Game ....#7? Raptors at Thunder Wednesday February 9th 8pm on SN

[DanH]

Well that's an easy win! Nice. Could have eased off the starters minutes a bit in this one, but alas.

[planetmars]

Feels like 2019/2020 all over again. Just professional wins each and every night. OKC is a bad team, but we've lost to bad teams. There was no moment in that game yesterday where I thought we'd be in trouble. And I've felt that way for a few games now.

Pascal has reached a different level. He's been playing like a super star. He's so composed on most every play. Picking apart defenses. Getting to the rim when he sees an advantage. Finding and looking for the open man when he doesn't. He's been amazing. Really efficient 27 points. 16 boards. He had 5 assists but felt like he should have had 8 or 9.

The starters all almost had 20 point games. OG played bully ball against Giddey. Fred got clean open 3's. Gary would do his little step back jump and nail it. Barnes would find a gap and make a bucket in the paint over whoever was guarding him.

The bench didn't produce as much this time around. Felt like Chris was trying too hard again. Maybe since it was OKC and he was playing against his bestie, he thought he could show more. He's best at just being that role player. Grabbing boards, blocking shots, cutting to the rim, etc. He had a quieter game, but was still productive being a +7. Precious as well made a lot of mistakes around the rim like he typically does. Some really good defensive moments, but overall pretty quiet.

I know we played guys a lot of minutes, but those were soft minutes. We weren't gassed or playing hard. Felt like a preseason game. I mean with 3 minutes left and a dead ball, we had an opportunity to bring in the bench, but I guess Nurse didn't care. Was he even paying attention? Looked like a space cadet when the camera was on him late.

[Puffer]

...

I know we played guys a lot of minutes, but those were soft minutes. We weren't gassed or playing hard. Felt like a preseason game. I mean with 3 minutes left and a dead ball, we had an opportunity to bring in the bench, but I guess Nurse didn't care. Was he even paying attention? Looked like a space cadet when the camera was on him late.

I was just reading Oakley's new book. He mentioned that MJ, in his third season averaged 41 minutes a game, over the 82 games. That is back when there were more back to backs and teams were flying commercial and had to take what ever departure and arrival times were available, unlike today's charters or private jets. And practices that lasted longer, were more frequent and, by all accounts, were more intense.