Can the Thunder Avoid Another Slow Start?
Oklahoma City never quite dug out of an 18-2 hole in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and lost their first game at home this postseason. The Thunder were also sluggish out of the gate in Game 1, and in Game 6 against the Spurs. They were able to win those two, but in an effort to prevent a constant uphill climb, what can Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks do the starting lineup?
A) Start Nick Collison at PF, move Ibaka to C, and send Kendrick Perkins to the bench. Collison is a better pick and pop guy than Perkins. He’s got more range than Perkins, too. The addition of Collison should lessen the uncertainty (read: Wide open Shane Battier 3-pointers) defensively, too.
B) Start James Harden, the NBA’s best 6th man, and ship Kendrick Perkins to the bench. The addition of Harden would put less pressure on Westbrook to force bad shots early, as he is wont to do. Going small could leave Durant on LeBron – unless you use Thabo or Harden – which could mean foul trouble again.
The drawbacks, of course, are that Harden and Collison work brilliantly together, and your bench then has zero offensive pop.
If Brooks is going to make a change, it has to be tonight, right? You don’t want to lose this Game and then go into Game 4 down 2-1 facing a must-win, considering Game 5 is in Miami.

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49 Responses to “Can the Thunder Avoid Another Slow Start?”
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June 17th, 2012 at 4:08 PM
I’m on the edge of my seat. I don’t know how to look this up, but I can’t remember Brooks ever using a different starting lineup since the Perkins trade except for injury reasons. So I don’t expect him to start now, or for game 4 if they lose tonight.
June 17th, 2012 at 4:22 PM
So is this a bright and early TBLAD or Yardwork?
June 17th, 2012 at 4:26 PM
If the Thunder lose tonight they have to blow up the team and start over, right? Let’s start looking at trade scenarios for Durant
June 17th, 2012 at 4:39 PM
So if you watched Game 2 without looking at the score and I ask you who won afterwards my guess is OKC wins the popular vote although they might have lost the electoral college… So yeah I’d rather start a camp fire at a gas station than Perkins any day but thats been the case since forever.
So if I’m Brooks I wouldn’t necessarily change anything on account of the final score since if we play the same game over again there’s a very good chance we win.
June 17th, 2012 at 4:44 PM
Effective bench players don’t necessarily equate to effective starting players.
June 17th, 2012 at 6:35 PM
Is this the US Open Thread? Ok.
Rooting for and expecting G-Mac to win.
June 17th, 2012 at 6:50 PM
Hey Darrel how is Carmelo better then Durant again?
June 17th, 2012 at 7:27 PM
Big Easy w/ Eagle.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:56 PM
Webb Simpson dialed in.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:57 PM
Not even a post on US Open RATINGS.
June 17th, 2012 at 8:01 PM
Webb Simpson looks like a LPGA player out there. Button that bottom button on the feminine outerwear.
June 17th, 2012 at 8:12 PM
There is some drunk trailer trash at this Open, worst since Bethpage.
June 17th, 2012 at 8:18 PM
Dufner’s non-expressions are priceless. He carves that wedge out of ankle deep rough to 2 feet. No expression.
June 17th, 2012 at 8:52 PM
Great exchange there by Tesori and Simpson. Shows what a good caddie can do. Tesori was on Singh’s bag when Vijay made #1 OWGR IIRC.
June 17th, 2012 at 8:55 PM
It dawned on me today that there has been about 15 euro2012 posts for every u.s. open 2012 posts
/just patriotically wrong
June 17th, 2012 at 8:55 PM
After Durant scored on Wade he’s running down the court, looks at Wade, takes off his mouth piece and says “You’re too small”.
The NBA where size matters.
June 17th, 2012 at 9:00 PM
Heat m4
June 17th, 2012 at 9:01 PM
Wtf was that foul?
June 17th, 2012 at 9:12 PM
Battier is ridiculous
June 17th, 2012 at 9:15 PM
Shaking up the starting five would be a bad bad decision for OKC.
Then all the rotations and chemistry will be screwed up duh.
June 17th, 2012 at 9:35 PM
Brooks wears ridiculous glasses too?
June 17th, 2012 at 9:43 PM
Furyk with a fantastic choke on the tee. What a gag.
June 17th, 2012 at 9:47 PM
Derek fisher… ONIONS!
June 17th, 2012 at 9:53 PM
That 4th foul on KD was a fucking joke.
June 17th, 2012 at 9:55 PM
agree with rondo. totally poor anticipation whistle. looked like contact was going to happen, but KD did a good job avoiding it
June 17th, 2012 at 10:04 PM
OKC has gotten served a Joey Crawford special tonight with the KD cheap fouls
June 17th, 2012 at 10:11 PM
Long will they sing songs of james jones!
June 17th, 2012 at 10:12 PM
Haslem with the body. Whatever
June 17th, 2012 at 10:13 PM
Great series
June 17th, 2012 at 10:18 PM
Wow, these refs missed the most obvious shit. Get rid of all the older officials.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:19 PM
Wow
June 17th, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Theres no way Lebron could throw that ball off the bottom and have it bounce back to him. And they score two on that possession. Complete bullshit.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Foul wade hard. If you let him get the and-1, just quit. Youre too stupid to play defense
June 17th, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Aren’t most referees in every sport older gentlemen in which case you’re suggesting getting rid of most of the referees and replacing them with all those young referees who aren’t good enough to be in the NBA right now … or am i missing something?
June 17th, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Also i see all the complaints about calls against OKC is the prevailing theory that the refs are incompetent or the fix is in?
June 17th, 2012 at 10:29 PM
Durant…dummy…stand strong..you deserved that call
June 17th, 2012 at 10:30 PM
Nothing is fixed..refs just arent good enough to keep up with the speed of the game
June 17th, 2012 at 10:32 PM
These particular refs or more generally any and all refs of a homo sapiens persuasion?
June 17th, 2012 at 10:32 PM
Other than harden, okc isnt good enough at selling bullshit fouls like Miami is. Miami is king of that.
I think its bullshit that you can slide under a player and draw a charge (battier..all the time)
June 17th, 2012 at 10:33 PM
Thunder losing composure at a critical time. Sloppy passes, bad defense. Close this shit LeBron.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:33 PM
Got em looking..a lot of the NBA refs.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:34 PM
Again, its amazing how miami is hitting most of their free throws. Nobody expected them to shoot above 90% as a team
June 17th, 2012 at 10:37 PM
ok i generally believe there’s some amount of bad calls to be expected as long as humans are reffing and if the refs are clean then it evens out over the course of a series.
I don’t sweat bad calls even against my team.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:38 PM
Fucking Wade.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:48 PM
Wow, more mistakes. More great free throws by Miami.
Miami played like dogshit and still gets the win. Next game they make some jump shots and blow them out.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:52 PM
Agreed I have no idea how Miami is ending up with more points after the final whistle… they essentially have no answer for Durant and Westbrook and their offense is more opportunistic than strategic.
OKC in 6ish
June 17th, 2012 at 10:54 PM
I dont think you know what agreed means.
June 17th, 2012 at 11:00 PM
Agreed and all
Disagree … calling for a regression to the mean in Game 4 where the better team actually wins
/rooting Miami
//calling it like i see it though
June 17th, 2012 at 11:28 PM
They have an answer for both Durant and WB. Lebron can shut down KD. KD is gettin killed and gettin no calls which is making him hesitant. WB is just WB, where he will self destruct if given the opportunity.