Blake Griffin’s Dunk of the Year Part of Big Night Against Thunder: Fan Reaction – Yahoo! Sports
For some reason, Blake Griffin loves playing at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder. His monster one-handed dunk over Kendrick Perkins will be highlight reel fodder for months. LeBron James tweeted it was “Dunk of the Year.” Even as a Thunder fan, I can appreciate the monster dunk. Kevin Durant needs to have some of those to fire up his team.
Griffin’s 22 points put the game out of reach early and often Jan. 30, unfortunately for Thunder fans. Yet the team should have seen the big man coming. All Perkins could do was foul him. At the time of the dunk, the game was already too far out of reach as the exhausted Thunder simply couldn’t keep up despite the Clippers coming off a game in Denver the night before.
ESPN reported Griffin had 18 points and nine rebounds back on Nov. 3, 2010, when the Thunder traveled to L.A. to play the Clippers last season. Griffin was part of Clippers’ squad that was much more energetic than the Thunder. Perhaps the rough NBA season is catching up with Oklahoma City. Maybe the Clippers simply have the Thunder’s number. Griffin certainly likes throwing down one-handed dunks.
The Thunder have been put on notice. The Western Conference playoffs are going to be tough this year. The Clippers’ victory wasn’t just a win, the slaughter was on early and often. Clearly no team is going to be perfect in the NBA season. No one expected the Thunder to win out the rest of their games. The key will be coming back the next game and at least have a close game next time.
Oklahoma City doesn’t have time to think about the loss to the Clippers. They travel to north Texas to take on the Dallas Mavericks Feb. 1. The same Mavericks that booted OKC from the Western Conference Finals last year are up next. A Dallas win will mean the Thunder have a mini-losing streak on their hands for just the second time this season.
The Mavs also handed the Thunder their first loss this season. The I-35 rivalry is back on and the Thunder need to be ready. The Mavs just destroyed the Phoenix Suns who were playing without Steve Nash.
William Browning is a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder ever since the team relocated from Seattle. As the closest NBA team to Branson, Mo., the Thunder serve as the regional team for southwest Missouri.
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