JORDAN WAGNER

That’s why I think the Mavs might have an actual chance to bring Jason Kidd his much deserved NBA championship. Oklahoma City looked electric Monday night (no pun intended) before Dallas made their 4th quarter comeback. Honestly, the way Dallas was playing earlier on, they didn’t deserve to win. OKC started nine for nine from the field. It is almost a crime to take a win away from a team that starts that way. But you won’t hear this writer complaining anymore; with a 3-1 lead in the West now, young Durant and company have no will left to fight.

OKC fans, please don’t be upset. You will be back next year, and the year after that. The NBA just needs to give these old geezers their title..

Which brings up the question: How much energy does Dallas have? Miami, should they win the East, will be burning with excitement. Bosh is somehow turning into a scoring machine. Can Dallas withstand two hyper teams?  Hopefully, if Dirk keeps shooting the ball! With 40 points last night, he might as well be a 7 foot shooting guard. How do you guard that?

Come on, Dallas. Get off your canes and vitamins and find the stamina to last a few more games.

Photo: Getty

SCOTT JACOBS

What once seemed like a possibility now feels more like fate.

The Dallas Mavericks have been on a parallel crash course to meet the Miami Heat in a 2006 NBA Finals rematch all post-season.  Since the start of round 2, no two teams have played better.  No two teams have been more clutch.  No two teams are closer to the ’ship as of this present moment.

No two teams would make for a more fascinating NBA Finals.

And after completing an unbelievable 15 point comeback in the last five minutes, before controlling the game in OT, the Mavs are on the cusp of their grand breakthrough, back to the stage where they had their well documented breakdown: the NBA Finals.  One win left and after the way OKC looked after this back-breaker at home, it’s hard to see them having any fight left.  Dallas had no problem closing out L.A. so something tells me they’re going to take care of the Thunder in front of their home crowd, sending off a celebration that will include everything but parade routes — that didn’t work out so well the first time.

Bulls fans, go ahead and yell.  Your team hasn’t played well offensively yet still was in position to steal game 3 before Chris Bosh caught fire and LeBron James put on the finishing touches.  Great, fantastic.  Here’s a cookie.  The fact of the matter is they don’t have the firepower to match Miami.  Oklahoma City doesn’t have the moxie to take out a team as hot as Dallas.  Since that epic meltdown in round 1 in Portland (which feels like a decade ago) Dallas hasn’t lost a ROAD game, and has confidence higher than Snoop Dogg.

They walk around with a swagger, but it’s more of a quiet confidence.  They know that they were the team that was too old.  “Blow the team up,” everyone told Mark Cuban after the Mavs whimpered out of last year’s post-season with a brutal dismissal at the hands of the hated Spurs.  “Dirk can’t be ‘the guy’ people started to whisper aloud.  ‘This team’s window has closed permanently shut.’

And now?  Well, after the Mavs inevitably close out the pesky, but in over their head Thunder, I’d love for them to play that song, ‘How You Like Me Now.’  Because, no one saw this turnaround coming.  They were the quietest three seed in recent playoff history, and after knocking out the resilient Trail Blazers, few gave Dallas much of a shot to beat the defending back to back champs.

They pulverized ‘em, laying the groundwork on the ever closing road to redemption.  Dirk has been picking up more accolades than a pickup artist gets chicks, and the ‘too old, over-the-hill, lack that second scorer’ team is one win away from the NBA Finals.

They’ve been a team in disarray since blowing that 2-0 series lead versus Miami back in 2006 — when Wade decided to carry the Heat entirely on his back, including an unforgettable game 3 comeback.  The Mavs kept winning in the regular season, but kept fading when the post-season lights became their brightest.  The culmination coming when they sported the league’s best record in 2007, and were promptly blitzed by the hot shot Warriors, who haven’t been relevent since.  Avery Johnson was fired in 2008, and the Mavs appeared ready to start over.

They didn’t.

Instead they began slowly adding pieces, starting with Jason Kidd, the centerpiece of a blockbuster deal that seemingly said to the world, ‘we know our window is closing, here goes nothing.’

