Thunder blows out Hornets 119-74

The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the NOLA Hornets tonight with style. Leading by as many as forty five points, the Hornets never had a chance.

Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images

Game Preview - Thunder vs Hornets

The Oklahoma City Thunder (41-15) take on the New Orleans Hornets (20-38) tonight at the Peake'. Oklahoma City leads the season series 3-0. This is the fourth and final meeting between the teams.

AP Photo/Alonzo Adams

Thunder re-sign Derek Fisher

Derek Fisher, the 38 year old point guard who won five championships with the L.A. Lakers, and who helped the Thunder reach the finals last year, has re-signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder according to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski. 

Thunder stomps Bulls 102-72

Honey-Badger and co used another explosive offensive game in their 102-72 blow out win over the Bulls. It's the second least amount of points scored in a game against the Thunder's defense this season, first being Bobcats earlier in the season.

Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images

Game Preview - Thunder vs Bulls

The Oklahoma City Thunder (40-15) take on the Chicago Bulls (32-23) tonight at the Peake'. Oklahoma City leads the season series 1-0. This is the second and final meeting between the two teams this season.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder torches T-Wolves 127-111

Oklahoma City's offensive was just unstoppable tonight, scoring a Thunder record of 100 points within the first three quarters, and finishing with a season high 127 points.

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Game Preview - Thunder vs Timberwolves

The Oklahoma City Thunder (39-15) take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (20-31) tonight at the Peake'. The season series between the two teams is tied at one a piece.

Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Eric Maynor traded to Blazers

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Harden drops 46 and the Rocket's steal the game 122-119

Well James Harden showed Oklahoma City why they should have kept him tonight, and why he's an All-Star and a max contract player. The spirit of Tracy Mcgrady haunts the Toyota Center

AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

Game Preview - Thunder vs Rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder (39-14) take on the Houston Rockets (29-26) tonight at the Toyota Center. This is the third meeting between the two clubs this season, and Oklahoma City leads the series 2-0.

Kevin Jairaj / US PRESSWIRE

All-Star Game Recap (Photos and Highlights)

It was an exciting night in Houston, as there were many stars present during the All-Star game. Everyone from Alecia Keys, to Jay-Z, to all the big basketball stars like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James, you would see someone famous.

AP Photo/Eric Gray

Thunder falls to the Heat 110-100

The first quarter was just... Let's just not talk about the first quarter......just kidding.

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Time to beat the Heat

The Oklahoma City Thunder (39-13) are battling the Miami Heat (35-14) tonight at the Peake'. It's the second and last game of the series, in which the Thunder are trailing 0-1.

Thunder drops the ball to the Jazz 109-94 (long recap)

The Thunder struggled in the first quarter with their ball handling, turning it over 6 times for 6 point. Russell Westbrook carried the offensive load for the Thunder in the first quarter. He wasn't handling the ball very well, turning it over 4 times himself, but despite his poor handling he continued to stay aggressive and finished the quarter with 12 points, shooting 71% on going 5-7 from the field to go along with his 2 made threes.

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Game Preview - Thunder vs Jazz

The Oklahoma City Thunder (39-12) take on the Utah Jazz (28-24) tonight at the Energy Solutions Arena. This is the second meeting between the two teams, and the Thunder lead the series 1-0 after a 106-94 victory back on November 30th.

Photo by Angela Rowe | OKC Thunder photo

Thunder beats Suns 97-69 for fourth straight blow out

Tonight was another fantastic performance by the Thunder. Going into Phoenix for their fourth and final meeting with the Suns, Oklahoma City came out with a 97-69 victory.

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

Game Preview - Thunder vs Suns

The Oklahoma City Thunder (38-12) take on the Phoenix Suns (17-34) tonight in Phoenix. Oklahoma City leads the season series 3-0 and this will be the last meeting between the two teams this season.

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Thunder use big third to blow out the Suns 127-96

Everyone was hot tonight for Oklahoma City as 5 players scored in double figures, and the money-ball was falling for all. The Thunder's defense was huge tonight, pestering the Suns to turn the ball over 17 times for a total of 29 points. It was a career night for Thabo Sefolosha as well, who had a season-high 18 points on a career-high 4 made three pointers.

