The last time I went to a Thunder game the team was 1-10 and they had lost all four games I attended. Now ranked dead last with a record of 2 wins and 23 losses, the Oklahoma City Thunder took on the 24th ranked Los Angeles Clippers.

While the Thunder may have been in the Ford Center, there was no lightning to be found. The game started close with a score of 4-4, and five minutes later the Clippers were up by 14. The rest of the night was classic Thunder basketball, with our team getting within striking distance and then blowing any gained ground with boneheaded play after play. The Thunder missed over a dozen opportunities to tie the game or take the lead, but instead opted for taking impossible flailing fade away jumpers, three-point shots from way outside the arc, or drawing fouls and then missing their free throws. Desmond Mason (one of our favorite players) apparently attended the Shaq School of Free Throw Shooting; his technique was terrible, the results were predictable.

The Thunder have to do something extraordinarily idiotic to surprise me these days, which unfortunately they typically manage to do. Tonight’s forehead-smacking event came from Kevin Durant, who fouled Clipper Baron Davis on a three-point attempt with 1.8 seconds left to go in the third quarter. Davis’ shot had no chance of going in; instead, he sunk all three free throws, taking the wind out of the Thunder’s sails and boosting their lead heading into the fourth quarter. Final score: Clippers 98, Thunder 88.

As Luke once said about Darth Vader, “there is good in him, I feel it.” Jeff Green swished his free throw attempts with ease and Westbrook helped rally the team while behind, but with 20 turnovers (8 in the fourth quarter), 10 missed free throws and a shot percentage of less than 50%, no one player could save the sinking ship tonight.

One thing I should note; I don’t know if it was the weather or if the Clippers aren’t a big draw, but the Ford Center was noticeably empty tonight. Our row had 25 seats and only six were occupied. There were six rows of 25 seats above us and during the fourth quarter, they were all empty. My friend Bob at work said people were giving tickets away the last time he was downtown. Another friend confirmed the same thing this evening.

In related news, the worst NBA record of all time is 9-73, earned by the 1972/73 Philadelphia 76ers. With a 2-24 record, we’ve currently won 7.69% of our games. A 9-73 record requires a team to win 12.32% of their games. Maybe we’re on track for a record this year after all.

Actually the Thunder are now 1-10, but in games I’ve seen live in person, we’re 0-4.

I’ve run out of witty headlines and humorous ways to say we stink. To be honest the Thunder hung in there much longer than most people expected against the 9th ranked 6-4 Houston Rockets. With names like Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest, defeating the Rockets proved to be too difficult — even though Ming, McGrady and Artest all left the game at different times due to injuries.

The Thunder kept it close in the first and was down by either six or eight at the half — and that’s when things really got out of hand. In the second half the Rocket’s lead grew to double digits and despite a couple of steals and a couple of dunks, the Thunder was no match for the Rockets. Final score, 89-100.

To put it another way, the highlight of the evening was the halftime entertainment: “Simon Says with Steve Max.”

Mason and I attended another Thunder game last night, where we (the Oklahoma City Thunder) received the butt-kicking most of us were expecting. Last night we played the Orlando Magic. Orlando brought superstar Dwight Howard, who scored the first triple double of his career, while the Thunder’s best player, Kevin Durant, sat out due to a “sore left ankle” (aww).

The Thunder looked like a high school team trying to keep up with the Orlando Magic. The announcers begged the crowd to shout “DE-FENSE,” and each time we did the Orlando Magic would walk down the court, reach up and place the ball in the net. When the Thunder would get the ball the Magic would take it away, walk down the court, and gently place the ball into the hoop. Either the Thunder could not hear our cries of “DE-FENSE” or they simply ignored our advice.

By the end of the first quarter the Thunder was down by 20 (17-37) and some people had already begun leaving. By halftime we were down 29 points. Most people might think it would be safe to pull your star player (Dwight Howard) out of the game, but no, he stayed on the court the entire night, rejecting Thunder baskets at will (sometimes knocking them clear into the stands). The final score (Magic 109, Thunder 92) barely conveys how badly we were over powered.

Mason, with cotton candy in hand and a Desmond Mason jersey on his back, didn’t seem to mind much.