Today Kidd won the game with a clutch three.  He has like 16 steals in four games versus OKC.  He’s been the rock Dallas envisioned when they acquired him from New Jersey for Devin Harris, Gana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Moe Ager, Keith Van Horn, a pair of draft picks and cash.  Looking back that trade was a steal for Dallas, who also received a few other guys in the swap.

Then Dallas acquired Shawn Marion in the 2009 offseason as part of a three team swap.  Tonight Marion made a huge block on Kevin Durant at the end of regulation, a ball that ended up in the hands of… you guessed it Jason Kidd.

Those were two moves of many that Dallas has made (the Tyson Chandler trade also comes to mind), with the two consistent pieces from that 2006 team being Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki.  Well Miami has two guys left from their title team: Wade and Udonis Haslem.

These two teams are so different from the ones that clashed in an epic six game series in 06.  Miami is stocked with top-tier superstar talent.  Dallas is now the team that Miami once was: led by a superstar and veteran guys.  A relatively deep team that had a bunch of guys who were craving that elusive championship.

Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning, and Antoine Walker were just a few well known veteran guys who were running out of time in their career before running into Dallas.  They got their rings.  Soonafter they were gone from the league.  Old age catching up to them.

Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, and Peja Stojakovich are all veterans now, and they’re all staring down the ends of their careers.  This could be their last shot.  O the parallels!

That loss to Miami sent Dallas on a seemingly never-ending soul search, and it hasn’t been a smooth road back to the top — where the air is crisp, and the haters are silent.  But that’s exactly where Dallas finds itself, behind the amazing Dirk, who scored 40+ points for the second out of four WCF games.

This isn’t just a better team than the Thunder, it’s a hungrier one.  It’s  team that’s been clawing back towards this stage for 5 years, and now, on the verge of that coveted second chance may run into the team that sent them spiraling in the first place.

Nothing’s set in stone yet, but Miami-Dallas is getting closer to fruition.  The way these playoffs have played out, it shouldn’t end any other way.

Photo: Getty

So, did anybody hear that the Lakers are out? I am of course being facetious, because the words “Lakers” and “swept” usually mean “The Lakers swept,” not “The Lakers got SWEPT.” But that’s exactly what happened as the L.A. went down 0-4 to Dallas in Phil Jackson’s last year coaching in the NBA. Pepper on some ejections on top and you’re looking at a nice, hearty dish of failure.

Now, I’ll be clear. I’m not trying to be a hater. The Lakers are still a big, solid team, and you can bet even without Phil Jackson that they will be back at it again next season. It’s just kind of amazing, because now, the Dallas Mavericks actually have a shot to win the NBA championship. And boy do I want to see Kidd win one. He deserves it. He is smart, experienced and determined, but he’s also old and desperate.

At 38, he is one of the oldest players right now in the NBA, and I’m sure he smells retirement right around the corner.

So here’s what I want to happen.

I want Memphis to beat the Oklahoma City and go on to the Western Conference finals. They are truly the Cinderella story of the NBA playoffs. Nobody thought they were going to beat the Spurs until they did. However, if they do in fact face Dallas in the championship, I think they will see their fairy tale story come to an end.

The Thunder would absolutely give Dallas more of a challenge, so go Grizzlies.

It’s not looking pretty in the East. Miami looks like they can win the whole conference and move on to the finals for the first time since 2006. I can only hope that the winner of the Bulls/Hawks series can pull off an upset.

So what’s the prediction: Miami will meet Dallas in the NBA Finals with the Mavericks winning it all.  Along with Dirk and a well rounded supporting cast, it will be Jason Kidd who is going to be kicking on the after burners to make it happen.

Photo: Getty

SCOTT JACOBS

It was a game so good it just had to be fattening.

A marathon so helterskelter it was borderline dizzying.

