The OKC Thunder were 1-0 coming into today’s game against the Denver Nuggets. Pregame Billy Donovan talked to the media letting us know that Dennis Schröder had left the bubble for personal reasons. Without Dennis, in the lineup, it was going to be a challenge to try to make up his points. Also to add to that news of not having Schröder the Thunder were without Terrence Ferguson as well. The Nuggets were shorthanded as well so both teams had to fight through the game equally. Denver has been without Jamal Murry, Gary Harris, and Will Barton who are very important pieces to their puzzle. This was a close game throughout as both teams needed players to step up to help the other starters. In this game, the OKC Thunder got a huge boost from Abdel Nader as he played very well off the bench. Nader had 13 points off the bench and was able to be the main source of points from the OKC Thunder bench tonight.
On the other side of things, Denver got a very huge boost from the 2nd year player Michael Porter Jr. who exploded for a career-high 37 points tonight. It seemed that MPJ was able to do anything tonight against the Thunder as he was able to use his youthful legs to go up for dunks and athletic plays. Porter Jr. had a very efficient day at the office as he shot 12/16 from the field and stepped up every time the Nuggets needed him. One aspect of his game that has grown is the improvement in his consistency on his jumper. It didn’t matter if there was a hand in his face or not tonight but everything he put up was nothing but net. If Michael Porter Jr can do this throughout the playoffs with the improvement of Bol Bol as well this team will be tough. Once the Denver Nuggets get the rest of the team back from injury they will be a tough out. This game went into overtime and it looked as though the only person that had energy or lift left was Jokic. The Joker finished with 30 points on the night which 8 of those points came in overtime. You can tell that Jokic is back and shape as he put on a show in that overtime against the Thunder. It’s always been a tough matchup with the length of Denver against the Thunder and it showed tonight. Jokic looked like he was in great shape and still had all the bag of tricks.
The OKC Thunder were in the game this whole time until the overtime period. It’s crazy because the OKC Thunder had a chance to take the lead in this one as Chris Paul missed a free throw that would have gave them the lead. Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had great games tonight. CP3 and Shai combined for 47 points against the Nuggets. If the Thunder want to be successful they will need to slow up on the turnovers and they will need to rebound better. This team will go as far as CP3 and Shai bring them especially with the absence of Dennis Schröder so look for them to take it to the next level. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his 5th foul in the 3rd quarter midway so for him to finish with 24 points was impressive. The steps that Shai has taken in his game have been on full display and the OKC fans will be in for a great future moving forward. Chris Paul was upset about his missed free throw in that 4th quarter so look for his game to be a lot more aggressive against the Lakers on Wednesday. Steven Adams had a quiet game but he will need to get more aggressive in the game on Wednesday as well as the Thunder have to face the reality of Schröder being out extended time. Overall the Thunder were in this game the whole time until they looked a little gassed in the overtime but it took a career-high from Michael Porter Jr that wasn’t on the scouting report to beat them.
The OKC Thunder will be facing LeBron and the LA Lakers on Wednesday at 5:30 pm #ThunderUp
As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, both Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan have been announced as winners of the National Basketball Coaches Association co-coaches of the year.
Additionally, Toronto Raptors’ head coach Nick Nurse was a mere vote away from making it a three-way tie.
Among those who also received votes, sources said: Memphis’ Taylor Jenkins, Indiana’s Nate McMillan, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, Boston’s Brad Stevens, and the Lakers’ Frank Vogel.
Both evidently deserving of the award, Mike Budenholzer has, for the second time in his career, has led his team to the best record in the NBA. For his second year with the Milwaukee Bucks, Budenholzer’s spacious system has promulgated his Bucks to not only topple various regular-season records this year but have them in the driver’s seat to compete for a championship this year with MVP frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the charge.
“First, congrats to Billy Donovan for the outstanding job he and his staff have done with the Oklahoma City Thunder,” said Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Mike Budenholzer. “Another great year of coaching by Billy and, again, another great year of work by all the Head Coaches in the NBA. Thank you all for your vote and support. Thank you to our dedicated players and staff in Milwaukee. The players are special, the staff is special and I’m beyond fortunate to coach this great team and for this great organization.”
At 54-13, the Bucks are atop the East with no discrepancy deterring them from losing their spot in the conference since they are a whole 7.5 games ahead of second-place Toronto.
