Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

[RMJH4]

Hell of a deal for Bridges. This could be the big move now. What a team you have assembled. Match up nightmares for opposition all over the floor.

[R1zzo23]

Murray, Spurs Demoralize Thunder in OKC





The Spurs’ defense was on display on one of the very first plays of the game as a rare alley-oop attempt thrown by the Thunder was swatted away midair by Devin Vassell (12 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl). The tone was set early and San Antonio would not ease off the defense all game long.



While the Thunder came out slow to start the game, Josh Giddey (10 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) was the only one getting his offense going as he poured in eight points in the first quarter. Unfortunately, he scored just two more points over the final three quarters.



In the post, Chet Holmgren (17 pts, 9 reb, 1 ast) finally met his match as Jakob Poeltl (8 pts, 17 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk) held him in check on straight post up possession including this block from behind on the rookie phenom.



To counter, Holmgren used his perimeter skills to get some serious space from the rim protector and splashed a three. Unfortunately, his next four three-pointers weren’t close to going in.



Speaking of threes, Josh Richardson (15 pts, 3 reb, 7 ast, 1 stl) hit three of his four as the Spurs connected on 12-25 from deep. That’s six more threes than the Thunder hit as a team on six less attempts.



In the second half, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29 pts, 2 reb, 15 ast, 2 stl) decided to put the team on his back and either scored or assisted on nearly every Thunder bucket over the final 24 minutes. Many times he was able to use his speed and get into the open floor and finish at the rim.



When they couldn’t stop him, the Spurs tried to foul him but the Canadian sensation was able to finish through a Dejounte Murray (23 pts, 7 reb, 4ast, 2 stl) foul for the old school three-point play. Center Chet Holmgren celebrated with SGA as the comeback was on!



Every good run comes to an end and the Thunder’s was ended by Draymond Green (11 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl) as he was able to slip a screen for an easy finish, drawing an immediate timeout by the Thunder.



Max Christie (5 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast) struggled from deep, connecting on just one of five three-pointers, but showed that he can score off the bounce as he dribbled into the lane, hit Josh Primo (7 pts, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl) with a stepback and drilled the 18-footer.



When Zach Collins (5 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk) is draining threes, you know it’s going to be a long, long night.



Driving the lane and finishing with authority, SGA brought the lead down to just six points with 90 seconds remaining in the game. Unfortunately, that’s as close as the Thunder would get as they didn’t score or get a stop on the final two possessions for both teams.

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by dfsJunkie

You've done a great job with this roster so far man. Love that pickup of Mikal. He fits in really nicely next to Giddey, SGA, and Chet.

Quote: Originally Posted by RMJH4

Hell of a deal for Bridges. This could be the big move now. What a team you have assembled. Match up nightmares for opposition all over the floor.

Thanks fellas! I think he fits nicely with our core so hoping we can put it all together and make a run. Clearly we weren’t ready to play against the Spurs but that’s about as bad as it gets for us.


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[RolePlayer]

Draymond and Pop is such an interesting combination

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by RolePlayer

Draymond and Pop is such an interesting combination

Haha no kidding! But really if anyone can reign in Draymond and his antics, it’s Pop!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[R1zzo23]

Doncic, Brunson Too Much for Thunder to Handle





Luka Doncic (33 pts, 7 reb, 19 ast) was a man on a mission from the jump in this game as he took it right to the Thunder from the opening tip. Playing up on him to keep him from getting any easy look from deep, Doncic blew past the defender and sent one in over Mikal Bridges (10 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk) and Chet Holmgren (27 pts, 11 reb, 1 stl). From that moment on, the Thunder knew they were in for a fight.



Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33 pts, 7 ast) was not going to back down from the challenge it took it to Doncic and the Dallas defense as well to the tune of 15-19 shooting including this and-one finish on the Maverick superstar.



After falling behind early in the 2nd quarter and with SGA and Holmgren on the bench, Tre Mann (14 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast) did his best to keep his team afloat by staying aggressive on offense and hitting some clutch buckets to keep the Thunder in the game.



Oklahoma City tried to take advantage of any non-Luka minutes on the floor, but once he checked back in he was back in his bag. After losing R.J. Hampton (7 pts, 1 ast) on a drive down the right side of the lane, Doncic shoulders him away, steps back and drains a triple from the corner. Any shot Luka attempted, whether there were hands in his face or not, it seemed like he was completely unphased and in the gym all alone.



