Am I the only one walking around tonight feeling like I just had Deja vu? I didn't think so, this game was almost the exact same finish as we saw nearly a month ago. It was especially dissapointing tonight because the Thunder lead by as much as 17 before the half. Sooner or later this young team is not only going to learn how to hold a lead, but also how to finish close games against good teams. Sadly enough, it definitely wasn't sooner tonight, so we're going to have to continue to settle for later as the growing pains continue.
We were definitely helped tonight by the absense of "Mr Big Shot" Chauncy Billups. Chauncy rolled his ankle in the win last night against the Spurs and was inactive for tonights game. The Nuggets did however have Carmelo Anthony, who just came back from an injury a few games ago, and looked to be in pure form tonight as he dropped 32 points on the Thunder, including the game winner with 5 seconds left.
The player of the night though really has to go to JR Smith for stepping up in the absense of Billups and really giving this team a lift from behind the arc, hitting 4-4 from downtown and adding 22 points to the scoreboard tonight.
Another dissapointing loss. Its hard to take these close losses against good teams. We're really not too far off, and are always competitive. I guess we can't do anything but look forward to Friday night when the Portland Trailblazers bring Greg Oden and the boys down to Loud City. It has been long awaited for the first ever matchup between #1 and #2 overall picks Durant and Oden.