Deep into the night and early into the morning, the Thunder and Grizzlies exchanged blow after blow, until one finally ran out of gas.  It only took three overtimes, 63 minutes of game time for Oklahoma City to outlast Memphis, but the Thunder did what they needed to do: getting a split in Elvis’ town to even this wild series at two games apiece.

Tonight they resume this highly competitive series in Oklahoma City, taking the minimal rest they were able to get and hoping it’s enough to sustain themselves through what should be a good ol fashioned tug a war.

Teams that win game 5 in a 2-2 series are usually good for winning the series, so tonight’s clash has a ton riding on it.

The Grizzlies have been reduced to the underdog, but these two teams are dead even.  Two games have already gone to overtime, and both teams have proven they not only can they win on each other’s home courts, but that they belong.

As with any triple overtime game, the next game is never easy.  Especially with just a day in between.  But both teams know what’s at stake.  The Mavericks clinched their series win on Sunday over the Lakers and will have plenty of time to rest.  These teams will probably wear each other out with these every other day grudge matches, but it’s the playoffs, and this is what you play for.  This is why you put on that jersey and take the court.  This is what you dream about when you’re a kid playing in your driveway with the local kids in your neighborhood.

The chance to achieve greatness.  The chance to overcome the odds and surprise the masses.

Oklahoma City has never been this deep since moving from Seattle.  Memphis had never even won a playoff game before this post-season started.  These aren’t two legendary franchises filled to the brim with great playoff success.  Neither of these teams is taking their playoff experience for granted.

Which should make tonight an awesome dog-fight.

Two small market teams with the chance to once again grab the nation’s attention.

It’s all there tonight.

Who wants it more?

Photo: AP

SCOTT JACOBS

On February 1, 2008 the Grizzlies made what is now considered one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history.  It took them from first round punching bag, to bottom feeder and laughingstock: the team that gave away Pau Gasol and helped the Lakers form their latest dynasty.

The Grizz did salvage Pau’s brother Marc in that deal.

On July 2, 2009 Memphis made another move: one that for the casual sports fan, probably flew right under the radar.  In a straight up swap the Grizz dealt Quentin Richardson for a crazy headcase with a bloated contract.  That man’s name: Zach Randolph.

Many at the time dismissed the deal as a desperate attempt to get back some low post scoring punch.  Most praised the Clippers for getting Randolph’s contract off their books.  No one thought that it was the missing piece to a team that looked like it was going nowhere.

Randolph blossomed into a star, kept his oversized ego in check, and the Grizzlies, yes the freaking Memphis Grizzlies, are moving on to the second round — dispatching the old guard San Antonio Spurs in six games in a stunning display of youth, talent, and toughness.

The same team that didn’t have a clue left just knocked the number 1 seed Spurs — the team that had the best record for much of the season — right out of the post-season.  Sayonara Spurs.  Hello Z Bo.

The same team that didn’t have toughness, just physically imposed their will on the four time champs.

The same team that didn’t have a plan is now more talented than San Antonio.  Tougher than San Antonio.  And according to my scorecard: better than San Antonio.

It’s a shocking turn of events: the non-nonchalant, never on national TV Grizzlies absolutely outplaying and outsmarting the wily veteran laden Spurs, setting up the most unlikely of second round series: Memphis versus Oklahoma City.  It’s the battle of the relocaters.  The same Vancouver team that once was under consideration for contraction versus the Zombie Sonics.  Just two years ago the Grizzlies won 24 games. OKC 23.  Now they’re set to square off in the series with a sense of humor: winner likely getting the Lakers in the Conference Finals.

Talk about a comeback story.  Talk about two teams who did actually have a plan.

And not only is GM Chris Wallace off the hook: he’s actually laughing all the way to the bank — his team doing what no one could have foreseen just two Springs ago.

Four more wins and he could get a crack at the same team that made him so infamously famous for all the wrong reasons.

Now that would be a story.

Photo: AP

SCOTT JACOBS

Vince Carter may or may not have started this trend, but he’s the one I personally remember clamoring for change — and getting it.  He’s the first superstar that comes to mind who may have changed the game without actually realizing it.  For Air Canada as  he was once known, may have started the obnoxious NBA ritual of dictating where a superstar player wants to go– whether his current and usually first team likes it or not.

