Thunder and Lightning: Frightening the NBA | An Oklahoma Thunder Story

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A New Season, Same Goal

Its another season in the NBA and the Oklahoma City Thunder look to make one improvement over last year. That improvement as Russell Westbrook put it is, "Our goal is to get back to the finals and win it this time." "A goal any different then that one would be idiotic," added Kevin Durant.

This year is going to be a little different then last though. The Thunder traded James Harden when it became apparent he wasn't happy with his contract situation. The team traded him to the Rockets for draft picks and a pair of shooting guards. Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb are the new additions from the trade and they are both super excited to be a part of the team.

Martin will become the new sixth man for the Thunder and Lamb will be looking to win over the coaching staff for play time.

The plan for the rotation had looked liked this:
PG - Russell Westbrook
SG - Thabo Shefolosha
SF - Kevin Durant
PF - Serge Ibaka
C - Kendrick Perkins
6th Man - Kevin Martin
7 - Nick Collison
8 - Eric Maynor
9 - Hasheem Thabeet

Coach Scott Brooks also had planned for guards Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Liggins and forward Perry Jones to be on the bench during the games. Center Daniel Orton and the aforementioned Jeremy Lamb were to be reserves.

Unfortunately, starting Power Forward Serge Ibaka is out 2-4 due to a strained achilles. This has changed plans slightly for the time being. Nick Collison will move to starting PF giving Perry Jones time in the rotation. Rookie guard Lamb will also move from reserve to bench player in order for the team to remain at 12 active players.

The Thunder's first match up will the San Antonio Spurs.

Matchup Preview *|* November 1, 2012
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Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0, 0-0 Away)		San Antonio Spurs (1-0, 0-0 Home)

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Re: Thunder and Lightning: Frightening the NBA | An Oklahoma Thunder Story

Thunder Roll in Season Opener

Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder steam rolled their way through the Spurs in their season opener yesterday. The games final was 105-72, Durant scored 33 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to win player of the game.

New guard and sixth man, Kevin Martin, had a good game going 8-16 from the field for 21 points.

After the game Durant said, "Man, that was a lot of fun. Its always great to get off to a winning start to open a season and we CERTAINLY did that!" When a reporter said he was sounding kind of arrogant over one game Durant tried cover his tracks a bit. "Well yeah, it is only one game. All I'm saying is that it was a lot of fun to go out there and get a win the way we did. Of course there is always things to work on and improve on. I have a tons of respect for the Spurs and the last thing I want to do is make enemies if that is what you are trying to imply by saying I'm being arrogant."

Whatever happened between the reporter and Durant, Scott Brooks isn't worried about it. "Durant meant nothing by his statement that we certainly won the game. He was just happy to get the win. We have tons of respect for all teams in the league. The reporter was just trying to put words in his mouth, trying to start something out of nothing."

Brooks hit the nail on the head with that. As it turns out, the reporter was a San Antonio guy.

Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs
Nov 1, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Oklahoma City (1-0)	25	30	30	20	105
San Antonio (1-1)	27	14	17	14	72

Oklahoma City Thunder
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Russell Westbrook	26	8-17	1-3	4-5	5	8	3	0	4	21
Thabo Shefolosha	24	2-6	0-1	0-0	3	4	1	1	2	4
Kevin Durant	28	13-18	3-4	4-4	9	0	2	2	1	33
Nick Collison	20	1-3	0-0	2-2	6	2	1	0	0	4
Kendrick Perkins	20	2-2	0-0	0-1	3	1	0	0	1	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Kevin Martin	28	8-16	3-8	2-2	5	1	1	0	0	21
Hasheem Thabeet	22	3-3	0-0	0-0	7	1	0	0	1	6
Perry Jones	22	2-7	0-3	0-0	7	2	0	0	1	4
Eric Maynor	17	2-4	0-0	0-0	2	3	0	1	2	4
DeAndre Liggins	11	1-4	0-1	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	2
Reggie Jackson	5	1-1	0-0	0-0	1	4	2	0	0	2
Jeremy Lamb	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		43-82	7-20	12-14	51	26	11	4	14	105

