Charles Barkley, TNT analyst, NBA icon, and all around jovial fellow, is infamous for his long-standing position on how he views Oklahoma City, right down to the idea that he doesn't think black folk like to wear cowboy boots. The loyal Thunder fans from OKC decided to give him an answer.

Also, Craig Sager is on a horse.

The Thunder's winning streak in the playoffs finally came to an end at six tonight, as the Lakers fought their way to a crucial win in Game 3. The game was an uneven affair, as neither team could find any sort of offensive rhythm and both teams relied heavily on the free throw line to produce points. While a final score in the 90's was like a scoring waterfall as compared to Game 2, Game 3 will be known more for the foul calls than the made baskets.

Kobe Bryant scored 36 and Kevin Durant scored 31, so you might be tempted to think that it was a classic scorers' duel, but the shot attempts came in such a stilted manner that in reality the game came down to which team could keep the other team off the free throw line the best. In the end, OKC's jump-shooting tendencies made them less likely to receive the calls, while Kobe and the LA gang continued to pound it inside to produce fouls. In the end, this knowledge of how to produce points when shots were not falling was the ultimate difference.

The Thunder took down the Mavericks in Dallas in impressive fashion last night. OKC jumped on the homecoming champs early, fought off several Mavs surges, and then closed out the game hard in the 4th. Kevin Durant finally returned to his normal self in Game 3, opening up the first quarter by hitting three of four 3-pointers and generally putting the Mavericks on notice that he was in a different shooting mindset. The rest of the team came along with him, putting Dallas in a double-digit hole for most of the game and never falling into the turnovers trap that so often derails OKC.

Most impressive though was that the Thunder are realizing once again that they can turn their defense into a weapon. After surrendering a flurry of Maverick points at the end of the 1st, OKC held Dallas to 15 points in the 2nd and 16 points in the 3rd, which left the Mavs with a paltry 57 points at the end of 3 quarters and little hope of generating the kind of offense that could give them a shot to win in the end.

The Thunder wrapped up their regular season in meek fashion last night in losing their final game of the year to the Nuggets. The Nuggets had quite a bit to play for in the game, since by winning against OKC and then tonight against the Timberwolves they would cement their position as the 6th seed in the playoffs. Denver came out and showed great offensive consistency, as they saw seven different players reach double figures on the night. By contrast, OKC showed about the same level of defensive intensity as they did against the Kings for most of the game and frequently gave up offensive rebounds and open shots at the rim.

The Thunder did try to make a game of it late, finally showing some defensive effort in the 3rd quarter and surging to a late lead. However, late game struggles surfaced again as the Thunder only managed to score 19 points in the 4th against one of the weakest defenses in the league. It was not the best way to close what has been a choppy second half of the season and it would have been sweet to send the home crowd home with win number 48. Instead, the Thunder now must wait to see if it is indeed the Mavericks, they who sent the Thunder home last season, will be their first round opponent.

The Thunder defeated the Kings last night in a game where it appeared that the Thunder starters were going to be content just playing out the string. OKC gave up a staggering 40 points in the opening quarter to Sacramento, and defense was nowhere to be found. Since OKC really has nothing to play for at this point, we figured we'd get a token effort by the Thunder offense to keep things competitive and lively and then just hope nobody else got hurt.

All was going according to this plan and as a result, the Kings had a good sized lead heading down the stretch. In came the OKC bench to wrap things up, and that's when things got interesting. Fueled by Daequan Cook who gave his best Kevin Durant impersonation, the Thunder outscored the Kings 36-24 in the final quarter of play. What was most impressive was that the Thunder subs were doing it against the Kings starters and still managed to play harder, smarter, and win the game in the end. It's the most enjoyable 4th quarter we've seen in quite a while.

There was The Elbow. And then there was the Fourth.

The elbow, as everyone could see, sent James Harden to the locker room and likely sent Metta World Peace to Commissioner Stern's office. At the time, it seemed like this play would rally the Thunder, and they subsequently entered their most dominant stretch of the afternoon. Heading into the 4th quarter, the Thunder carried a 16 point lead. Despite their offense still struggling, it was clear that their game plan on how to deal with the Lakers was working once again.

And then the 4th quarter happened. Just like last week against the Clippers, the Thunder offense fell apart when it mattered most. At just over 7 minutes to play, the Thunder were outscored by the Lakers 18-3 and lost what seemed an insurmountable lead. While there were still plenty of opportunities to win this game in each of the OT's, the game was lost in the 4th. Again.

The Lakers' Metta World Peace hit James Harden with a vicious elbow during the first half of their game Sunday afternoon. Harden left the game with a possible concussion, and Peace was charged with a flagrant-2 foul and ejected.