Last night Mason and I attended the OKC Thunder/Atlanta Hawks game. The Hawks went into the game undefeated (four wins, no losses); the Thunder, 1-4. I know I (and probably most others watching the game) was expecting a good old-fashioned ass kicking, and while we did lose, the beating wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.

The Hawks jumped out to an early lead, leaving the Thunder in the dust at 0-7. The Thunder scored a couple of baskets but the Hawks stayed out in front, leading 5-16 early on in the first. For all of the first quarter and most of the second, it seemed like the Thunder could not find a play that worked. They missed layups, they missed 15-foot jumpers, they missed free throws, they missed alley-oops, they missed three pointers … and yet somehow the score remained close. At one point I remember being down by five and asking the guy next to me, “doesn’t it seem like we should be losing by more than five points?” He agreed.

Late in the second, the Thunder pulled it together. They made a few steals, sunk a few baskets, and unbelievably went into halftime leading by three points. Nobody thought the lead would last, and ultimately it didn’t, but at early in the fourth quarter the Thunder were actually up by seven. Would it be possible for the Thunder to beat the undefeated, number-one ranked Atlanta Hawks?

No, it would not be possible. The Hawks put all their starters back in and taught the Thunder a little lesson called, “welcome to the NBA.” The Hawks scored 31 in the fourth quarter, taking the ball away from the Thunder at will. A late attempt at that age ol’ classic plan “foul-the-shooter” was too little too late for the Thunder. Mason (Desmond, not my son) hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left that brought the Thunder within 4, and that’s where the game ended (89-85, Hawks).

Sometimes a game’s end score doesn’t reflect the feeling of the night. While the Thunder only lost by four, the game never really felt that close. Even when we were winning it didn’t feel like we were the better team. For two years I watched the OKC Hornets blow third quarters and try fourth-quarter rallies. The Thunder have a similar but slightly inverted approach of building up third quarter leads and then blowing them in the fourth. The Thunder are going to have to learn how to close out games (and get some good draft picks over the next two or three years) to become contenders.

NBA.com ranks the Thunder 25th out of 30 teams — not bad considering at the beginning of the season, we were ranked dead last.

Last night was the first pre-season home game of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Susan and I were there to experience it. Before last night’s game against the Thunder our record stood at 1-3, and with Marcus Camby and Baron Davis out on sick leave I thought we might have a chance of pulling out another win.

We didn’t, of course, but it was close — 100-98. Not a bad showing for a team that is ranked 30th out of 30, according to ESPN’s power rankings (the Clippers are current ranked 19th). For much of the game, the Thunder showed why they are ranked dead last — dribbling the ball off their feet, having the ball stolen, missing simple lay ups and missing free throw after free throw. At one point in the first quarter the Thunder led 19-18, and then we trailed until late in the 4th. We went up by one, maybe two points near the end, but a string of missed free throw opportunities ensured our defeat. Down by 5 in the last few seconds, Petro threw up a hail mary three pointer that dropped, making the score closer than the game really was.

One thing I want to mention is that there were at least two fouls, definitely one, that I thought should have been flagrant fouls. One was just hard, the other was flagrant, and neither was called as flagrant. It is obvious the Thunder will need to earn some respect on the court this year.

In one of the greatest half time shows ever, the Thunder pulled twenty people from the crowd and let them attempt to dunk basketballs by running across the court and launching themselves off a trampoline. I am positive whoever came up with this idea did not run it by the organization’s lawyers — what an insurance nightmare! One fellow ran directly into the trampoline, bashing his shins and hobbling away. Another fellow missed the trampoline altogether; one guy jumped straight up and almost missed the landing mat. Of the twenty, five were really good and made it to the next round. Later, those five were on court doing flips and throwing shirts out into the crowd, leading me to believe that 15 of the 20 were real people and those 5 were plants. So many people almost hurt themselves doing this and I can’t imagine they will ever do it again.

In a great big “duh” moment, the Thunder cheerleaders (formerly known as the “Thunder Dance Team”) came out to announce that they have picked a new name which they would to reveal to the crowd after a big countdown. “Five, four, three, two, one … THUNDERGIRLS.” Wow, that’s it? The Thundergirls? It took them a month to come up with that one? When they came out on the court I said to Susan, “Here come the Thundergirls.” It took me less than a second to come up with it.

Thanks to Susan for going and Mom for babysitting.