Suns snap OKC’s seven-game streak, 117-113 (OT)

BOX SCORE

Seven appears to be the number for the Thunder this season, for whatever reason. Carrying a seven-game streak in December, the Thunder walked into Oracle Arena and played only a half with Kevin Durant before having it snapped by the Warriors.

Tonight in Phoenix, they had to once again go for eight without Durant, and this time fell short to the scrappy Suns in overtime despite an amazingterrible game from Russell Westbrook. Which is where the angle from this game falls, somehow.

First the nuts and bolts of this thing: The Thunder lost 117-113 in overtime for a couple reasons:

1) They got off to a horrific start, falling behind 12-2 in a matter of minutes and shooting just 5-23 in the first quarter.

2) They got their offense moving in the second, but defensively stumbled.

3) They took their first lead early in the third, carrying over a run to finish the half with an 8-0 one to start out the quarter, but again let it slip to an 86-84 deficit headed to the fourth.

4) Westbrook sat, and the Suns extended their lead to 10 early in the fourth, which the Thunder had to dig out of.

5) The Thunder got it tied 102-102 on a D.J. Augustin 3 with 2:31 left, but couldn’t contain Eric Bledsoe in the pick-and-roll to get enough stops to close it out. Brandon Knight hit a tough jumper, P.J. Tucker finished a layup set up by Bledsoe and an and-1 jumper by Markieff Morris made it 106-109 with 20 seconds left.

6) Westbrook finished an and-1 to tie it back up and get it to overtime. But the same problems carried over to the extra frame. The Thunder couldn’t match up with the Suns’ smallball group that spread them apart. The Thunder had chances, though. Dion Waiters had a transition layup blocked by Bledsoe with 2:39 left. Serge Ibaka missed a layup with 2:31 left. Enes Kanter had a tying layup stripped out of his hands with 1:57 left. Waiters threw a horrible pass out of bounds with 1:04 left.

7) And Westbrook had a chance to tie it up again with six seconds left, but came up short on after stepping on [Insert Morris’] foot, which prevented him from getting the lift he needed.

8) It might not have mattered anyway, but Ibaka failed to take the foul which left the Thunder only 0.3 seconds left and down four. But Anthony Morrow DRAINED that 3 anyway. GREAT PLAY SCOTT BROOKS.

So, anyway, Westbrook…

Westbrook played 43 minutes, finished that and-1 that got the Thunder to overtime and put up 39 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists plus three steals and four turnovers. And here’s the craziest part: It was his worst game this month. He shot just 12-38, hitting 1-10 from 3, and his defense on Bledsoe was extremely inconsistent.

Westbrook started 0-9 shooting. He was 2-14 at half. Some would say that would be the time he should step back and realize it’s not happening for him and start facilitating. Fair idea. But on the other hand, this is Russell Westbrook, the player who can’t-stop-won’t-stop, and I think he proved his point. It wasn’t always pretty, but his force of will is what even got this thing to overtime. He willed the Thunder back from 10 down, overpowering the Suns with simple want-to.

You wanted him to quit shooting? That’s fine, but just know this: If he had, the Thunder would’ve lost this one by eight in regulation. Westbrook doesn’t care about appearances and the way 38 shots next to his name looks. He cares about winning, and winning only, and while that tunnel vision corrupts his game sometimes, in this case, he’s absolved of any crime. He took on the responsibility — to a fault at times, though — to get the Thunder back in the game. And he darn near pulled it off.

What’s difficult for him is finding the on-off switch. His flurry to get the Thunder back in it was warranted. But keeping the lamp lit wasn’t. That’s where Westbrook has room to grow. That’s where he should’ve stepped back, settled the game down and gone back into letting the game flow. Westbrook himself admitted he should’ve shot less. “I got to trust my teammates more,” he said. He took nine bad shots by my estimation — the nine 3s he missed.

Here’s the thing: What if Westbrook finishes that layup and it goes to a second overtime? That means he’s taking more than 40 shots. And what if he scored eight in the second OT and finished with 49-15-12 and the Thunder won. Then NOBODY is saying a damn word about the way he played.

Instead, it’s a tough road loss to a team chasing the Thunder for eighth, ending the happiness and feel-goodery that was happening the past week. The Thunder’s lead shrinks to 1.5 games, and what obviously makes this a bit more crushing than usual is they have to travel up to Portland and be ready to play in about 20 hours against a really good team. This one loss may count for two in the end.

NOTES:

• Enes Kanter really had it going offensively through the first three quarters. He was showing the whole arsenal: post-up backdowns, spin moves off the baseline, face-up jumpers, the whole thing. He didn’t really stay involved down the stretch, but again, this is game four with him.

