Thunder Update 8: The Season

We made it Thunder fans. We made it an entire season without the beard. Who would have thought? Not only did we make it through, but also we ended up better without him. The Thunder capture the first one seed in history, and the Rockets get the bottom of the barrel with the eighth seed. James Harden left a legacy here in Oklahoma City that will probably never be forgotten, but if you were to ask me who I wanted on the team I would say Kevin Martin every single time.

James Harden put up better numbers than Martin as the Thunder’s sixth man. In Harden’s last year as a Thunder he put up an outstanding 16.8 points per game. That is just 2.8 more points per game than Martin’s 14.0. However, Harden did average almost five more minutes per game than Martin. The reason why Martin is more valuable in my eyes is his unselfish play and his ability to make three’s at any part of the court at any time needed. Harden did have a few clutch moments, but shot an average of 39.0 percent from the three. Which is an outstanding average don’t get me wrong, it just doesn’t match up to Martin’s 43 percent. I honestly believe that if Martin got the minutes that Harden had we would put up better numbers. Martin averaged 31 minutes last year in Houston and put up 17.1 points per game. Both are great basketball players, but one represents what this team and city really is all about better than the other, and his name is Kevin Martin.

This season the Thunder finished the season with a record of 60-22. This is the first time the team has reached 60 wins since being here in Oklahoma City, and the first time in franchise history since 97. Having reached the NBA Playoffs three years in a row, improvement from the last three years seemed a bit unrealistic. But to say that this team just “improved” is an understatement. The Thunder took the number one seed in the Western Conference for the first time since they were the SuperSonics in 1994.

What is the difference between this year’s season, and the previous seasons in Oklahoma City? This year the expectations for greatness were higher than ever. That is the main difference from last year. In the past it has been to get a winning record, and then to make it to the playoffs. Or perhaps for the team to just “do good”. Now fans are wanting so much more (which they absolutely have the right to do so), they want an NBA Title. Even being the number three seed in last year’s playoffs, winning the title wasn’t even thought about until we barely escaped the Spurs. Falling just short of three more wins for the best record in franchise history, I guess you could say the team handled the pressure very well this season. All eyes will be on the Thunder and Miami to see if they will meet again in this year’s NBA Finals.

The Thunder really came together as a team this season. Last year it was all about the “big three” with Durant, Westbrook, and Harden. People have wondered who will step up into the spot of the Harden, but if you ask me, we are better without a “big three”. Russell Westbrook finished the season in seventh place for assist with 7.4 per game, which was also a career high. The “Honey Badger” also finished sixth in the league in scoring with 23.2 points per game. Kevin Durant continued to do what he does best this season, score! Durant gave up the scoring title this season to benefit his team. Durant still finished second in the league in scoring with 28.1 points per game. Durant finished behind Carmelo Anthony who played 14 less games than Durant and shot 55 more times. Serge Ibaka (AKA Air Congo) finished first in the league in blocked shots. Ibaka averaged 3.03 blocks per game, but also with an outstanding 13.2 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game. One thing is for sure, when we are looking for the Thunder to make a push through the playoffs this year you can count on these guys to lead the team, with the help on the defensive side of the ball from Thabo Sefolosha, and help off the bench from Kevin Martin.


Here are the final standings through the entire season:
*4/18/13 Note Worthy: The Lakers and Rockets squeeze into the playoffs as the seven and eight seeds.
*Playoff qualifiers in bold

Eastern Conference Standings:

Atlantic:
New York(54-28)
Brooklyn(48-33)
Boston(41-40)
Philadelphia(34-48)
Toronto(34-48)

Central:
Indiana(49-32)
Chicago(43-27)
Milwaukee(37-43)
Detroit(28-52)
Cleveland(24-56)

Southeast:
Miami(64-16)
Atlanta(45-37)
Washington(29-53)
Charlotte(21-61)
Orlando(20-62)

Western Conference Standings:

Southwest:
San Antonio(58-24)
Memphis(54-26)
Houston(45-35)
Dallas(40-40)
New Orleans(27-54)

Northwest:
Oklahoma City(59-21)
Denver(56-26)
Utah(43-39)
Portland(33-39)
Minnesota(31-51)

Pacific:
LA Clippers(56-26)
Golden St.(47-35)
LA Lakers(45-37)
Sacramento(28-54)
Phoenix(25-57)