After a quiet first half, Chet Holmgren went on a personal 11-0 run in the 3rd quarter that included a triple, a pull-up jumper off the pick-and-roll as the ball handler as well as this thunderous dunk over Christian Wood (7 pts, 7 reb, 1 stl) and Davis Bertans (5 pts, 3 reb). Holmgren drove baseline, executed a fundamental hop step and flushed over the two Maverick big men.



Stretch bigs will do wonders when you’re playing with a heliocentric superstar like Luka Doncic and Christian Wood plays well in that role. While he was rather quiet offensively, he was able to keep the Thunder defense honest by pulling Holmgren away from the paint. On this switch, the defensive rotation made a mistake and Luka found Wood for the wide open three.



Playing next to Wood is rookie sensation Nikola Jovic (20 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl) that is probably a better shooter than the veteran big he starts with. Jovic abused the Thunder by hitting on wide open shots all night long. His job is to be ready to shoot and he did just that, banging nine of his 11 shots on the night for a 20-point explosion.

[R1zzo23]

Holmgren, Thunder Hammer Home Win Over Houston





In their second career game against each other, the feud between sophomore guards Josh Giddey (15 pts, 4 reb, 15 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk) and Jalen Green (27 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk) was as intense as ever. Even though the Thunder brought in a phenomenal defensive stopper in Mikal Bridges (23 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast), Giddey was sure to let the team know that he’s guarding Green.



While the game was billed as a sophomore showdown, two of the top-3 picks in this year’s past NBA draft were going head-to-head as well with OKC’s Chet Holmgren (32 pts, 21 reb, 3 blk) matching up against the #3 overall pick Paolo Banchero (12 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl, 1 blk). To open the game, Holmgren got lost on a screen and allowed Banchero a sliver of daylight to gun a corner triple to get the scoring parade going.



Early in the game, every time the ball touched Giddey’s hands he was looking to attack and be uber aggressive against Green. While Green is the far superior athlete, Giddey’s size and body control allowed him to pick his spots and attack like on this layup that he is able to flip up with his off hand just over the outreached fingertips of Green.



While being a scorer first doesn’t come naturally for Giddey, Green relishes in the opportunity to play that role and did just that as he was able to dance with the ball in his hand, lose Giddey countless times and drain bucket after bucket including this three from the left wing as the Thunder guard got hung up on a Banchero screen.



Scorching hot after the first quarter, Green opened the second with a third three-pointer on the game and stared down Giddey as he played up to the crowd in celebration. At this point, Giddey changed his mentality from aggressive scorer to playmaker for his teammates to play more into his strengths.



When he wasn’t drilling threes, Green was attacking the rim and got a couple highlight dunks in the process as Giddey and Tre Mann (5 pts, 3 ast, 1 stl) struggled to contain him on the defensive end.



Not typically known for his defense, RJ Hampton (2 pts, 1 ast, 1 TO) attacked Green and attempted to dunk over him. Green, to his credit, hustled into position, elevated and swatted the dunk attempt at its zenith.



Giddey started putting Green into precarious positions on defense, including in the pick-and-roll, and began proving the defense as he dished out a game-high 15 assists on the night. On this play, he was able to drag Alperen Sengun away from the paint and throws a lob to Chet Holmgren for the emphatic finish with Green unable to do anything but watch.



A furious comeback attempt through the 4th quarter was led by, who else, Jalen Green as he continued to attack on offense. Aleksej Pokusevski (2 pts, 11 reb, 1 blk) was late on this defensive rotation and wasn’t able to contest yet another dunk attempt by Green.



While Banchero was thoroughly outplayed by his rookie counterpart, Banchero stayed aggressive and scored a key basket down the stretch to keep the Rockets in striking distance as he took Holmgren off the dribble, muscled through the big man and finished against the top-notch defender.

[R1zzo23]

The 2023 NBA All Star Game in Houston is going to be led by the two top vote getters in the league as team captains: Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant. The two had battled against each other in the NBA Finals last season and will now renew their rivalry in the All Star Game.

Luka got the first pick of the draft and grabbed arguably the most dominant player in the league in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Durant selected his old teammate Steph Curry to be his running mate. Doncic filled out the rest of his starting lineup with Jayson Tatum, Zion Williamson and Bradley Beal while Durant grabbed Anthony Davis, James Harden and Nikola Jokic.

While there were a few regulars selected as reserves, we had three first-time selections that need to be celebrated. The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, having been stuck in Oklahoma City in near anonymity, is now a national name and has been selected to his first All Star game of his young career. Joining him on Team Kevin will be the reigning Rookie of the Year Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons. On Team Luka, rookie Chet Holmgren will be the first rookie since Blake Griffin in 2011 to be selected to the NBA All Star Game.