But this story isn’t about Vince Carter, one of the more over-rated players of this or any era for that matter.  It’s about a league that needs to make change of it’s own happen, or it risk becoming — gasp — Major League Baseball, where only the mega markets can truly compete with the smaller markets striking it rich every so often.

The NBA needs to be very wary of this change that has taken over the league, and Carmelo going to the Knicks (more on that in a moment) needs to be the moment where the NBA’s collective genuises put their two cents together to figure out how to stop superstar players from becoming dictators on their NBA team.

Everyone’s talking about Carmelo Anthony, the superstar going to the Knicks.  I think Melo, the guy who didn’t win squat in Denver, despite being surrounded with a core group of good players (including the Likes of A.I., Chauncey Billups, Nene, etc.) forcing his way out of the Denver organization sucks.  It reeks of a slap in the face to all those loyal Nuggets fans who sat and watched as their teams floundered year in and year out, before his arrival.

Then when the former Syracuse star arrived, he brought hope and promise, and Denver quickly built itself into a perennial playoff team, but never truly a championship contender.

Anthony is a free agent at the end of the year (well, not anymore considering he’s a lock to sign a 3 year mega-deal with the Knicks) and he had the right to bolt the Rockies as soon as Denver’s bizzare season was over. Fine.  But to put the Nuggets in this drab all year long, and not even giving them options, because he just had to go to New York and no where else is just plain nauseating.

What have you done Miami?

If this is the new NBA I don’t like it.  Not one bit.  I don’t want a league that’s the have everythings and the have squats.  Are we looking at an NBA where only a handful of teams can truly win anymore?  Is the era of building a team dead, replaced by the ideology that you should “mutilate your roster, add a star through free agency, and then some other star will force his way out of town to pair with your star so they can get a third star to come leave his city too.”

Is that it?  Is that the new ‘plan.’

I’m not a fan.  While the league execs are probably cheering high above in their ivy towers that the Knicks are now must watch the rest of this year and beyond, this really begs the question of ‘just who is running these teams?’  Is it the owners and GM’s?  Or the star(s)?

Donnie Walsh oddly enough is probably going to lose his job as GM despite the fact that he took a horrific team and turned them into a winner. Why?  Because he didn’t see eye to eye with crazy owner James Dolan, who must be freaking the you know know what out right now after landing a second star for his beloved Garden.

People will bash LeBron, but at least he had the decency to play out his contract and then move on elsewhere.  What Carmelo did in turning this season into a daily circus for the Nuggets was unfair and quite frankly, pathetic.

So now we turn to the Knicks.  Will it work?  It won’t this season.  They have three guys, and that’s it.  And unlike Miami they have upwards of 30 games to figure it out before they make the playoffs.  Their depth is well who are we kidding, they no longer have any depth, and remember, Mike D’Antoni has still never taken an NBA team to the finals.  Nor does he believe in having a bench.  Which works great, cause they have Landry Fields and no one else now.

People forget that Nash and Stoudemire were surrounded by some really good players in Phoenix and never won a championship. Never even made the Finals.  That was a cohesive unit, one that could shoot, was freakishly athletic, and could practically run you off the court.  While this new Knicks team has power and scoring, is Chauncey Billups really the guy to run a 7 seconds or less type of offense?

It will be exciting, no doubt, but if the Knicks were bad on D before, just wait till you see them now.  Amare is a shotblocker and a below average defender.  Anthony has never really shown much of an interest besides scoring.  Amare and Carmelo both need the ball, and both want to be the hero. What are they going to do, pick and roll the league to death?

And while Amare is a really good player, he’s not a superstar.  Why?  Because after watching his entire career in Phoenix, he was built for the regular season and seemed to always disappear in the post-season.  But that was with a team built around him in the middle.  The new Knicks, well, I’m curious to see how they plan on piecing these guys together.

