Daequan Cook News

As the Oklahoma City Thunder prepare to battles the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, the "up-and-coming"-type labels tagged to this young team are long gone.

The crowd stood in full roar the final 16 seconds as the Thunder crossed half court and dribbled out the remnants of Game 5, a celebration that was longer and maybe louder than anything that had gone on before Monday night, if that's possible.

During the regular season, Thunder coach Scott Brooks will stick to his substitution pattern through thick and thin.

I'm not trying to take anything away from what the Thunder's defense did during Game 1, but man, the offense was near perfect that night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder made an emphatic statement Monday, annihilating the title-tested Los Angeles Lakers, 119-90, in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

Round 1 is in the books and either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Denver Nuggets are on the horizon, but we are still afforded a few days to reflect on the series that just transpired.

James Harden and the Oklahoma City Thunder closed out the defending champion Dallas Mavericks Saturday night, completing the 4-0 sweep.

Game 4: Thunder at Mavericks preview 6:30 p.m. today, Ch. 21/TNT; KESN-FM , KFLC-AM . They started stroking their shots in Game 3, hitting 12 of 28 from 3-point range.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 31 points in the game and got off to a great start with 15 in the first quarter.

Rob Mahoney of Bleacher Report on learning about KD : "And though learning more about Durant specifically is of great value in coming to terms with one of the giants of the game, the greater payoff here is in the exercise itself.

That's all Derek Fisher needed to demonstrate he still has plenty left in the tank and, quite possibly, just might be as good as advertised in playoff basketball.

A win in Game 1 wouldn't erase the demons of a five-game loss in the Western Conference finals last season, but Kevin Durant made sure the Thunder were a step closer to doing so.

Today the playoffs arrive and the Mavericks start on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder .

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant chose to sit out of his team's regular-season final at Sacramento on Thursday night, which assured Thunder forward Kevin Durant of his third straight scoring title.