Basketball Sports News:Kevin Durant Thunders towards playoffs
Article Summary:
The Oklahoma City Thunder were viewed as a young team with some talent with a young superstar in the making and not a whole lot else. It would be a year just a little bit better than most years as the player’s progress
Article Content:
NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were viewed as a young team with some talent with a young superstar in the making and not a whole lot else. It would be a year just a little bit better than most years as the player’s progress and maybe the light of the playoffs would occasionally be seen during the season, but certainly was unreachable.
That was then and this is the Thunder now. Oklahoma City is now tied with Houston for the 9th spot in the playoffs and they bring the mindset of moving up that ladder on the backs of their young star Kevin Durant.
But here’s the weird twist to the Western race: If a team has a shot at the No. 8 seed, it might be in contention for much higher stakes, like the 4 or 5 seeds.
The gap from No. 3 down to No. 9 might be just a few games. If a team can put together a hot streak or two the second half of the season, there’s no telling how it might be seeded.
Even though they have a ton of road games left, the Lakers are viewed as a lock for the No. 1 seed.
Dallas and maybe San Antonio appear to be the only two teams capable of recording 55 wins.
No other West contender is a lock to reach 50, although three or four teams probably will reach half a hundred.
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Kevin Durant wants to soar with the Thunder
Kevin Durant
The scoring machine of the Thunder, Kevin Durant, had 30 points to lead the Thunder over Dwyane Wade and the Heat on Saturday night.
Oklahoma City 98 Miami Heat 90
Many of the teams in the West are flawed in a way that makes predicting their final win loss records very unpredictable. This plays right into the hands of the improving Thunder. A lot of that improvement is brought along by the attitude the organization is trying to instill in this young team to remain together on the floor, give a full defensive effort, and learn how to close out games. This attitude is commandeered by Coach Scott Brooks. He brings the hard attitude that helps develop the perseverance of the Thunder.
When Michael Beasley threw down an alley-oop dunk from Dwyane Wade that cut Miami’s deficit to 12 with 8:09 to go in the third, Brooks clapped his hands and stomped his feet, imploring the Thunder to get a stop on its next defensive possession. Thabo Sefolosha answered the call, stripping Wade before getting the ball ahead to Russell Westbrook, who lobbed a pass for Kevin Durant to finish the sequence with an uncontested layup.
At the end of the quarter, with the Thunder comfortably sitting on a then game-high 17-point lead, Durant settled for a 22-footer from the top of the key. He missed with 2.9 seconds remaining, and even though the rebound fell harmlessly into the hands of Jamaal Magloire, Brooks chewed out his star for not getting a better shot.
“I just want them to continue to play good basketball,” Brooks said.
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Yes it is the Wild Wild West and Kevin Durant is ready to lead them to victory.
Image: Zuma Press
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As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.
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Post from: NBA Obsessed
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Tags:Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Miami Heat, NBA Basketball, NBA Playoffs, oklahoma city thunder, scott-brooks