Sometimes as sports fans, we get starry eyed by superstars, and fail to see the bigger picture — that teams win championships.  Two stars a championship team does not make.  Especially two guys who don’t necessarily complement each other’s style, unless Anthony plans on becoming Steve Nash overnight.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t.

But if karma is a bitch, as LeBron once tweeted, than the Thunder are going to have an NBA dynasty on their hands, because they’ve built their team the right way, the old fashioned way, through time, draft picks, and growth.

As for the Nuggets, well, Knicks West has a long way to go to regain relevance, and the league seems to be just fine with that.

Photo: Reuters

SCOTT JACOBS

There was no announcement about the future of an announcement.

No double dip team meetings for three-days straight.  No $300,000 personalized Family Guy clips, no Betty White sexual innuendos, no pleas from the President of the United States, barely any outside buzz whatsoever.  Just a tweet.  Not a tweet about opening a Twitter account.  Just a simple message. Poorly spelled, grammatically awkward, and excitedly genuine.

“”Exstension for 5 more years wit the thunder….God Is Great, me and my family came a long way…I love yall man forreal, this a blessing!”

And just like that, the NBA’s most humble, down to earth super-star soon to be megastar is off the market.  Not that he ever wanted to be a part of the free agency circus to begin with.

Today Kevin Durant of the relatively obscure Oklahoma City Thunder (or as Bill Simmons beautifully denotes “the Zombie Sonics”) agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in orange, yellow, navy, light blue, and god knows what ever other colors Oklahoma City decides to put on their uniform till 2016.

That’s it.  Show over.

Shelley Smith we won’t be needing your services.  No county needs to change their name.  And best of all, proceeds of Durant’s quiet signing go to NBA fans and sports columnists who began to lose faith in the idea of a humble star, in lieu of the wild reality tv show that ESPN and the Superkids have put on over the last week.  But Durant’s announcement came so quietly that it wasn’t even one of the top three headlines on SI.com

Wade and Bosh have the headlines all to themselves today with a healthy serving of LeBron on the side, but it’s Durant, the quiet superstar who may have made the biggest splash.  For NBA fans paranoid that the league is becoming a bigger markets devour the little ones whole ego trip, Durant’s agreement to re-up in OKC till 2015-2016 (with no opt out clause) is a breath of fresh air.  Unless you live in Seattle, in which you’re rueing the fact that your NBA team was hijacked to a smaller market and has quickly become the “most loaded young team in the league.”  But I digress.

The timing of Durant’s agreement is nothing short of brilliant.  Whether he intended to or not, Durant comes across as the good, likeable guy, on the small market team, that just wants to win, and show his loyalty.  Simple as pie.  Coming off a season in which he led the league in scoring, took the Oklahoma City part of the franchise to the playoffs for the first time, and entered the casual fans’ conscience, today is an exciting and hopeful day for smaller market teams and their fans.

“I hope it happens, man,” he said a month ago, in regards to sticking around with the Thunder. “I’m really emphasizing how much I really enjoy playing for the Oklahoma City team and playing for that city.”

Okay, so his grammar isn’t exactly spot on, and he will get $85 million for five years just for playing basketball, but in a league and sports world littered with divas (exhibit A will make his college, err NBA choice on your TV tomorrow) Durant is showing a side that we can all admire and respect.

Can he win a championship in OKC?  That will eventually become the intriguing question.  And even if it doesn’t work out, he’ll be just 27 when this deal runs out (assuming the Thunder even allow that to happen), meaning he has plenty more golden years to go to a bigger market if this experiment fails.

But there’s beauty in the fact he’s letting it ride.

No cameras.  No documentaries.  Just a man with a twitter quietly re-affirming his love for the franchise that gave his NBA career life.

Coke should call him immediately to offer him a healthy sponsorship deal with them.  Because like the soft drink, this is a refreshing change of pace.