As it goes for OKC, Billy Donovan is as equally as deserving of the award as he’s gotten his Thunder out of the speculation pit of a lottery pick year, now with the Thunder peaking at sixth in the tumultuous Western Conference at 41-24.
Many prognosticators kept the Thunder out of the postseason for not having an established superstar floor general the moment they traded Paul George to the powerhouse Los Angeles Clippers for developing future All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a bevy of first-round selections and sent Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Chris Paul, but these resilient Thunder have been the talk of the league, not just by keeping afloat in such a difficult conference but by showing they belong.
“I am honored and humbled to be recognized by the Coaches, they are a great group of people that I admire and respect,” said Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan. “Receiving the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award alongside such a terrific Coach like Bud makes it even more special. Individual honors to me have always been a reflection of good team dynamics, and I’m proud of the collective work that our players, coaching staff and the entire organization has put in this season. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead in Orlando as we get back to basketball and using our platform for social justice.”
This is the second time the NBCA has had a tie, along with 2017 with Houston’s Mike D’Antoni and Miami’s Spoelstra.
The NBA also gives a coach of the year award — the Red Auerbach Trophy — based on a vote of the league’s media. That will be released at a later date.
The Orlando Magic have confirmed that Magic forward Jonathan Isaac tore the ACL in his left knee during Sunday’s contest against the Sacramento Kings, the team announced.
In what was supposed to be a celebratory occasion and cleanup situation for Magic Head Coach Steve Clifford, shock and gloom would soon set over the aura of the bubble 9:19 seconds into the fourth quarter of Orlando’s second restart game.
Isaac was left in the game where some would debate he shouldn’t have been as the Magic were up by 28 points, and during a halfcourt set that saw Isaac set a down pick for fellow teammate Michael Carter-Williams that led to a dribble hand-off, Isaac received the ball in his shot pocket after a crisp right-handed zip pass from Carter-Williams and attacked DaQuan Jeffries’ closeout after MCW caused the Kings’ defense to collapse.
Isaac then took a simple hop step into the lane between two defenders, and his left leg visibly tweaked after it planted into the hardwood. All of his weight transferred into the lower part of his leg, causing him to lose the ball, collapse and writhe in pain.
As team doctors rushed to aid the second-year big man out of Florida State, Isaac had his head in his hands and was subsequently wheelchaired off the floor.
Multiple Magic teammates and personnel had an affect display of sheer dismay, visually unable to process the suffering of another crucial injury to their 6-foot-11, 210-pound teammate who had worked so hard to recover from his meniscus tear in the same knee sustained back on Jan. 1. against the Washington Wizards.
Now, a seminal part of the Magic’s core will not only have to sit out the rest of the restart in the bubble but presumably the 2020-21 season and beyond.
Isaac, who missed the rest of Sunday’s rout of the Kings, left the game with 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in 15 minutes.
“That was tough, man,” teammate Aaron Gordon said in a postgame press conference. “That one brought me to tears, and instantly — just because I know how good of a guy J.I. is and how hard he works and how hard he has worked to get back since hurting himself in D.C. That was tough.”
This comes as a huge blow to Steve Clifford, General Manager John Hammond, and the Orlando Magic organization, considering that Isaac was to be a centric piece of the Magic’s efforts to craft together a playoff-qualifying roster.
It’s unclear whether or not they reach that potential in the next year or so with Isaac’s career outlook now abruptly altered due to his sudden history of lingering knee issues.
This is the first regular-season game for the OKC Thunder since March 11th and it happened to be against the Utah Jazz. The NBA postponed after Rudy Gobert was the first player to have a positive result for Covid-19. Everyone in the NBA was waiting for this game to come back around and it happened today 4 months later. Players and coaches have been waiting to get this game going because this is where it ended. Both teams kneeled during the National Anthem today and showcased their social injustice messages. The OKC Thunder came into this game 3-0 after the scrimmage games and they didn’t stop today. This Thunder team is playing with the utmost confidence and they looked unbeatable on both ends of the floor. Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put the Thunder on their back early as they set the tone. Chris Paul looked really good out there as he was able to create offense for himself and others. CP3 put his leadership on full display as he was able to put up 18 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds on the night. CP3 pretty much had the Utah Jazz defenders on a string as he was able to get to his spots all day and it didn’t matter if Rudy Gobert was there or not. Chris Paul has shown that he’s still got a lot of game left in the tank and it’s clear that his vision/playmaking ability won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
One thing that’s for sure with CP3 is that he’s been rubbing off on his teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who’s been emerging as one of the best young talents in this league. This is Shai’s second season in the NBA but his game is as smooth as a veteran. Today the Utah Jazz were able to see the growth and maturity in Shai’s game as he finished with 19 points and 6 assists. Some of the moves that Shai put on display vs Utah were extremely smooth and he was able to get by Rudy Gobert a couple of times. The Thunder focused on attacking the paint and they went right at the DPOY Rudy Gobert all day. The Thunder are playing with a lot of confidence right now that allows them to play with a lot of chemistry. Steven Adams was the best big on the floor tonight as he finished with a double-double 16 points and 11 rebounds. Adams was able to defend at a high level and was able to help the Thunder dominate all phases of the game.
