2012-2013 Game 15 Recap: Thunder Totally Annihilate Bobcats at Home, Set Records

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When the Thunder absolutely destroy an opponent, there's not much you can do but relax.

Yeah, it's the winter, but who cares? In blowouts of this proportion, it's almost useless to try to analyze what happened. If you didn't watch last night's game, here's a few facts for you to chew on.

At halftime, the Bobcats were on pace to score the lowest point total in the shot clock era. (That dubious honor stays with the 1999 Bulls, who scored 49 points against the Heat on April 10th, 1999. Former OKC Hornet P.J. Brown was a part of the festivities, except on the winning side. Thunder assistant coach Mark Bryant played for that Bulls team, unfortunately.)

The Thunder were the first team in more than 20 years to put their opponent down by 40 or more at halftime.

The Bobcats highest scorer was Jeffery Taylor, with 10. Even he almost botched a wide open dunk during a fast break.

The final 45 point margin of victory was the highest in Thunder history. The Bobcats final score was the lowest set by an opponent in Thunder history.

The Thunder's lead maxed out at 54. That's right, the Thunder were up 79 to 25 about mid-way through the third.

The Bobcats went 9 minutes and 34 seconds without scoring a field goal at one point.

I was really hoping that Charlotte would set the new shot-clock era low for points, but it couldn't happen. These Bobcats are a fast breaking team that jacks up shots, and some of them are bound to go in. The 99 Bulls were a really slow, grind it out team that averaged 81 points a game. The lowest record for points scored in a quarter would have been cool to witness too, but that record is 2, so it's a pretty hard one to break.

The weird thing about this game is that the blowout never had a defining run, and the crowd was pretty content during the first half. For a while, I just assumed that the Thunder were trudging along and staying about 10 points ahead, but before I knew it, I looked up and the Thunder were up by 30. The only real defining moment came when Russell Westbrook drove to the hole for an insanely powerful jam during the final seconds of the third. From where I was sitting, it just didn't even look like the Bobcats cared about stopping him at the point. The Honey Badger had to do what he do, and throw in an insane walk afterwards. I'll bet it would be the next Gangnam style, if people had enough room on dance floors to execute the move.

Anyway, as I said earlier, most of what you saw today should just be thrown in the garbage. Appreciate it, trash it, and move on. Thabeet's double double was totally meaningless. The Bobcats were committing so many mistakes across the board that they looked like some of the rec teams I play against. By the end of the game, the defense was about as intense as it was in those summer league exhibition games that we saw during the lockout. Thabeet got a rebound laying down on the ground, for Pete's sake.

Zorgon's Awards:

Thunder Wonder: Thabo Sefolosha, because I can.

Thunder Down Under: Hasheem Thabeet, because I can.

Thunder Blunder: Jeremy Lamb, who apparently can't shoot to save his life.

Thunder Plunderer: Bismack Biyombo, who was thankfully left out of this embarrassment because of a left leg contusion. Closest thing to a real plunderer is Taylor, who almost failed an open dunk, and Reggie Williams, who scored all of his points on uncontested jumpers in the fourth that no one cared about. So to Biyombo it goes.

Next Game: Versus the Rockets, Wednesday, November 28th, 7 PM Central Standard Time. (James Harden is coming home!)

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