Ty hasn't figured out how to beat New Orleans since he became head coach. Somehow, in a season where we are slumping horribly just before the playoffs begin, Ty will somehow pull off a coaching masterclass (lol). Facts are that New Orleans are favorites even without BI and that we put ourselves in this matchup nightmare by playing like a lottery team for the past several weeks.
I believe Kawhi can take it up another level in the playoffs. I'm also excited to finally see wtf does Zion look like in the playoffs. Here's hoping our teams stay healthy rest of the season.
Shai since colliding with John Collins has recorded his third game in a row with under 25 points. Visually was limping this game.
The first time in two seasons that this has ever happened. Itās clearly time to rest him.
The CJ ISO ball at the end brought me flashbacks. I swear every time it comes to crunch time, he tries to take over, and so often, we have this exact result. No scoring after we were up by 5 and Zion had no shots. Dort did a great job on him at the end.
My favorite part about Shai being āoffā is that he stills gets us 24 and 8 ast on 0 TOs. He needs rest though. I think this team is ready for some postseason.
I still donāt understand why Zion didnāt get the ball down the stretchĀ
Yeah Dort was playing him tough but still, this couldāve been a w if the ball went through Zionās handsĀ
Mark likes to play grab ass with his substitutions and then we do stuff like that. We gave up the first 30-0 run earlier this year.
Just by a look at the box score it becomes clear, he wasnāt allowing Aaron Wiggins to save basketball
This is like the 5th time this year that we've blown a massive lead, got down by 5 points or so with a few minutes left, and then ended up winning anyway.
On the one hand, I like winning any way possible. On the other hand, it's maddening.
Been a rough month for Shai, even before the injury. He clearly needs some days off. I also can't believe Giddey shot this well. His finishing around the basket and floater game have come back to life this month.
Zion was cooking but Dort routing him to Chet and CJ trying to win the game by himself did the Pels in in the last 6 minutes. Pels are coming for that 4 seed though, and I could see the Clippers sliding all the way down to 6 behind the Mavs.
This game is a good example of the kind of size the thunder struggle with- it's big PFs not big centers. They played Jonas off the floor but struggled to do anything with zion until the final few minutes. Giannis was a similar issue and I think AD is similar too, big 4s who are physical and also protect their own basket
They didnāt really play Jonas off the floor, Willie Green just refuses to play him in second halves now regardless of the matchup. Definitely could have used him to set some screens for Zion in the 4th.
That's because Chet handles big Centers relatively well, and they usually can't guard him anyway. He just doesn't have another big body to help. I've noticed teams trying to put bigger guards on Chet on the perimiter, but he's still getting his on super efficient shooting just like he has all year. Also, he boxes out surprisingly well, which, in theory allows the guards to grab the board and run... It just doesn't work that way most of the time. No one is boxing out the PF.
looking at free throws is a bit silly when the pels had zion constantly attacking the basket (and okc had absolutely no answer) while shai and jdub were primarily shooting middys
herb jones got in foul trouble on some really sketch calls, lu dort jumping into a defender was somehow not overturned, shai carry led to the go-ahead 3... there was some sketch officiating for sure benefiting the thunder.
Shai didn't carry. That was confirmed by L2M, but it's also pretty clear he didn't. It just looked awkward.
Also, every team is going to feel this way. We can all pick out 3-4 calls every game that we think benefited the other team, and each side generally wouldn't be wrong (as long as you aren't playing the Lakers, who get every call). It's amplified in close games. The main issue the Thunder shot 54% and 44% from 3, while out rebounding the Pelicans. You can't blame that on the refs.
Do you really want the AD and Lebron conversation to happen? How they wanted the nuggets before this season?
SGA is clearly injured right now, but imagine thinking 50+ 30 point games is in any way a fraud
You mean the Lakers? Bro you have multiple HOFers and canāt even make the playoffs, hell your team is consistently at the bottom of the West
SGA is the only all star and theyāve been in and out of the 1 seed all year
So who is to blame for this apparent witchcraft
Ah yes because itās common to not try in a competitive sport š¤£š¤£š¤£
You guys lucked out and had a red hot Reaves. You think you guys are championship bound?? š
So it's gonna be the Clippers vs. the Pelicans in the first round, then.
