Love the team D and individual D / reach / deflections of Harden, Clips to date.  Roco esque results. An unexpected coming out / revelation so huge for the team.

Liked P’s defense this game from the start. Hoping PG plays within the flow of game. Not force shots especially if early in the shot clock. Prioritize sharing the ball, like JH, since this team is so offensively talented. In doing so, perhaps the ball may go back to him for better in rhythm shots, win win for all.

OKC went small in the first half vs their bench and got punished. Then went with J-Will in the second half and absolutely killed Boston. Mark Daigneault keeps making the right adjustments, Thunder are doing extremely well in second halves.

KP looked great, Derrick White was clutch. Giddey had one of his best games of the season. SGA didn’t get calls, was put in foul trouble by the zebras and still ended up with an efficient 34/6/7 vs an amazing defense.

Lol on your last paragraph. They’ve played the 6th toughest schedule so far. We’ve played the 4th easiest according to basketball reference. AND we’ve got a ton of good fortune with other teams missing a bunch of players, the Josh Hart ejection etc. Both teams have had great health with regards to their key players.

January will show whether I’m too high, you’re too low on them or the truth is in the middle. They play 5 back-to-backs with a ton of road games and a not-so-easy schedule. I think we gotta go 3-1 or 4-0 this week and prove ourselves on the road before we can aim for more than the 4th seed. All teams ahead of us are far better on the road.

Boston played like posers vs OKC. I go back and forth on whether Boston has a style of play that’s basically unbeatable or whether they are playoff frauds in the making. They were terrible today, but still when the 3s go in the margins of deficit narrow quickly.

Today they got exposed as a bunch of shot chuckers who barely look at the basket and are always hunting 3s to their detriment. OKC did a good job of attacking off of long misses, much like soccer teams do, and they have the athleticism and finishing ability to make you pay at the other end. It seems like a lot of teams could use that approach against Boston and neutralize their assault at the 3pt line approach.

Tatum’s stats are below his last season’s numbers and I think it’s because he’s able to sit back and be a passive jump shooter b/c of White and Porzingis. I don’t know that such a style will work in the playoffs. You have to get buckets off the dribble, in the midrange and in the paint to win. Brown’s numbers are also a bit down from last season.

OKC is playing well but has had the benefit of playing a number of teams facing rough schedules and injuries. I think the Clips have a chance to catch them if they stay healthy.

Agreed, let’s not chase some new shiny toy. Let’s work with the tools that we have.

Noice!