Sounds of Thunder: OKC Thunder 2018 Playoff game 5 player grades

I’m on my way to the Professor’s classroom! WOW! What a comeback by the Oklahoma City Thunder!! A 32-7 run to make up for a 25 point deficit in just over 4 ¹⁄₂ minutes!! That’s never been done before!!! After an up, then down, then up again game like that, I can’t wait to see the grades!!

I guess the Professor couldn’t bear to watch the team go down like that any more than I could. Yes, Thunder Nation, I admit it, I gave up. Were it not for this chat message from J.A. Sherman...

and understanding its meaning after suffering through this entire season with Sherm, I would have missed the finish. I can’t wait for NBA League Pass to lift the 72-hour blackout so I can see the comeback, but I have no doubt it was epic.

(thanks Enes)

Here’s the thing, however. We have seen this Thunder team play and win great games like this before this season. Personally, I think the Thunder’s potential is irrefutable but I also know it has never been fully realized.

Case in point, the “I’m Coming” revenge game against Golden State on November 22nd. The Thunder didn’t just beat the Warriors that night, they “skull drug” them. Picture a large man grabbing a small man by the hair on either side of his head, then shoving him into a gravel parking lot and trying to wipe all the rocks away... with his face... that’s being “skull drug”.

108-91!!!

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THE THUNDER WERE ON THEIR WAY!!!!! AND THEN... three straight losses... to the number 13, number 3, and number 5 teams...

... in the upcoming lottery.

Really?

Case #2. The Thunder beat the playoff-bound Indiana Pacers, followed that win with a wild triple-overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers (a better win than we realized) and then got pasted by the #9 lottery team, the New York Knicks, 111 - 96!!! (welcome home Melo)

#3. The Thunder beat the Houston Rockets on Christmas day then follow it up 2 days later with an even more impressive win against the Toronto Raptors, both finished the season #1 in their conference, then lose to the Milwaukee Bucks, at home, and again to the #3 lottery-bound Dallas Mavericks, at home.

#4. After Andre Roberson blew out his knee and all seemed lost with the Thunder mired in a 4-game losing streak, lightning struck again. The “I’m Coming” revenge game roadshow and an even bigger beat down on the Warriors than at the Peake, 125 - 105!!!

Queue the ..... Nah.... one Ringo happy dance is enough.

There was life after Robes! the season saved!!! Or so we thought until the Lakers spanked the Thunder’s fannies, 106 - 81, the Thunder’s second loss to the Lottery Lakers in just 4 days, and brought the skies crashing down on Thunder Nation’s head once again.

And finally, #5. The road win at Toronto that snapped the Raptors 11-game winning streak followed by Melo’s misses against the Celtics.

Mind you, those were just the big meltdowns. There were twice that many medium-sized collapses and countless in-game brain cramps along the way.

After 7 months of repeatedly going from:

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to

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and then having to recap it all has made Sherman a little

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and thus why I knew

was a good thing.

It’s also why I’m grateful I have the next 3 days off. I know their history.