It was a full team effort against Utah and they were able to slow down Donovan Mitchell today. The defense of Lu Dort on Mitchell won’t be on the stat sheet but he was all over Mitchell from the tip as he held him to 13 points on 5/15 from the field. Dort wasn’t able to add too much on the offensive end but he made up for it with his job on Mitchell. It seemed that the Utah Jazz wasn’t ready for the Thunder rush that hit them from the jump. The Jazz did play against the Pelicans already so that was their second game but still this is the NBA so no excuses. The Jazz has been struggling since losing Bojan Bogdanović and they’re trying to find a true rhythm in the offense. The Thunder have a roster full of 3&D ballhawks who don’t really give you a chance to do anything without them being pests. The Jazz just didn’t have it and they were behind the Thunder from the tipoff and couldn’t get within 20 points throughout the game. Jordan Clarkson was an instant offense in the game against the Pelicans but he wasn’t able to do that today and that hurt them. This probably won’t be the last time these two teams meet up but if it is the Thunder have the tiebreaker and they’ve had the Utah Jazz’s number all season.
The OKC Thunder play against the Denver Nuggets on Monday at 3 pm as they look to move up in position. OKC’s undefeated in Orlando and they look to be playing with a lot of chemistry right now which isn’t good for the league.
After joining forces in February, Fayetteville rapper J.Cole and legendary sneaker brand PUMA are poised to release the rapper’s debut basketball sneaker. Entitled the RS-Dreamer, the silhouette is testament to perseverance and hard work. First spotted in a more muted black and white colorway during the 2020 NBA All-Star weekend, the Dreamville MC’s kicks have since been spotted on PUMA hoopers like Danny Green and Kyle Kuzma in the NBA bubble. Since PUMA’s return to basketball courts, PUMA has been snatching up stars left and right and with the RS-Dreamer PUMA has completely revitalized their basketball line.
☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️DREAMER☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️ Thank you og @MasterPMiller 🙏🏿
Design-wise, the silhouette sports a low-profile cut with a mesh upper construction. Hints of suede pop on the forefoot and near the ankle. Exposed stitching on the midfoot connects to a cord lacing system that wraps around the heel held down by a series of reflective loops. Reflective hints also appear on the heel tab and near the suede forefoot overlay. Though the reflective portions themselves are enough to turn heads, the RS foam midsole is the real draw, the colorful and curved midsole features textured portions and splashes of yellow, red, purple, and mint. Cole’s Dreamer logo appears on the heel to finish off this new silhouette.
The PUMA RS-Dreamer launches on 7/31 for $125. Catch it on puma.com
Before this article starts jotting down the path of events leading up to the league’s resumption in chronological order, do me a favor. Breathe a sigh of relief tonight as you wind down and turn on your television set, tuning into the TNT network to see everyone’s favorite TV uncles in Shaq, Ernie Johnson, Chuck, and Kenny.
For your patience, you, the reader, have surely earned the treat of witnessing professional basketball on a Turner Broadcasting network again in 2020, for the opportunity to view something so taken for granted in previous times will serve as such a saving grace and distracting agent from what’s going on in the country and world.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020. A date lathered in infamy. The day the world stopped turning, for all basketball fans.
Ticket sales postponed and Mass evacuations of stadiums in mere minutes, with the league’s tumultuous mountains being tectonically shifted by one tweet:
“The National Basketball Association will suspend its season, effective immediately.”
The numbness and uncertainty of sports returning in full force was felt in a variety of ways amongst all franchises, and more questions arose than prominent answers. For a season that is so narrowed down to its final several weeks, just what was to happen to playoff-qualifying organizations if the year was to be canned altogether? And, will we ever return to a shroud of normalcy that includes fans at some point (when it’s safe)?
