Hey Thunder fans! You all are known for being some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated fans in the NBA, so it's no surprise that you are interested in receiving as much information and insight about the team as possible. With the flurry of activity surrounding the Thunder throughout the NBA Playoffs, thunder.nba.com will be hitting you with some unique and interesting sights and sounds from practice, shoot-arounds and media sessions.
Below are the Fast Break Points from Sunday's media session as the Thunder prepares for Game Two of the first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks.
· The volume gets turned up in the playoffs, and it was obvious that both teams played with an extra gear of precision, seriousness and effort in last night’s game. On Sunday Brooks said he was impressed by how tough both teams played. “It was a hard fought game, there’s no question,” Brooks said. “Both teams laid everything they had on the line. The amount of energy that was displayed was really good on both ends… Our defense was good, we have to play better, no question, but I thought last night’s game was a great playoff game. We’re obviously excited that we won the game. We made big plays down the stretch on both ends of the court.”
· One of the main topics of conversation at today’s media session was Russell Westbrook’s defense on Jason Terry in the fourth quarter. Terry started the game shooting 8-for-9 from the field, but only got one shot attempt, a miss, in the fourth quarter with Westbrook denying him the ball and playing in the passing lanes.
· A funny anecdote from last night- Serge Ibaka giving Kevin Durant a hard time for making his game-winning shot off a bounce of the rim and off the backboard, because Ibaka was there ready to tip the ball in. Durant joked that if his shot hadn’t gone in, everyone would be talking about Ibaka being the hero because he would have tipped it in.
· Kendrick Perkins received a lot of praise as well on Sunday afternoon because of his defense on Dirk Nowitzki in the fourth quarter. Both he and Serge Ibaka played Nowtizki tough all night, but Perkins, with the help of James Harden, forced Nowitzki into two late turnovers that gave the Thunder extra possessions.
· Kevin Durant talked about his game-winning shot, saying that even though Shawn Marion defended him incredibly well, he knew he had a chance on the shot because he’d practiced jumpers from that spot on the floor so many times. It seems that both he and Russell Westbrook have spent a lot of time working on those jump shots from the elbow.
· Durant also discussed the incredible playoff atmosphere displayed in Bricktown in Oklahoma City and at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Saturday night. Decked out in blue t-shirts, the Thunder’s crowd was rocking and helped create a wonderful environment for postseason basketball. “It’s always great, playoff time is something that is kind of weird for us because everybody is looking forward to it all the time,” Durant said. “Two years ago we weren’t even considered to be a team that was going to think about going to the playoffs in the next few years. But the next two years to make it there, people were kind of anticipating it. Our fans did a great job for us even when we were having a tough game at some points, they were still there supporting us.”