Photo: AP

SCOTT JACOBS

The Seattle Supersonics are no more.  You may have heard about the ugly divorce they had from the city a few months ago.  Well, stuff happened, they moved to Oklahoma City, picked an awful lame team name (Thunder), boring stupid colors, and a frighteningly generic logo and uniforms. And wallah, just like that Seattle was a thing of the past.

But the Seattle Times aren’t ready to give it up, not yet.  On their website they have a fascinating look back at the history of the Sonics, and any sports fan looking for a good read should check it out.

That’s what a real team looks like.  The Sonics had an identity, unique colors, and 41 years of history on their side.  The Thunder, well, they have sold out all their season tickets.  It’s a start, but they’ve got a long way to go before they become a true NBA city.

They Took Our Time, They Can’t Take Our Memories 

Good tribute Video past and present 

The last minute of Seattle’s final home game.  Riveting stuff from a riled up and emotional crowd 

SCOTT JACOBS

As a lover of logos it’s not often you get the chance to see a brand new team in a brand new city trot out a new identity, a new logo, a new emblem to be recognized with their league. So when the Sonics left Seattle and moved to Oklahoma City, my sadness for Seattle, turned to intrigue for what the owners of the new team would present.

With so much potential, rumored looks of black, gold, and other unique colors, the OKC NBA team looked like it could come up with something pretty cool. But like their move from Seattle, their logo that they unveiled today was dispiriting, atrocious in a clip art way.

The colors? Very Golden State Warriors-ish. The logo? A lamer version of what Vancouver’s Canucks put on their hockey jerseys. The buildup? Not worth this letdown.

With the type of technology that graphic designers have at their disposal, and the innovators out there, it’s shocking, no, make that appaling, that a logo this generic and blah could represent an NBA team. There are too many talented people out there to get overlooked for a logo that looks like it’s representing a children’s summer basketball camp.

If the logo was OKC on top and then Thunder, it’d be better. If the basketball didn’t look so unisinspired it’d be better. If the font had any feel of effort it’d be better. If I sat down drunk with a blindfold and a pen, it’d be better. I think, you uh, yeah, you see the point here.

Some have begun to speculate that maybe the new logo is merely just a placeholder logo, as they build up momentum for the jerseys set to be unveiled later this month. But if you ask me, it looks like a five year old got loose on Paint, and used the fill in tool before walking away. Apparently Clay was impressed, and wallah! the OKC Thunder were born.

It’s not often that you’re actually confused about a team’s identity, but this unveiling left a lot of things in question. Like: Is it OKC Thunder, Oklahoma City Thunder, or what exactly would you like us to call this team? What will be on the jerseys? Presumably, Thunder for the homes, but is OKC set to don the aways? Will we have another lame light blue team in the league? Isn’t Memphis, Denver, and Utah amongst others, enough? Will this logo serve as a placeholder for one year before the team admits that this was just a one year joke and that they plan on unveiling a logo that’s respectful of a pro sports league?

The name Thunder is whatever. I wrote a few months ago that it was terrible. But I’ve accepted that.

The logo just doesn’t fly. There’s nothing thunderous about it. It does however look like a “everybody get along we’ve got a long car ride ahead” logo. And if that was the goal, then fine. Mission accomplished. Like the logo, the team has a ways to go before they’re relevant as an NBA playoff contender. Like the logo the team will have to be patient as well as their new fans, as well as the team suffers through major growing pains.

It’s just sort of disappointing.

It took them that long to come up with… this?

But people will buy it. They’ll embrace it. They’ll even come to associate it with their OKC.

But it’s a piece of crap. Uninspired garbage, covered up by stupid symbolism. The blue represents this, the orange that, the yellow… eh, just admit it Clay, that you knew you could put anything out there, including a giant colorful turd, and the people of Oklahoma City would embrace it.

Your job was done for you.

Oklahoma City Thunder is the new hip thing in Oklahoma.

All you had to do, was give them a name, colors, and a logo to seal the deal.

And do that you have. Because lord knows there was better stuff out there then this. And I say that nicely.

Oklahoma City Thunder: You Fail!