The Oklahoma City Thunder are for real. For those that don’t know OKC is our NBA future bet squad ride here at Views from 400. We’ll worry about them more after our Washington Huskies finish the job on Monday.

Until then, we have some boo-boo basketball to get us through the week.

Every single weekday, the guys from Section 400 will be providing a rundown of everything that happened in sports the night before.

Let’s get into it.

Young gun with a quick fuse.

If you aren’t paying attention to what is going on in the Western Conference, you better start.

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the defending champion Denver Nuggets twice in December, and have now taken down the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics to start the new year.

OKC is now 23-9 on the season and just a game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 1 overall seed in the West.

Before I get roasted too hard for believing in the common misconception that the NBA regular season matters (a la the Kings last season), I am still tempering my expectations because of the Thunder’s youth, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to not fall in love.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a superstar. He is good enough to will Oklahoma City to a first-round playoff series win, especially if they end up in the top-half of the West. Beyond that, Chet Holmgren or Josh Giddey NEED to step up as a very good secondary scoring option.

We saw it with Giddey last night (23/8/6). If he can put up stat lines like that and keep it in his pants, the sky is the limit.

Boston will also be fine by the way. Derrick White is blossoming into perfect back-court compliment for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis. When those four are healthy, this team can beat anybody.

Caitlin Clark Kent.

There isn’t much I can say to describe the kind of night Iowa guard Caitlin Clark had, so I’ll just show you.

CAITLIN CLARK pic.twitter.com/Qwfe70ElpN

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 3, 2024

Not only did the 21-year-old score 40 points (including this buzzer-beater) in Iowa’s win over Michigan State last night, but she improved her season averages to 32 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds in the contest.

Those would be absolutely absurd over a 48 minute NBA game, Clark is doing it in 40 minutes of college basketball.

The senior is undoubetly going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming WNBA draft and could finally be the woman to dethrone Becky Hammon’s Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA.

She also may help the league finally creep towards turning a profit. I know I’ll be watching.

Coming around the mountain.

It’s easy for casual college basketball fans to look at the Mountain West in the eyes of a skeptic. For the most part that is fair.

Before San Diego State made a run to the National Championship last year the conference had never made a final four. Even with SDSU’s run, the MWC is still a horrific 27-59 all-time in March Madness.

This conference is on the upswing though. At least 5 teams have double-digit wins entering conference play, the best of them being No. 13 ranked Colorado State.

The Rams played a mostly soft non-conference schedule, but did manage wins over Creighton, Washington, Boston College, and Colorado in the early-season. At least two of those teams should find their way into the NCAA Tournament, and Creighton may end up on the 4-line or better.

CSU can score, they can defend, and they can win close games. They have four seniors averaging at least 12 points, led by guard Isiah Steven’s 17 points per game.

This team is nearly a carbon-copy of the San Diego State team that shocked the world last year. Don’t let the Rams shock you.

McDavid is mesmerizing.

Connor McDavid is sick of his Edmonton Oilers living in mediocrity.

The center accumulated 5 points in the Oilers 5-2 win over the Flyers on Tuesday, scoring the opening goal before assisting on each of Edmonton’s next four scores.

The Oilers are cooking on gas. Watch out for McDavid come the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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