Scott Brooks and the Thunder roll to 9 straight wins
February 22nd, 2010
Thunder defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night to increase their win streak to a league best 9 in a row, but it was almost a gift wrapped victory for the Wolves. Oklahoma City led by 15 points midway through the third period before putting the game on cruise and watching the Wolves peel off a 27-10 run to go ahead 88-86 with 8:16 left. It was Minnesota’s first lead since 2-0, and that’s when the momentum of truth was triggered and the Thunder took control.
The Thunder threw up 11 unanswered points over the next 4 minutes, 21 seconds, taking a commanding 97-88 lead with 3:55 remaining. Oklahoma City buckled down defensively and became efficient offensively, hitting four of five shots while holding the Wolves to 0 for 6 shooting with two turnovers during the run.
0:53 mark. That is why Russell Westbrook is my fav player. Also tacks on a triple-double.
Another great game I watched this weekend was Saturday night against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. With Tracey McGrady’s debut with the Knicks it was a show to remember. Just watch the replay of the first minute or so and it’s the T-Mac Show. Then watch again and wait for the 1:21 mark where the game takes an extreme course correction—where Green drops the three, followed by KD’s big shot to tie it up.
Durant for King.
What do you guys think? Is it a surprise to all that the Thunder is doing so well? Just look at the Timberwolves, both franchises in similar stages of rebuilding have ended up on opposite ends of the NBA spectrum. Please feel free to leave a reply in the comment section.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:49 pm
The Thunder doing so well as of late isn’t, or shouldn’t, be a surprise to true fans of the nba.
At least the ones who know what’s going on outside of their own team.
The Thunder’s finally starting to realize all of that raw potential we’ve seen the experts talk about. And they’ll only continue to get bettter, as long as they stick together.
Which is easier said than done. Once a big name free agent comes on the market that you can afford, and that (on paper) would make your team much better, it’s hard to pass up.
I think the Thunder/Sonics have done a good job of passing on those temptations for the betterment of the team in the long run.
You like to see stories like these.
All of that being said—and I don’t think Thunder fans will want to hear this, though they may know it to be true—come playoff time, the thing that matters most is experience.
Old teams just know how to win when it’s crunch time. That’s why, even though the (young) Hawks will take a great team like the (old) Celtics to a game 7 in the playoffs, the older team just knows how to do all the little things to close a series out.
And that’s all it comes down to: the details you don’t know about until you experience them.
I think the nba at large wants to see the Thunder do well, though. It’s a good story. Plus they’re just fun to watch.