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The coaches sit in amazement, marveling not at the fact that they won, but at the fact that no one has yet noticed that Ron Adams' sportcoat was fashioned entirely out of a rug.
Yahoo! Box Score
Before the season, who thought that getting our 4th win before our 30th loss was going to be a challenge?
Then again, during the season, who really did think that we'd get our 4th win before our 30th loss?
Anyway, the Thunders questions were finally answered in a game versus the completely collapsing Golden State Warriors. This was a very sad game for me, as I am a Warriors fan and cheered them on in the arena. The other Warriors game turned out pretty empty, but since this one was on New Years Eve, a lot of people attended. Many of them very angry at me. Towards the end of the game, when the Thunder shot free throws, some fans started a chant of, "Sit down traitor, sit down! *Clap Clap*". Most would be offended, but if you're good enough of a fan to get your own chant, then you're a pretty darn good fan. Most people commented to me after the game, and some asked me to cheer for the opposing team for the rest of the year, because the Thunder actually won. No thanks, guys.
The game itself was pretty exciting. It started off pretty well for the Warriors, who lead 21-9 at some point, when I shouted, "I'm smelling a blowout!" Oh, how wrong I was. As the game went on, the Warriors slowly let their lead dwindle until, in the 3rd quarter, they slipped into a over 10 point hole. They got it back to 3 at one point in the 4th, but they just couldn't keep it going and eventually fell to the home crowd. In fact, I might have had a negative effect, because the home crowd was fueled by their hate of me. I hope not....
Battle of the hairgel!
But, reguardless, that day was a day of celebration for Thunder fans. The man who really fueled the Warriors last win, Andris Biedrins, was given a fit by, who else, Robert Swift. Andris had a good stat line with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but when you have 6-13 from the field and you never shoot more than a layup, something is wrong. On top of Biedrins' bad play, Bellinelli was a huge liability for the Warriors on the floor all day. Offenisvely, he looked a lot lot Damien Wilkins, going for 1-8 from the field. On defense, the Thunder would always have someone isolate Bellinelli on one side of the floor, and it made for a very easy baseline drive.
If there was one saviour for the Warriors tonight, it was unquestionably Kelenna Azubuike, who gets tonights Thunder Plunderer. He put up solid numbers all game, but when the Warriors looked down and out in the 4th, he kicked in 2 3 pointers to put them back into contention. 8-12 shooting from a shooting guard is simply magical. Easily one of the top 5 performaces of his career.
On the Thunder side of things, you really have to look at 3 guys: Kevin Durant (the Thunder Wonder), Jeff Green (the Thunder Down Under), and Chris Wilcox (the 3rd Star). Durant and Green were both just a handful short of getting full minutes tonight, with Wilcox playing way more than usual at 36 minutes. Coach Scott Brooks went with a really tight rotation tonight, and it worked. Durant and Green both got a lot of easy inside drives, and they hit a select amount of clutch 3s. Whenever Biedrins was on the floor, Wilcoxs defensive lacking was covered up by Robert Swift. I mean, it did lead to Brandan Wright taking advantage, but there's only so much he can do compared to Biedrins. On Wilcoxs offensive end, he easily took advantage of the Warriors down low, and the energy man for the Warriors (Ronny Turiaf) didn't see much action. Westbrook was left to do what he does best, and he was extremely successful in bringing the defensive pressure and picking off of the Warriors passes. I mean, everybody on the Warriors who played more than 15 minutes had 2 steals or more. That's nothing to sneeze at.
I know I'm a P.J. apologist, and I'm still not admitting that Scott Brooks is the better coach, but the bottom line tonight is that Don Nelson got out-strategised. I'm not trying to take anything away from the players, but he pretty much had the perfect plan tonight.
Oh, I guess I have to name a Thunder Blunder, too. If you don't know who it is by now, then you obviously haven't read this blog. Damien Wilkins, the defensive liability who also can't play offense.
Next Game: Friday, January 2nd vs. the Denver Nuggets.
I think we're all looking forward to the opportunity to see the new-look Nuggets....but not looking forward to the opportunity to capture our 30th loss. Sigh.
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