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Game Preview - Thunder vs Suns

The Oklahoma City Thunder (37-12) take on the Phoenix Suns (17-33) tonight at the Peake'. OKC leads the season series 2-0. The last two games of the series will be played back-to-back as the Thunder visit the Suns in Phoenix after tonight's game.

Mark D. Smith - USA Today Sports

Thunder's previous game: The Thunder's big three came through in the blow out 119-98 win over the Golden State Warriors last Wednesday, avenging their previous loss the the Warriors just a week prior. The Thunder used a big first half in which they held the Warriors to just 37% shooting and forced 11 turn overs for 19 points.

Serge Ibaka was huge in the first half - racking up 4 blocks to go along with 13 points on an impressive 6-7 shooting. Though the Warriors would make the suspected late game run, closing the gap to just 11 points with just 4 minutes remaining the in third - Kevin Martin and the 2nd unit would have none of it. The Thunder extended their lead back up to 23 thanks to a spectacular fourth, in which the second year back-up point guard Reggie Jackson went off for 10 of his career-high 12 points - to go along with K-Martin's 10 points on 4-5 shooting.

Last meeting with the Suns: Kevin Durant lead the charge in Phoenix last time these teams met - going off for 41 points to go along with the Honey-Badger's 36 and 8 in the 102-90 victory. After dominating Phoenix in the first half, out scoring them in the paint 30-14, the Thunder were able to dim the Sun's light in the fourth  behind Kevin Durant - who scored 19 of the Thunder's 30 fourth quarter points on 8-13 shooting (2-3 3-point).


Phoenix dropped their last game to the Hornets 93-84, despite 5 players scoring in double figures - none of which scored more than 14 points. The Suns shot a poor 44% on the game but their problem was turning the ball over. The Hornets were able to score 18 points off of 17 Phoenix turn overs as the Suns had no answer for New Orlean's fast break - which out scored Phoenix 16-6 and dominated the paint, out scoring the Suns 56-42.


The Suns are one of the worst teams in the league, but are certainly capable of playing well on any given night if everything comes together for them. They have fantastic big men in Luis Scola, Marcin Gortat, and Michael Beasley that can score and attack the offensive glass. Phoenix is ranked 17th in the league in offensive rebounding, averaging 11.2 a game and can score the ball inside very well - averaging 40 points in the paint a game. The Thunder have shown success in defending the paint against the Suns before, which will be key for an easy win tonight.


Thunder Essentials:


Russell Westbrook - The Honey-Badger is averaging 30 points a game on just over 50% shooting to go along with 7 assists and 7.5 boards. Russ has a big mismatch against Goran Dragic in the post, as he does against most point guards, so expect him to take advantage of this tonight and capitalize on the line and the bank shot.


Points in the Paint - Oklahoma City is ranked 12th in the league in this department and they're averaging 42.0 a game. They have shown success in the post against the Suns this season - averaging 49.0 a game on nearly 60% shooting.


Limit second chance points - If Phoenix has any strong suit, this would be it. They can be monsters on the glass on any given night and have been able to capitalize on the Thunder's poor defensive rebounding before. If the Thunder wants to end the game before the fourth quarter, they can't allow the Suns to do have their way with the ball tonight.

Russell Westbrook to coach Celebrity All-Star game against James Harden

Russell Westbrook announced earlier this afternoon via Facebook that he will be coaching the Celebrity All-Star game against former team mate and fan favorite James Harden.

 

The event will held on Friday, February 15th, during the NBA All-Star Jam Session in Houston and it will be televised on ESPN starting at 7 p.m. ET.


The Celebrity All-Star roster includes:  Josh Hutcherson, Trey Songz, Nick Cannon, Kevin Hart, Usain Bolt, and Queen Latifah among others. It will be interesting to see how they do.





















