Last weekend was a good one for sports fans in Oklahoma City.
Hometown boy Sam Bradford was taken first-overall by the St. Louis Rams in the NFL draft and the only professional sports team in town, the NBA Thunder tied up their opening-round playoff series 2–2 defeating the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers 110–89.
In a town where Bradford’s Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys receive top-billing, the Thunder are making a lot of noise. Just two years after relocating from Seattle, the former SuperSonics underwent a phenomenal one-year turnaround.
While the Thunder struggled in 2008–09 and finished the season with a record of 23–59—third-worst in the Western Conference—they improved by 27 games, finishing this past regular season at 50–32, good enough for eighth in the West and a spot in the NBA’s postseason dance. One of the biggest reasons for the team’s 180 is the emergence of small forward Kevin Durant.
Only in his third season, Durant has shown good progress averaging 20.3 points per game in his rookie season, 25.3 ppg in his sophomore campaign, and 30.1 points in 2009–10. He finished the regular season as the NBA’s leading scorer beating out the likes of Cleveland’s LeBron James and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony.
Prior to Tuesday’s night Game 5 matchup against the Lakers, Durant was averaging 26.8 ppg, 9.3 rebounds per game, and 2 assists a game. Thunder head coach Scott Brooks talked about Durant’s contribution after the team’s 101–96 Game 3 victory on April 22.
“Kevin was not having a good shooting night,” Brooks said on the team’s website. “But he made a lot of winning basketball plays: 19 rebounds, four assists, and he did a good job on Kobe [Bryant]. He has length, he’s long, and he does a great job. We don’t talk about it because he’s such a terrific scorer but he’s part of the reason why we’re a better defensive team.”
While he made 47.6 percent of his shots from the field during the regular season, the young Thunder forward is finding that, despite a 26 ppg average, making shots can be a little harder, especially against the defending champs. He is currently making 38.3 percent of his field goals in the postseason.
Durant said he is feeling more comfortable after four playoff games but he is still learning. “I’m just figuring out how physical playoff basket ball is,” Durant said in the Game 4 postgame press conference last Saturday.
“Playing [the Lakers] four times, they start to know your set, so you have to run harder, and you have to run second options. So I’m learning how to get through that and basically just playing physical and harder each game.”
Brooks has played a major role in the team’s success this season as well. He took over for P.J. Carlesimo back in late-November 2008 and thanks to the Thunder’s banner year, was named the NBA’s coach of the year grabbing 71 first-place votes. Among the 2010 coach of the year’s best moves—deciding to move Durant from the two-guard to his current small forward position. Fans have been getting as much Thunder as they can it seems.
In 2010, the Oklahoma City Thunder averaged 18,003 fans. The team’s home court, the Ford Center, holds 18, 203 fans and television records are being set too. According to www.newsok.com, last Saturday’s Game 4 drew a 16.0 rating on ESPN and a 4.6 on Oklahoma’s Fox Sports affiliate—the best ratings for NBA hoops since 1999, when Oklahoma City started taking TV rating measurements.
Normally Sooner or even OSU Cowboy territory, Oklahoma City is currently smitten with its basketball team.
Hometown boy Sam Bradford was taken first-overall by the St. Louis Rams in the NFL draft and the only professional sports team in town, the NBA Thunder tied up their opening-round playoff series 2–2 defeating the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers 110–89.
In a town where Bradford’s Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys receive top-billing, the Thunder are making a lot of noise. Just two years after relocating from Seattle, the former SuperSonics underwent a phenomenal one-year turnaround.
While the Thunder struggled in 2008–09 and finished the season with a record of 23–59—third-worst in the Western Conference—they improved by 27 games, finishing this past regular season at 50–32, good enough for eighth in the West and a spot in the NBA’s postseason dance. One of the biggest reasons for the team’s 180 is the emergence of small forward Kevin Durant.
Only in his third season, Durant has shown good progress averaging 20.3 points per game in his rookie season, 25.3 ppg in his sophomore campaign, and 30.1 points in 2009–10. He finished the regular season as the NBA’s leading scorer beating out the likes of Cleveland’s LeBron James and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony.
Prior to Tuesday’s night Game 5 matchup against the Lakers, Durant was averaging 26.8 ppg, 9.3 rebounds per game, and 2 assists a game. Thunder head coach Scott Brooks talked about Durant’s contribution after the team’s 101–96 Game 3 victory on April 22.
“Kevin was not having a good shooting night,” Brooks said on the team’s website. “But he made a lot of winning basketball plays: 19 rebounds, four assists, and he did a good job on Kobe [Bryant]. He has length, he’s long, and he does a great job. We don’t talk about it because he’s such a terrific scorer but he’s part of the reason why we’re a better defensive team.”
While he made 47.6 percent of his shots from the field during the regular season, the young Thunder forward is finding that, despite a 26 ppg average, making shots can be a little harder, especially against the defending champs. He is currently making 38.3 percent of his field goals in the postseason.
Durant said he is feeling more comfortable after four playoff games but he is still learning. “I’m just figuring out how physical playoff basket ball is,” Durant said in the Game 4 postgame press conference last Saturday.
“Playing [the Lakers] four times, they start to know your set, so you have to run harder, and you have to run second options. So I’m learning how to get through that and basically just playing physical and harder each game.”
Brooks has played a major role in the team’s success this season as well. He took over for P.J. Carlesimo back in late-November 2008 and thanks to the Thunder’s banner year, was named the NBA’s coach of the year grabbing 71 first-place votes. Among the 2010 coach of the year’s best moves—deciding to move Durant from the two-guard to his current small forward position. Fans have been getting as much Thunder as they can it seems.
In 2010, the Oklahoma City Thunder averaged 18,003 fans. The team’s home court, the Ford Center, holds 18, 203 fans and television records are being set too. According to www.newsok.com, last Saturday’s Game 4 drew a 16.0 rating on ESPN and a 4.6 on Oklahoma’s Fox Sports affiliate—the best ratings for NBA hoops since 1999, when Oklahoma City started taking TV rating measurements.
Normally Sooner or even OSU Cowboy territory, Oklahoma City is currently smitten with its basketball team.
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