Paul not surprised with OKC's position
Chris Paul wiped the sweat from his eyes after practice Monday and answered a question he seemed to be waiting for.
The Thunder point guard was asked if, at the beginning of the season, he envisioned his team being in this position.
“Yup,” said Paul, in a louder than usual voice. “I thought we'd actually have a better record. I don't know who I said it to at some point, but I said, no offense, but as long as I'm on the court I feel like we've always got a chance. I don't care what the team is, what it looks like, who it is or whatever.”
The 34- year- old veteran has backed up his point.
The Thunder is seventh in the Western Conference at 1 5- 1 4. As playoff hopefuls Minnesota, Sacramento and Phoenix continue a downward spiral, the Thunder is surging. Oklahoma City has a threegame lead on ninth-place San Antonio.
Analytics site Five Thirty Eight gives the Thunder an 80 percent chance of making the playoffs. ESPN's Basketball Power Index is even more bullish, giving the Thunder an 84.5 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Those numbers rep resent the Thunder's current roster. They don't account f or potential departures of
key rotational players between now and the Feb .6 trade deadline.
“Everybody always tries to tell your story,” Paul said. “Everybody said I didn't want to be here either. You know
what I mean? I think for us it's just about continuing to play hard and not get ahead of ourselves. Understand it's a lot of season left. We just got above .500. You take the small victories.”
All-Star voting opens
Christmas marked the beginning of fan voting for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
Fans can vote by searching for "NBA All-Star Vote" on Google. Voting can also be done on the NBA app or NBA. com. Fans can fill out one ballot per day of 10 players. All current NBA players are eligible to play in the All-Star Game.
There will be five "two-forone days:" Jan. 2, Jan. 3, Jan. 10, Jan. 16 and Jan. 20.
Votes will count twice on those days.
Paul is the only Thunder player to have played in an AllStar game. Paul, a nine-time All-Star, last played in the game in 2016. He's averaged 13.1 points and 13.3 assists in All-Star games.
Fans will account for 50 percent of the vote for All-Star Game starters. Players and media will both account for 25 percent of the vote.
Voting will conclude on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, at 10:59 p.m. Jan. 20.
TNT will reveal the All-Star Game starters on Jan. 23.
The 69 th NBA All-Star Game will tip off at 7 p.m. on Feb. 16 at the United Center.