 

Thunder takes care of Warriors 119-98

The Thunder came out victorious tonight after a dominant performance in all categories of the game in another blow out win against the Warriors, Especially from Serge Ibaka who might be moving to the 1 spot soon as he had a career-high 4 assists, Congratulations Serge!

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Game Preview - Thunder vs Warriors

The Oklahoma City Thunder (36-12) are taking on the Golden State Warriors (30-18) tonight at the Peake. The season series is tied 1-1 between the two teams.

Getty Images North America

Thunder's previous game: The Thunder man handled the Dallas Mavericks on Monday after an impressive all-around performance by the Thunder and specifically their defense. Oklahoma City held Dallas to just 41% shooting and 18% from beyond the arc. Dallas turned the ball over 14 times for 23 Thunder points, and was absolutely demolished in the fast break - out scored by the Thunder 25-11.  Oklahoma City lead by as many as 33 points, and the Thunder Starters didn't play a minute of the fourth quarter.


Last meeting with Golden State: The Warriors over came the Thunder after a fourth quarter surge, where they were able to hold the Thunder to only 33% shooting and forced 6 turn overs. The game was close throughout all quarters, but OKC folded in the final minutes of the game - giving up an 8 point lead midway through the fourth and allowing the Warriors to go on a 24-11 run to steal the game.

Russell Westbrook had a regrettable shooting performance - going 3-16 in the game for just 10 points, and turning the ball over 6 times compared to just 4 assists. Despite having 5 players score in double figures, the Thunder were never able to pull ahead of the Warriors and a lot had to do with turning the ball over 19 times for 24 points - as each starting Thunder player had at least 5 turn overs.


Golden State is coming off a blow out 140-109 loss to the Houston Rockets after the Rockets tied the NBA record for most three pointers made in a game as a team at 23. Houston had 8 players score in double figures and 9 players make at least 1 three pointer. The Warriors were no where near as effective from outside - shooting only shooting 20% from the three as well as turning the ball over 12 times for 18 points. Jarrett Jack was the only player to score 20 or more points for the Warriors, shooting 7-14 to go along with 5 assists, as their star player in Stephen Curry wasn't too hot coming off an injury - going 3-12 for just 7 points.


The Warriors are on of the best rebounding teams in the league, ranking fourth in the league and averaging an impressive 44.6 a game. That's not all though - as the Warriors are also first in the league from beyond the arc and can certainly light it up in a hurry, averaging 39%. It will be important for Oklahoma City to have good fundamentals tonight in order for them to avoid another loss to the Warriors.


Thunder Essentials:


Controlling the glass - The Thunder have to be able to use their size and strength in order to out rebound the Warriors - something they have been good at at times, and not so good at at others.


Defending the 3 pointer - Golden State is absolutely deadly from beyond the arc, and a lot of that has to do with Stephen Curry - who is averaging 45.3% from the 3 and is second in that department in the league. That's not their only weapon from the three, though. The Warriors possess all of the top 5 players in the 3-pt % category - so any given night you can expect them to let it rip.


Fastbreak - When the Thunder get out and run in transition, good things happen. They rank 6th in the league in fast break points a game, averaging 16.3. Tonight it will be important for Oklahoma City to get out and run in transition - and to be efficient while doing so.

Thunder obliterates Dallas 112-91

Oklahoma City took care of business tonight against the Dallas Mavericks in a blow out 112-91 victory. The Thunder lead by as many as 33 point tonight, mainly because of the stingy defense that forced 14 turn overs and lead to 23 points.

(AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

Game Preview - Thunder vs Mavericks

The Oklahoma City Thunder (35-12) take on the Dallas Mavericks (20-27) tonight at the Peake. The Thunder are leading the season series 2-0 coming into the game.

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Thunder lose to Cavaliers 115-110

What a great game tonight was, even though the Thunder lost, the game was a back and forth shoot out and it was exciting to watch all 48 minutes. All I can say is - Kyrie Irving. The kid is unbelievably good, and as clutch as anyone in the league.

Game Preview - Thunder vs Cavaliers

The Oklahoma City Thunder (35-11) are visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers (13-34) tonight, coming off an impressive victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.