket, being good at converting the easiest opportunities at scoring points. Neither the winning streak nor this recent sloppy play did change anything in that regard imo. We're simply seeing what happens when they don't value what they need to be doing. The defense needs to be there, every night, every possession. No lazy switching because Westbrook is too busy defending air. No late rotations. No easy backdoor cuts for opposing teams. Sometimes you can't do anything about teams making shots and that's when we're toast more often than not because we can't match the shotmaking, but the team has to give itself a chance by not inviting teams to score on them. Without Roberson they can't play lazy defense because he's not there to bail them out of bad possessions.

I totally agree but that level of defense you are wanting every night isn’t sustainable and it isn’t practical. Even good defensive teams get tired from going balls to the wall on defense. There’s going to be regression, eventually.

I would also argue that it is very deflating for a defense to get a ton of stops only to **** the bed offensively.


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[ThunderBolt]

I would like to discreetly say of this season goes south and we rebuild, I’m in favor of moving George for SGA. I think he’s going to be a perennial allstar.

[spearsy23]

Anybody like BDSM? Because we're probably going to be spanked tonight.

[spearsy23]

I would like to discreetly say of this season goes south and we rebuild, I’m in favor of moving George for SGA. I think he’s going to be a perennial allstar.

That seems optimistic, although we do seem to be coming out of that point guard Golden age.

[ThunderBolt]

I would like to discreetly say of this season goes south and we rebuild, I’m in favor of moving George for SGA. I think he’s going to be a perennial allstar.

That seems optimistic, although we do seem to be coming out of that point guard Golden age.

I think my posting history shows that I’m just an optimistic kind of guy.

[getrichordie]

Tough game tonight. Definitely going to be keeping a close eye on this one. Billy has a tall task tonight. I think this could be a relatively low-scoring game.

105-95 Thunder?


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