• It did become painfully obvious that Kanter’s defense can indeed be a liability. He struggled mightily when caught in switches — something the Thunder like to do — and couldn’t slow down dribble drives in the pick-and-roll. His feet are slow and he’s not good at recovering to contest. Kanter can play, and his defense isn’t as bad as it looked tonight, because Bledsoe attacking downhill is a handful for any big man, but it showed why Steven Adams still has a lot to give this team.

• Let’s be honest, though: Kanter could probably guard a mailbox pretty well.

• Kanter on the block helped settle the offense down in the first half. Just a few simple post-ups created four points on free throws. Something the Thunder have never really had.

• How about Ibaka’s defense on Eric Bledsoe late in overtime? Wouldn’t let him get off the step-back and after Bledsoe drove, Ibaka stayed down on two pump fakes and blocked his shot.

• Waiters was, let’s call it, not terrible tonight. He hit 6-12 for 16 points, and 3-4 from 3. His first half was a big part in the Thunder staying in the game.

• Popular question tonight: Why did Brooks go with Waiters over Morrow down the stretch? To me, it was an obvious defense-over-offense move. Morrow obviously gives you a better option on the offensive end, even with Waiters hitting some shots tonight. But with the Suns smallball lineup, they would’ve likely just posted P.J. Tucker over and over again, and the Thunder would’ve had to send help, and the defense would’ve been scrambled.

• That said, to me, the way to get a little of both would’ve been to go with Kyle Singler. He’s a capable spot-up shooter, and has the size to not be bullied by Tucker. Again, Waiters was having a decent game, so I’m not going to hindsight this one too much. But it’s hard not to think about that open 3 Waiters got with 2:57 left in overtime that he didn’t hit, or the clean corner 3 he had but chose to drive on and then promptly throw out of bounds with 1:04 left.

• No question, though, Morrow should’ve played more than 16 minutes. I think we saw the first glimpse of how this might be tough for Brooks to manage. He’s got a lot of options to go with and when it doesn’t work, we’re going to hindsight him to death. Because whoever he chooses, we’re all going to look over at the bench and wonder why it wasn’t that other guy.

• D.J. Augustin quietly had a nice game. I think a good move in the future would be putting the ball in his hands late in games, particularly when Westbrook is a little erratic. Let Westbrook play off the ball and run counter screen-and-roll.

• The bench was critical in keeping the Thunder in the game in the first half. Augustin, Waiters and Kanter: 31 points on 11-13 shooting. Westbrook, Ibaka and Singler: 13 points on 4-23 shooting.

• That said, the bench also had a big hand in the Thunder getting into a hole to start the fourth.

• Oh, I forgot to mention this: If you’re using the “he’s a POINT GUARD” line to argue your (incorrect) point about Westbrook send me your name and address and I’ll mail you a postcard every day that says “Please shutup forever.”

• Westbrook posted a second consecutive triple-double, and his fourth of the season.

• Again, Westbrook’s defense was poor all night. He gambled way too much and tried to fix Kanter’s pick-and-roll issues himself by jumping out and swiping at everything.

• I like how when Westbrook starts taking a lot of 3s it somehow becomes Scott Brooks’ fault. People say, “He’s the coach! He has to tell him to stop!” Here’s some breaking news: That’s not really how the NBA works. Scott Brooks has been telling Westbrook those shots are bad for seven years. When it comes to star players, that’s not an argument a coach is going to win. Because the next big one he hits, Westbrook just has to say, “So you don’t want me to take those, right?” This isn’t high school basketball.

• Another thing: So many were quick to jump on Brooks tonight for Westbrook, but I didn’t hear anyone crediting Brooks for the near flawless month Westbrook’s played to this point. You can’t have it both ways, silly people.

• Andre Roberson has his name mispronounced more than Giannis Antetokounmpo.

• I guess it’s kind of their thing, but why exactly are the Morris twins so chatty?

• Westbrook and Markieff Morris picked up double-techs. If you’ll remember, Westbrook got tossed in the last Thunder-Suns game. This was Westbrook’s 13th tech. Three away from a suspension.

• If it’s not obvious, I can’t handle the hot takes on Westbrook. I just can’t. I may pack up my stuff and move to India and become a full-time cricket writer.

• The Thunder have won nine of 11, with their two losses coming at the buzzer to the Pelicans, and in overtime to the Suns. Which of course, are the two teams they’re battling with.

Next up: At the Blazers on Friday