The Oklahoma City Thunder finished their 2011-12 preseason on Tuesday night, Dec. 20, with an undefeated 2-0 record, and even more impressive is the fact they beat defending the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks in both games.
After winning the first game 106-92 against a Mavericks team without Dirk Nowitzki or Jason Kidd, the Thunder beat the Mavs two night later in Oklahoma City while both the Mavericks stars played, 87-83.
“We understand it’s an exhibition game and they are the world champs. … I thought our guys did a very good job of competing and sharing the basketball. The passing was really good tonight,” said Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder in scoring in the Sunday night game with 21 even though he only made five shots from the floor. James Harden remains the Thunder’s sixth man, finishing both games in double digits, 16 in Game 1 and a Thunder high 13 in Game 2.
While many fans thought Harden should take over the lead shooting guard job, it was Thabo Sefolosha who retained the starting position for both preseason games. However, that might be for the best as Harden is best suited right now as the sixth man who gets a lot of game time action and pays off in spades.
Heading into the season, it was unclear how fans would react to the NBA players after the extended lockout. Oklahoma City fans didn’t give it a second thought and exploded for the Thunder from start to finish.
“Going into the game, you don’t know how fans will react,” Brooks said. “All day you're thinking, 'OK, hopefully our fans are back' and they're back! I think they thought it was a playoff game. The energy at the start of the game, I think they don't realize it's December, they thought it was May. It was great. Our players love it. They love playing in this gym in front of our fans because they know that our fans are going to bring it every night. It helps them.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder open the regular season on Christmas Day with a home game against the Orlando Magic.
Comments