It took 141 days to come up with that definitive answer. But we can say it with confidence now: The NBA is BACK.
In the time-lapse of four months, we’d never expect hoops to be back in the extent of a socially-distant bubble in Orlando, Florida, and Commissioner Adam Silver should be first in line to receive some of the good words on his work to keep the wheels rolling on such a climactic NBA season that no one wanted to see abolished abruptly.
It’s been a long road to get here, so take a trip down memory lane, chronicling the timeline from the start of the suspension to the first tip-off tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET on TNT, as well as documenting our experiences as NBA fans and beat writers of the game here at Sneaker Reporter.
March 11: During the afternoon of March 11, multiple media outlets commented on the cheeky, foolish behavior of Jazz center Rudy Gobert as the French Rejection decided to make a mockery of the oncoming COVID-19 pandemic crisis by patting several recording devices and phones owned by interviewers during a press conference, only to test positive for the Coronavirus. That ensuing night, medical officials run onto the hardwood of the Chesapeake Energy Arena with pace, urgently persuading coaches and referees to cancel the contest between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder, for fear of Utah’s infection possibility of the Thunder if they were to play them in a 60-minute game. They comply and tell the multitudinous crowd inside the ‘Peake to leave in an orderly manner.
That night, ripples were felt throughout the league as everyone who received the news on their mobile devices inside arenas across the country registered what could probably be impending doom as it related to their favorite team’s 2019-20 campaign. During ESPN’s broadcast of a Dallas Mavericks home game, lead commentator Ryan Ruocco and color commentator Doris Burke sign off for what would be the “last time in a while” in their words.
From a worldly perspective, spectator sports had been put on the backburner as professional soccer leagues shuttered fans from their stadiums as their athletic competitions continued.
The second slot of primetime action after Dallas’ home victory featured the Kings and Pelicans, and as follows, the league decided to postpone that game too. The suspension was enforced just an hour later.
March 19: Media members and fans alike speculated whether or not if players can stay prepared for a potential resumption with practice facilities still being open up until the eighth day of the season’s suspension. Then, commissioner Silver decided that cleaning protocols were too cloudy to sort out, so further action to close all team facilities was taken. Players would have to find different ways to get shots up, while also keeping their conditioning in check.
Also, a bunch of players took to social media to flex their editing (and dance) skills with a plethora of “Tik Tok” videos. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Grizzlies rookie guard Ja Morant, Sixers rookie forward Matisse Thybulle and many others got rid of their boredom with creative short clips of them going viral performing signature dance routines or flashy edits popularized by the app.
As a result of this time at home during the nationwide quarantine, ESPN took the initiative to start up an NBA 2K Player’s Tournament, which was won by Phoenix suns star guard Devin Booker. Following that 2K tournament, ESPN decided to keep the live entertainment angle going with a tournament of the shooting game H.O.R.S.E., which was split into two weeks with the winner being Ohio native Mike Conley Jr. of the Utah Jazz.
April breezes by, and fans and players both question ESPN and ABC’s scheduling of Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance” docuseries, which detailed the 1997-98 season of the soon-to-be three-peating dynasty known as the Chicago Bulls, which was set for release in June after when the NBA Finals was initially supposed to happen. Even LeBron James pleaded the television network to give fans the documentary early, considering that we didn’t have much else to do. And so, they caved in.
Little tidbits of history concealed for nearly 22 years were released to the public, and this ten-part documentary was enjoyed by its viewers as if it was a regular sporting event. So much so, that The Last Dance was the most viewed sports documentary in the history of the broadcasting company.
April 29: All the questions about the possibilities surrounding a return to play were rocketed with a brand new argument put on the table: an isolated bubble in a secluded area to limit contraction of the coronavirus. Of course, this met criticism at first as this meant players would have to leave the safety of their homes to travel to an undisclosed location to continue their season. There wasn’t even a destination concrete enough for the bubble’s location.
But, lo and behold, Adam Silver rounded up all of his prospect cities, studied the cases of COVID-19 in each town, and boiled the debate into two destinations: Las Vegas and Orlando.
May 8: Chris Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players’ Association, held a joint meeting – er, Zoom call – with commissioner Silver pertaining to the comfortability levels of the players if they were to be on board with getting back to playing the game they love.
