Thunder Nation: Recent Episodes
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Talking Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball through the perspective of two die hard fans and a "hater".
Oklahoma City forced a Game Seven in its first-round playoff series with the Houston Rockets by way of a 104-100 Game Six victory. Christ Paul and Danilo Gallinari wouldn't be stopped and with the Lakers now waiting for the winner-take-all decisive game on Wednesday night here's what we're talking about after Monday night's win.
- Chris Paul was clutch
- Thoughts on CP3's technical foul
- Shai's struggles
- Defense made the difference
- How much does Lu Dort need to play?
- Bazley needs more minutes
- What's the recipe for a Game 7 win?
Recapping wins is a lot more fun than recapping losses, as exemplified in this most recent podcast. Oklahoma City scored its first win of the series with an overtime victory on Saturday and we've got several different angles to go over from it.
Episode Talking Points
- Struggling Early
- Dort on Harden
- Strong performances from Chris Paul, Shai, and Schroder
- Billy Donovan's coaching (Buy or Sell)
- Only going three deep into the bench
- Small ball
- Houston crying over fouls
- Adjustments for Game 4
Backs are firmly against the wall for Oklahoma City as they find themselves in on 0-2 hole against the Houston Rockets. There were some positives in Thursday's loss with SGA becoming the second youngest player in OKC franchise history to score 30-plus points in a playoff game. The bad definitely outweighed the good though, resulting in the loss. We definitely get into all of that, and more, in this latest installment of the Thunder Nation Podcast.
Episode Talking Points - SGA bounces back - Schroder struggles in the 4th - Dort's impressive playoff debut - Who is more important to their team, Westbrook or Dort? - The Steven Adams enigma (play him or not?) - Chris Paul has to be better - Billy Donovan has to make adjustments - The bench is absent - Is the series over?
Oklahoma City was handed a loss to open the playoffs but that certainly doesn't mean the future is doom and gloom. Here's our take on what happened in Game One and adjustments necessary for Game Two.
Episode Talking Points - Gallinari's performance - Steven Adams under the basket - Chris Paul with a near double-double - Needing more from Shai and Schroder - Perimeter defense - Stagnant on offense - Missing Dort - Defensive focus for Game Two - Other Game Two adjustments - Biggest surprises around the NBA
It took overtime for Oklahoma City to finish up its eighth seeding game in the bubble. The playoff parings were already settled, for both teams, before this game started, resulting in a bevy of bench players seeing heavy minutes. That doesn't mean we didn't have a lot to talk about though.
Episode Talking Points - Dennis Schroder providing solid minutes - Should we be worried about Chris Paul's thumb? - OKC's bubble MVP - Most disappointing team in the bubble - Sizing up the Houston Rockets - First round playoff predictions
The Thunder scored a comeback win over Miami on Wednesday night to solidify a first round playoff matchup with Houston. The game provided a a good look at both the youth and depth of Billy Donovan's squad. That depth could have taken a little bit of a hit though based on the severity of Lu Dort's injury.
Episode Talking Points
- Dort Injury
- Slow Start
- Early Foul Trouble
- The depth and youth of the Thunder roster
- Steven Adams looking healthy
- Muscala final shot
- Tied with Houston at the #4 seed
- Schroder back in the bubble
- Around the NBA
- Thunder/Clippers Friday night
An extremely short-handed Thunder team fell to Phoenix on Monday afternoon dropping OKC's bubble record to 3-3.
Episode Talking Points
Contributing Factors To The Loss - Short-Handed - Devon Booker's 35 points - Game changed with Deandre Ayton
Positives From the Game - Quick State - Bazley - Muscala
Hami's Controversy
Thunder currently in the 5th seed
Thoughts on Miami
Oklahoma City moved to 3-2 in the bubble with a win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday. The Thunder currently sit at the #5 seed in the West with opportunity to move up. The Phoenix Suns are waiting on the other side of OKC's only back-to-back in the bubble and that's just one of the many topics we breakdown in this episode of the Thunder Nation Podcast.
Episode Talking Points
- Thought's on Friday's Memphis loss (We didn't have the opportunity to record after)
- Keys to Sunday's win over Washington
- Chris Paul's floor leadership
- Darius Bazley leading the team in scoring
- Perfect timing for Mike Muscala to return
- OKC's quick starts
- Monday's matchup with Phoenix
- General thoughts around the NBA
Huge win for OKC!!!
Here's what we're talking about.
Offense All 5 starters in double-figure scoring Much improved scoring in the paint after a rough outing on Monday 3-point shooting: 5/24, 20.8% = 4th worst 3P% of the season, T-2nd fewest 3P makes FT shooting: 32/36 (88.9%), 3rd most makes of the season, 6th time shooting 36+ FTs Chris Paul is crafty in the paint Steven Adams expanding his offensive abilities Lu Dort coming in clutch with 14 points Defense 86 points = fewest scored by the Lakers all season long Locking up Lebron Luguentz Dort - “In my mind, it was just another game." Steven Adams went back to locker room = cause for concern? Looking ahead: Grizzlies (0-4) on Friday, Wizards (0-4) on Sunday, Suns (3-0) on Monday, Heat (2-1) next Wednesday, Clippers (1-2) a week from Friday Playoff Chances? Chris Paul - “We’re just gonna keep our heads down, keep on fighting. We weren’t even supposed to be here." Scores around the NBA
Oklahoma City let one slip away on Monday and now have the Lakers on deck for the next game. Denver center Nikola Jokic recorded a triple-double and forward Michael Porter Jr. scored a career high 37 points.
Episode Talking Points
- Nuggets hold on to #3 seed/OKC still at #6
- Jokic's Triple-Double
- Michael Porter Jr's. career high
- Nader/SGA down the stretch
- Mike Muscala injury
- Offensive issues late, particularly in OT
- Schröder effect
- Thoughts from around the NBA
Oklahoma City got off to a roaring start to the final eight seeding games with a 110-94 win over Utah. SGA led all scorers with 19 points and Steven Adams produced a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. Zack and Matt breakdown the game with some quick reactions to the following topics.
- Key(s) to the victory
- Dort on Mitchell
- Andre Roberson
- Steven Adams' “hostile act”
- Dennis Schroeder
- Thoughts on Monday's game against Denver
Andre Roberson's return to the court has been nothing short of inspiring. He spearheaded OKC's comeback win against Philadelphia in the second scrimmage and has fans salivating over what he could bring to a playoff roster. Just how much can we expect from him once the Thunder start playing for real?
One component of the roster that is going to be missing is Dennis Schröder. What can we expect in his absence?
Episode Talking Points
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What has stood out the most through the first two scrimmages?
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Is Andre Roberson the biggest story right now?
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Abdel Nader in concussion protocol. How big of a deal is it?
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The plan for Dennis Schroeder’s absence?
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If a team that isn’t seeded #1 or #2, in either conference, makes it to the finals, who will it be?
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OKC/Utah predictions
Through 12 games of the season, opinions continue to take shape as weaknesses and strengths are revealed by the Thunder. Let's see how we all feel after ending a 4-game skid...
The Heartland Sports crew is back at it with the Thunder talk. What do the new contracts for Steven Adams and Victor Olidepo mean long-term for OKC, and how much can Jermi Grant add to the roster. The Thunder also have the Clippers and Warriors coming up this week in what is their first true road test of the season. Could this be a defining moment for the team? Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple-double. Is that good or bad? Finally, we've got another crazy trade scenario to throw at ya!