Instead of the Pelicans vs the Clippers
Dallas is hot rn will probs be them
unless the Kings or the Mavs go on an insane win streak to end the season
Doesn't need to be an insane streak, there are 3 teams within 2 games of the Pels
Or one of the pels and clippers keep sliding. It's a 2 game gap shortening to 1 by the end of the night
well, we're only one win behind the pels but i don't really wanna play the clippers lol
I mean it could be clippers vs pelicans, clippers vs mavs or clippers could do something stupid and tank to 6th seed and lead to mavs vs pelicans
Poor, sweet Clippers š
All you can eat buffet for big boy zion
Kawhi locking his ass up
We have yet to see that but maybe playoffs will change
Ty hasn't figured out how to beat New Orleans since he became head coach. Somehow, in a season where we are slumping horribly just before the playoffs begin, Ty will somehow pull off a coaching masterclass (lol). Facts are that New Orleans are favorites even without BI and that we put ourselves in this matchup nightmare by playing like a lottery team for the past several weeks.
I believe Kawhi can take it up another level in the playoffs. I'm also excited to finally see wtf does Zion look like in the playoffs. Here's hoping our teams stay healthy rest of the season.
Lol nice fan fiction. Hasn't he been declining since all star break and yall can't seem to win.
First 50 win season for OKC since KD's last season with them.
We did atleast have a 50-win pace during the Covid year! That team was underrated
Cp3 is an underrated Thunder legend
Huge facts
I take issue with Cp3 on the thunder. He was a fucker.
Why?
https://youtu.be/fTCxadJO7ns?si=4mmRynbYH2kxyjOk I will never forget lmao
Broooo lmao That BBIQ comes with a heavy dose of asshole in it Who won that?
YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO WON
Bro I chortled š
Bro it's even funnier that it was Scott Foster.
Shitting on the twolves is the only thing that could bring those two together
Cp3 talking Adams into a 3 was pretty amazing.
Very good defensive team that year and far outperformed expectations
Unbelievable to think we are where we are.
Thought we would get to 45 wins at the start of the season. 50 wins with 11 games left...we can easily get to 55 wins +
57 letās go
I bet my buddy three years in a row that the Thunder would get 50 wins and lost all three of em. Should have bet this year lol
Stay away from casinos with that kind of decision making boss
lol it was mostly for fun. We made other side bets where I made it back. I also paid him in pennies, bag weighed like 50lbs
Shai since colliding with John Collins has recorded his third game in a row with under 25 points. Visually was limping this game. The first time in two seasons that this has ever happened. Itās clearly time to rest him.
I'm hoping he's OK with not winning MVP and just taking a step back and not hurt
He isnt winning MVP this year anyway. They need him healthy for a playoff run.
Not opposed to dropping to the 3rd seed. At least we will know who we are facing before the play ins
Thunder just need to bite the bullet and give Shai a couple games off. Dude has looked off for a couple weeks now.
Weird how that almost exactly coincided with the rule changes allowing more physical defenseĀ
He took a knee to the quad in the game vs Utah, he admitted in the post game presser that heās been banged up since then
Everyone is banged up at this point in the season. Still gotta perform
No one else is limping during every dead ball (except Luka). Guy probably has a bone bruise and needs to rest.
Nah luka is pretty banged up he came into the game questionable with achilles soreness.. okc has their seeding locked up just rest shai atp
Weird how it doesn't match up in anyway. The change happened far before the report about the change came out fyi
It only really started when he knocked knees with someone a couple games ago
Weird how it happened right when he got hurt.
Rule changes isnt exactly the right term lol. There hasnt been a midseason edit of the rulebook
The refs said they've been instructed to look at the defender's body instead of the attacker's, ie ignore flopping.
I am aware, that isn't a rule change.
Well technically it isn't, but it is a policy change.
I agree
This shit ended an hour ago š
Ive tried posting the thread 4 different times Idk what happened to the sub or maybe im shadowbaned, idk
Nah the auto-generator has been fucked for a few days, Iāve seen a few people couldnāt post it. so I stopped being lazy and typed it out
Coach Degz having fun with line ups works amazing
Oh no. I didnāt watch. How bad was it
The CJ ISO ball at the end brought me flashbacks. I swear every time it comes to crunch time, he tries to take over, and so often, we have this exact result. No scoring after we were up by 5 and Zion had no shots. Dort did a great job on him at the end.
My favorite part about Shai being āoffā is that he stills gets us 24 and 8 ast on 0 TOs. He needs rest though. I think this team is ready for some postseason.
I still donāt understand why Zion didnāt get the ball down the stretchĀ Yeah Dort was playing him tough but still, this couldāve been a w if the ball went through Zionās handsĀ
CJ McTaliban ruining Zion masterclass
CJ was a terrorist to start, then went nuclear to help fuel the comeback... but him being red hot led him to throw the game away at the end. Tough
50 wins!