Just like every other major decision that is made, skepticism still raced through the minds of players who were concerned with not just their safety, but the safety of the families of these athletes. Ultimately, the leaders of the NBPA, Commissioner Silver and the NBA Board of Governors reached a general consensus that said players wanted to keep the seasonal ship from sinking, deciding to finish the season and postseason if proper health protocols were to be carried out.
May 20: Orlando is confirmed to be the bubble sight of the resumed season, with a return date TBA. While there was a flurry of prognosticators who wanted this season canceled due to the worldwide health threat, optimism grew like a rose in the spring the moment Adam Silver got the confirmation to keep the season going inside a secluded part of Florida. And where would there resumed season commence? In none other than the “Greatest Place on Earth”, Walt Disney World, and specifically at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney Springs. Players wanting to chase a championship were ecstatic, while onlookers of the game on the sidelines could not wait to see their teams do exactly that.
And then, the grotesque eight minutes and 46 seconds during the afternoon of May 25th happened.
A slight misunderstanding of a minuscule counterfeit $20 bill led to the unjust murder of George Floyd on the curb of a Minnesota grocery store, inciting massive violent protests and profits of rage that ravaged the city of Minneapolis, leaving it in a boundless blaze. And whilst non-violent protests carried the truths of necessary changes to the American criminal justice system, cities across America shared in the same dismay of the state of rising fascism and authoritarian rule that’s existed over Black America for the 401 years they’ve been on the North American continent like a brooding cloud.
Players didn’t just take to social media; they took to the streets.
This time – enough was enough.
NBA stars from all teams – Jaylen Brown of the Celtics, Malcolm Brogdon of the Pacers, Kyrie Irving of the Nets, and a continuous list of players – voiced not only their displeasure of the governmental inaction to provide equal justice for the killers of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and countless others but their viewpoints of the season’s resumption and if it really took away from the attention and the traction that the Black Lives Matter movement had profusely gained in such a diminutive amount of time.
Lakers backup center Dwight Howard stood at the forefront of the argument, saying that basketball would detract attention from what was occurring around the country.
“No basketball, until we get things resolved,” Howard said.
Many other NBA athletes agreed with the sentiment, and for a while, it seemed like there was a huge pause on a return to NBA action due to the social justice outreach of the players, who realized that the NBA product (that’s 85-90% African-American) would be a shell of itself without Black talent.
May 29: That pause would turn into a hard play, as Adam Silver shook up the sporting world with a massive “We’re Back” announcement. Silver proclaimed that hoops would (then) officially tip-off on July 31. That date would then shift to official tip-offs occurring a day earlier on July 30.
June 4: 22 teams were then announced to be confirmed as bubble entrants; the 16 playoff-qualified squads in both the East (9 teams) and West (13 teams), as well as the on-the-bubble (pun not intended) teams out West vying for the final playoff spots – New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio, Phoenix. On the Eastern side, Washington was the only non-playoff team announced to join the bubble in Orlando.
June 5: The 22-team format would get ratified and approved by the NBPA. It would essentially include three tune-up preseason games, and eight regular-season games to determine seeding for the playoffs. For the outlying teams, the ultimatum of getting within four games of the eighth seed meant a play-in tournament, where the winner gets a postseason berth.
June 23: COVID-19 testing took place as players and organizations gathered traveling parties to take the trip to Orlando. However, some players, like Lakers guard Avery Bradley, Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr., and various Brooklyn Nets like DeAndre Jordan, Nico Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Wilson Chandler, and Taurean Prince would say no to the return, meaning new players like free agent Tyler Johnson and the legendary Jamal Crawford would join forces with Caris LeVert for a new-look Nets faction. The NBA also agrees for players to wear social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys.
July 7-29: Players arrive in Orlando, and immediately get settled into their many hotel rooms on the luxurious Disney Springs property. As the NBA Bubble Life Twitter and Instagram pages documented the daily activities of the campus, which basically looked like a humongous summer camp comprised of fishing lakes, player lounges, Disney attractions, pools, golf courses, and more.
Fans got a clear glimpse of what this abridged brand of NBA Basketball would look like during scrimmages during the final week of July. Surprisingly enough, the optics and audio of the bubble were more than enough to appease the average NBA fan.
And that’s the gist of it when it comes to the return to professional play. We’re in the present day now, with the game between the Pelicans and Jazz set to tip-off in a few.
So sit back, and enjoy yourself as you palate competitive basketball that counts toward something tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. Hoops are back. Let’s do this thing.
