Thunder Quieted By Lakers, Lose 90-87

These two teams met Sunday afternoon inside the Oklahoma City arena on the verge of developing a genuine rivalry. OKC made a big splash before the trade deadline by acquiring Kendrick Perkins and Nazr Mohammed, two players looking to improve the interior defense and rebound the basketball. Seeing as it has been a while since I have posted, I will do an all inclusive article of the trade deadline, a recap of the game against Los Angeles, and what to look for with our new players going forward.

TRADE DEADLINE REVIEW

• Thunder give up Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and the Clippers 2012 1st round pick and get Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson in return. Well, that's freaking awesome. OKC upgraded low post defense and rebounding by sacrificing a soft, jump-shooting center and a power forward that had trouble rebounding and shooting. 
• Nazr Mohammed provides the Thunder with a backup that is still better than Krstic and brings physicality to their front line, an aspect that has been absent until now.
• With Deron Williams and Jerry Sloan leaving the Jazz coupled with Carmelo leaving Denver, the door to the Northwest Division title swung wide open for the Thunder. I am predicting over 5 straight years of OKC being the best team in their division.
• The biggest winner had to be the New York Knicks. Getting a healthy superstar in his prime that can contribute immediately is a tough hand to go up against. In the long term, Melo and Amar'e both don't play a lick of defense so that may come ack to bite them come playoff time.
• The biggest loser was probably Memphis. The inability to get rid of a guy that breaks league rules and fights with teammates cannot go overlooked.

RECAP OF OKC-LA GAME

• After getting off to a great start, OKC cooled off and the Lakers started gaining ground. When the 1st half came to an end, I actually thought that the years of Laker dominance over the Thunder/Sonics was coming to a close. Then they reminded of me that they are the two-time defending champions.
• Feel free to come out of your shooting slump anytime now, KD.
• I have continually argued that, although in hindsight, the Thunder would have been better off with Stephen Curry. After seeing the defense Harden played on Kobe and the ever-improving consistency in his offensive game, the gap has been narrowed significantly.
• Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum combined for 34 points and 21 rebounds. While this hurts now, the newest members of the Thunder will have something to say about this come playoff time.
• I don't understand how OKC is completely inept at getting a decent look at the end of regulation. The shots Durant and Harden took were better looks than some, but still nothing of note. This needs to change in the future.

LOOKING FORWARD

• When Kendrick Perkins returns, I expect what everyone else expects. Better interior defense and better rebounding at the center position. In tandem with Serge Ibaka, we hopefully have a black hole down low that sucks up every loose ball in the area. 
• I have to be honest. I don't think I have seen 5 minutes of action from Nazr Mohammed this season. But from a statistical standpoint, he rocks Nenad's world.
• I don't see Nate Robinson getting a whole lot of time. Why? Because he is a shooting guard that wouldn't be the tallest kid on a freshman JV team in high school. Being that small forces him to be a point guard and I don't see Brooks running with him and Daequan Cook as the second unit. Then again, I have been known to be wrong every now and then.

Here is the box score of the OKC-LA game, courtesy of ESPN.

Next up: Indiana Pacers, March 2nd at 7 pm CT.