By Clay Horning
The Norman Transcript
NORMAN — It would be nice if they could have closed out the final night of the regular season in finer style.
It would be nice if the Oklahoma City Thunder offered a little more of the way they were playing before and after the All-Star break than they managed down the regular season’s final stretch.
On the other hand, who thought they’d get here so fast? Who thought the Ford Center would be the site of meaningful April basketball?
Wednesday night it was Memphis visiting.
Oklahoma City led by 22 at the half and 27 early in the third quarter and by as few as six as the fourth quarter passed its halfway point, but it ended 114-105, the Thunder bagged their 50th win one season after winning 23 and the future couldn’t be more bright.
And, if you were listening to Hubie Brown call the game on ESPN with Mike Tirico, the immediate future might be pretty nice, too.
Oklahoma City begins the playoffs in Los Angeles Saturday or Sunday and Brown, an NBA icon who first took over the Atlanta Hawks in 1976, was talking up the Thunder’s chances.
Hey, the Lakers struggled down the stretch, too. They’re getting older by the day. Not every hand’s on deck and the Thunder’s young enough not to understand how they have no shot.
Who knows?
More clear is where the Thunder are headed.
Wednesday, knocking down 31 points on 12 of 18 shooting, Kevin Durant, who won’t turn 22 until the end of September, became the youngest player ever to lead the league in scoring.
Point guard Russell Westbrook, who closed with nine points and seven assists in a short night of work, might be the league’s most improved player.
Rookie center Serge Ibaka, in Oklahoma City by way of The Congo, who closed with 15 points, nine boards and five blocks from off the bench, has come as far in a single season as you’ll almost ever see.
All of that and Jeff Green’s still a very good second or third scoring option, James Harden’s about all you could ever want from the fifth pick in last year’s draft and Eric Maynor’s a very good back-up point guard.
Add up all those guys NBA seasons and you’ve got 11 NBA seasons. That’s how young this team is. That’s the kind of staying power this team might have.
They’re not unlike the Hornets, the Ford Center’s first NBA tenant, who flirted with the playoffs their second season in Oklahoma City, reached the Western Conference semifinals their first season in New Orleans when some likened them to a dark horse coming out of the West. They have since gone the way of so many teams whose time has passed.
But they are not identical to the Hornets.
The Hornets were just good enough not to reach the postseason in Year 2, while the Thunder, 50 wins in their pockets, are headed to Staples Center.
Also, the Thunder have no reason to believe Ibaka will lose his health, as Tyson Chandler did in New Orleans, nor are they crushed by anybody’s contract, as the Hornets continue to be crushed by Peja Stoyakovic’s contract.
It’s about as good as it gets. When the season began, the question was when might this team challenge to reach the playoffs? Now the question is who owns the Western Conference after the Lakers’ hit the downside of their dominance and the answer is why the heck not Oklahoma City.
Hey, lay claim to a future Hall of Famer, a bunch of talented young guys who love playing together, make good trades and draft well and you can go a long way in the NBA.
The Thunder’s ride is just beginning.
Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com