San Antonio Spurs
TEAM TOTALS		28-84	2-23	14-18	37	17	9	3	11	72

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Re: Thunder and Lightning: Frightening the NBA | An Oklahoma Thunder Story

GAME PREVIEW

Matchup Preview *|* November 2, 2012
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Portland Trailblazers (1-0, 0-0 Away)		Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0, 0-0 Home)
Injury Report Wesley Matthews Twisted Ankle (Day-to-Day) Serge Ibaka Strained Achilles (2-4 Weeks) Ronnie Price Strained MCL (1-2 Weeks) Game Notes Oklahoma City's Hasheem Thabeet played 15 games for Portland last year.

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Re: Thunder and Lightning: Frightening the NBA | An Oklahoma Thunder Story

Final Doesn't Tell Whole Story

The final score of the Trailblazers-Thunder Game doesn't really portray the game properly. At some points in the game the Thunder lead by as much as 30 points. The final only shows a 16 point deficit.

Things got "chippy" in the game as 2 players fouled out, one from each side. Durant for the Thunder and JJ Hickson for the Trail Blazers. Westbrook and Durant both put up 30 plus points and two others were in double digits. Nick Collison contributed as wel scoring 9 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

Westbrook had a phenomenal play in which he blocked a three point attempt grabbed the loose ball and had a breakaway dunk. Westbrook said after the game that its a play he'll never forget. He added, "If I make it to the hall of fame it better be in my highlight reel."

Coach Brooks thought the team played pretty well but said, "There is always work to be done."

Portland Trailblazers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Nov 2, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Portland (1-1)	20	16	32	27	95
Oklahoma City (2-020)	30	35	31	15	111

Portland Trailblazers
TEAM TOTALS		34-76	6-21	21-25	31	20	5	4	10	95

Oklahoma City Thunder
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Russell Westbrook	33	11-16	2-2	6-8	9	9	0	1	3	30
Thabo Shefolosha	32	4-10	2-6	2-2	9	1	0	0	0	12
Kevin Durant	27	9-16	2-3	11-11	1	1	0	1	1	31
Nick Collison	27	3-5	0-0	3-4	11	2	0	0	1	9
Kendrick Perkins	21	1-4	0-0	1-2	2	2	2	0	0	3
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Kevin Martin	32	5-15	2-8	2-2	5	2	0	1	1	14
Eric Maynor	16	2-4	1-2	0-0	2	3	0	0	2	5
Perry Jones	15	1-4	1-3	0-0	3	0	0	0	1	3
Jeremy Lamb	3	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hasheem Thabeet	16	1-1	0-0	0-0	4	0	2	2	0	2
DeAndre Liggins	3	0-1	0-1	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	0
TEAM TOTALS		38-78	10-25	25-29	47	21	4	5	11	111

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Re: Thunder and Lightning: Frightening the NBA | An Oklahoma Thunder Story

Injury News and Game Preview

Defensive wizard and starting shooting guard Thabo Shefolosha has been sidelined. He has a broken rib and will be out 1-2 weeks. Rookie Jeremy Lamb will be stepping in for the injured Shefolosha. Center Daniel Orton will be taking a seat on the bench until his return.

Matchup Preview *|* January 1,
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Atlanta Hawks (0-1, 0-0 Away)		Oklahoma City Thunder (2-0, 1-0 Home)
Injury Report Al Horford Back Spasms (Day-to-Day) Serge Ibaka Strained Achilles (2-4 Weeks) Thabo Shefolosha Broken Rib (1-2 Weeks) Game Notes Johan Petro started his career with the Seattle SuperSonics now the Oklahoma City Thunder. Russell Westbrook was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the week Oct 30-Nov 3. Missed note from previous game: Kevin Durant surpassed 10,000 career points in the win over the Spurs.