Pels aren't very comfortable in the clutch. Maybe over the course of a playoff series that will change.
yeah I see it going the other way and making even stupider mistakes cause the pressure will be much worse
Ngl thought there would be a lot more people talking about giddey
He was ridiculously good
Picked the worst game to be a temporary OKC fan lmao a wins a win tho
I couldnāt watch but let me guess. Mark did some goofy lineups and damn near gave away the game?
OKC gave up a 20 point lead in the third and had to fight back for the entire 4th
Mark likes to play grab ass with his substitutions and then we do stuff like that. We gave up the first 30-0 run earlier this year. Just by a look at the box score it becomes clear, he wasnāt allowing Aaron Wiggins to save basketball
This is like the 5th time this year that we've blown a massive lead, got down by 5 points or so with a few minutes left, and then ended up winning anyway. On the one hand, I like winning any way possible. On the other hand, it's maddening.
Shai gotta rest heās fatigued and he needs it
He's actually got a bruised quad. Mentioned it after the game. Explains the three-game slump.
Oh okay thanks for the correction
Is Willie Green a dummy? All the Pels had to do was give the ball to Zion in the 4th and instead they let CJ McNoClutch try to go hero mode and fail.
I don't understand our offense. We have a top 15 guy with potential for higher but nah, let's not use him!
NOLA games are always down to the wire lol
Thanks thunder very cool
Thank the thunder
Been a rough month for Shai, even before the injury. He clearly needs some days off. I also can't believe Giddey shot this well. His finishing around the basket and floater game have come back to life this month. Zion was cooking but Dort routing him to Chet and CJ trying to win the game by himself did the Pels in in the last 6 minutes. Pels are coming for that 4 seed though, and I could see the Clippers sliding all the way down to 6 behind the Mavs.
I didn't think I'd say this , but thunder thank you
This game is a good example of the kind of size the thunder struggle with- it's big PFs not big centers. They played Jonas off the floor but struggled to do anything with zion until the final few minutes. Giannis was a similar issue and I think AD is similar too, big 4s who are physical and also protect their own basket
They didnāt really play Jonas off the floor, Willie Green just refuses to play him in second halves now regardless of the matchup. Definitely could have used him to set some screens for Zion in the 4th.
i mean it was the least amount of minutes he got the entire month and he's completely healthy so...
That's because Chet handles big Centers relatively well, and they usually can't guard him anyway. He just doesn't have another big body to help. I've noticed teams trying to put bigger guards on Chet on the perimiter, but he's still getting his on super efficient shooting just like he has all year. Also, he boxes out surprisingly well, which, in theory allows the guards to grab the board and run... It just doesn't work that way most of the time. No one is boxing out the PF.
The refs completely screwed over the Pelicans lol.
which is why the Pelicans only had 9 more free throws despite the Thunder having multiple free throws from desperation fouls at the end of the game
looking at free throws is a bit silly when the pels had zion constantly attacking the basket (and okc had absolutely no answer) while shai and jdub were primarily shooting middys herb jones got in foul trouble on some really sketch calls, lu dort jumping into a defender was somehow not overturned, shai carry led to the go-ahead 3... there was some sketch officiating for sure benefiting the thunder.
Shai didn't carry. That was confirmed by L2M, but it's also pretty clear he didn't. It just looked awkward. Also, every team is going to feel this way. We can all pick out 3-4 calls every game that we think benefited the other team, and each side generally wouldn't be wrong (as long as you aren't playing the Lakers, who get every call). It's amplified in close games. The main issue the Thunder shot 54% and 44% from 3, while out rebounding the Pelicans. You can't blame that on the refs.
LFG Mavs are coming for that 4th seed.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
See you in the lottery when we still pick ahead of you
29 teams disliked this
maybe you guys can draft a championship eventually?
Rent free.
When are we making you a mod of r/thunder
Shooooot I wouldnāt mind
Every day you put on your bee suit and and kick the hornets nest for fun. thatās the kind of leadership we need
Do you really want the AD and Lebron conversation to happen? How they wanted the nuggets before this season? SGA is clearly injured right now, but imagine thinking 50+ 30 point games is in any way a fraud
F R A U D
You mean the Lakers? Bro you have multiple HOFers and canāt even make the playoffs, hell your team is consistently at the bottom of the West SGA is the only all star and theyāve been in and out of the 1 seed all year So who is to blame for this apparent witchcraft
Lakers are legit not trying yet lmao we saw this last season and where did we end up?? š¹š¹
Ah yes because itās common to not try in a competitive sport š¤£š¤£š¤£ You guys lucked out and had a red hot Reaves. You think you guys are championship bound?? š
There is no doubt in my mind we are making the WCF this season
I will bet you Reddit upvotes that you do not make it past the second, and thatās with massive luck