Thunder Season Preview: Top Five Moments of 2009-10

Originally Published: Oct 23, 2010 9:48 PM CDT

Oct. 22 – Position Breakdown
Oct. 23 – Key Losses and Additions
Oct. 24 – Top Five Moments of 2009-10
Oct. 25 – Breaking Down the Opposition
Coming Oct. 26 – Top Five Games to Look Forward To
Coming Oct. 27 – Vitals: Thunder vs. Chicago Bulls

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

With so many great moments in 2009-10 for the Oklahoma City Thunder, it can be hard to narrow them down to the best. However, Oklahoma Sports managed to narrow the list down to five as part of our preview leading up to the NBA regular season.

Look for more Thunder breakdown and previews in the days leading up to the Oct. 27 opener by using the links at the top of the story.

5.) Overtime Victory in Madison Square Garden

Big players make big plays on the biggest stages, and Madison Square Garden is one of the biggest stages there is, even if it doesn’t always have a stellar team to go with it. The game’s greatest have always had memorable performances at the Garden, and Kevin Durant provided one of his own in a 121-118 Oklahoma City overtime victory.

Durant hit a long 3-pointer with six seconds remaining to tie the game at 105 and send it into overtime. He then scored seven points in overtime, including two free throws to ice the game. Durant finished with 36 points total to break the hearts of the New York faithful, as if they were expecting much from their Knicks at that point anyway.

4.) Thunder Clinch Playoff Spot

Few predicted the Thunder would even sniff the playoffs in their sophomore year in Oklahoma City. Those select few who possessed that foresight used phrases along the lines of “sneaking in at the last second.”

Instead, Oklahoma City comfortably secured a playoff spot with seven games left in the regular season with a 121-116 victory on the road against Dallas. One of the best parts about the situation was that the Thunder pretended that they had been there before and that it was nothing out of the ordinary. Asked about playoffs after the game, players and coaches instead diverted their attention to facing the Minnesota Timberwolves the following night and other professional-sounding answers.

Thunder fans, on the other hand, had a little more fun with it. Hundreds drove out to the airport late that night to greet the team fully dressed in their Thunder gear and bearing homemade signs in support of the team and its first playoff berth in Oklahoma City.

3.) Jeff Green’s Dunk on Josh Smith

For those who might not remember such a distinct moment off the top of their head, OKC faced Atlanta on the road on Jan. 18. The Thunder led 90-88 with 15 seconds left and controlled the ball with the shot clock running down. Jeff Green drove to the basket and dunked on Hawks forward Josh Smith, picking up the foul in the process and securing the game.

The dunk was huge for a number of reasons. Of course, it put another tally in the win column and it was an impressive play against one of the best defenders in the league.

But the play was originally designed for Kevin Durant, who of course drew a double team and could not get to the ball. The dunk proved that if need be, players other than Durant are capable of making the final play in similar situations, though Durant would of course remain the top option.

And finally, the dunk epitomized the fact that the Thunder were no longer assumed to fizzle at the end of close games. In 2008-09, Oklahoma City became somewhat notorious for getting up big in the first half – or even in the second – and giving the game away at the end. Green’s emphatic finish showed the league that the Thunder would no longer be pushed around at the end of those close contests.

2.) Standing Ovation after the Season

Pau Gasol tipped in a Kobe Bryant miss, giving the Lakers a 95-94 victory in game six to end a thrilling first round playoff series. It was a devastating end to an unforgettable season and it would be understandable if the fans silenced and slowly filed out of the arena with their heads down.

Instead, the fans immediately gave their eliminated team a standing ovation – they were already standing anyway – that seemed to never end. Durant huddled the troops at midcourt and gave a speech about how the next season started at that moment. The players then broke the huddle and exited the court more like heroes than a team whose season had just ended. They waved to the crowd and applauded back.

It was more like something out of an inspirational sports movie than real life, but a lot of Oklahoma City’s season could fit that same description. It was a fitting end to a surprising and exhilarating OKC season, even if it had to end in a rough way.

1.) First Playoff Game in OKC

During the regular season, Oklahoma City quickly got a reputation as likely the craziest and loudest crowd in the NBA. So everybody knew that even if the Thunder returned home trailing the series 2-0 to the Lakers, the crowd would live up to its expectations.

The difference for the young Thunder players playing in front of their home crowd for a playoff game was obvious as they pulled off a 101-96 victory against the defending world champs. Durant snapped out of his two-game mini-slump with 29 points and 19 rebounds in the win.

An 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter started with a ridiculous Russell Westbrook dunk over the Lakers’ Lamar Odom. It ended with a Durant 3-pointer to tie the game at 74, and was likely the loudest moment in franchise history.

Bonus: Worst Moment of the 2009-10 Season: The No-call in Utah

One of the best games of the NBA season ended in frustration for the Thunder. Trailing 140-139 in overtime with a second left, Durant spotted up from well behind the 3-point line but was blocked in a controversial no-call to end the game. The league later admitted the officials missed the foul call, which did OKC little good after the game had already gone down in the books as a loss.

Assuming Durant could have made 2-of-3 free throws being a 90 percent shooter, the Thunder would have had another win on their resume. Instead of finishing in a three-way tie in the conference and getting relegated to the eighth seed to face L.A., the Thunder would have had sole possession of the sixth spot and would have faced the Phoenix Suns in the first round. Who knows what would have happened from there, but it is certainly a moot point these days.