Nuggets 114, Thunder 113

Here's how it went down. 22 seconds left on the clock and Denver is up by 1, 112-111. OKC has the ball and surely I thought, surely, one of the babies gets the ball, works the clock and creates a shot or drives and dishes as time expires. Well, KD got the ball and promptly drives to the basket and lays it in. OKC up 113-112 now with 15 seconds left on the clock.

Why? Why in the world concede the last shot to Denver and Melo and J.R. Smith who had been lighting it up? I suppose it's more important to take a basket than wait to make sure Denver has no shot. But I wasn't celebrating. I felt impending doom. 15 seconds was way too long for Denver to get something cooking.

As it turns out Carmelo did make a basket, heavily contested though it was, with 5 seconds left. 114-113 Denver.

Now there's five seconds left. OKC draws up a play that's well defended and KD puts up a hopeless shot. Ballgame.

I just don't understand why Denver had any time at all. The ball in your hands with the play clock turned off is gold. Don't give it up. It's like in football when a team is driving at the end of a half and you work the clock so that the opposing team has as little time as possible to do anything. 15 seconds in basketball is like giving the other team two-and-a-half minutes in football.

I'd like to offer up a conspiracy theory. I don't want to believe it and based on my personal observations of the game I don't think it's true. However, my inner cynic forces me to bring it up.

What if the Thunder tanked? You have a wildly entertaining game so the crowd is none the wiser. The effort is there, Melo just made a shot. But Denver had the opportunity handed to them in the first place. 15 seconds. I'm just saying.

There's no way Denver should have had anything longer than two seconds to try and score to win. The Thunder were lucky to have five seconds of their own after the Melo make.

There's probably nothing to it. I doubt there is. It's way too early in the season and I'd hat to think it even crossed anyone's mind. The Thunder are young, they're learning. So on and so forth. Just something to throw out there. The ending was so bizarre.

Video Surfaces of the Halftime Act Drowning

I posted about the female magician who nearly drowned during her halftime performance back on January 19th.

Now a video has surfaced along with a conspiracy theory of sorts from Matt Watson at NBA Fanhouse.

Here's the video:

Who's the Defensive Stopper. Bueller? Bueller?

Dez Mason is gone for the season. On offense, he's been the Thunder's prototypical "no, No, NO!....Yesss!" player. Meaning, his offensive game looks like it has a zero-percent success rate but he's actually pretty solid.


His defense is another story altogether. The Thunder are now 0-9 in games that Mason doesn't play. Uh-oh. He's provided much needed energy to the starting lineup and his veteran moxy yields results that you don't see in the box score.


So how do you replace that? The obvious solution would seem to be Jeff Green. They are about the same size and Green can guard at least three positions. But Green hasn't slid over to Mason's starting position of shooting guard. Instead, Kyle Weaver has been inserted into the lineup.


I like Kyle Weaver's game. His passing and ball-handling indicates he has a high basketball IQ. I also mentioned a couple of weeks ago that he could be a real defensive pest. So I like that he is getting this opportunity.


I don't see him as the long term starter at the position though. Hopefully he can learn as much as he can the remainder of the season and prove that he is a piece in the long term puzzle. Then, next season, he can provide the spark off the bench that I think his game is really more suited for.


If this is what Sam Presti is thinking (and, let's be honest, there's a good chance it isn't) then maybe it offers a glimpse into how this upcoming draft and offseason could go.


For instance, if the Thunder get Blake Griffin then why not move Jeff Green over to the 2? It's a position he can guard and his shooting has improved dramatically this year. If that's the case then why not stick Jeff Green at the 2 now instead of Weaver and insert Nenad Krstic at the 5 and slide Nick Collison to the 4? The answer is probably that, short term, Collison can't defend a 4 as well as Green. It's probably not wise to bank on ping-pong balls falling in your favor.


But in any event, I think it's safe to assume that if Mason were healthy or now with Kyle Weaver replacing him, neither man is the long term answer to start at the position. So maybe we're gazing into the cystal ball and the Thunder are looking to draft or trade for a shooting guard.


In the short term we can only hope that the Green/Weaver combo steps up. This next month looked rough anyways but now it could be downright brutal.