Durant, and the Thunder, win in DC, 105-103 (OT)
WASHINGTON D.C. — On a night that was supposed to be about winning the heart of Kevin Durant, all he did was rip some out. Starting with Marcin Gortat. But we’ll get to that later.
Fresh off an ugly but impressive victory in Miami last night, the Thunder walked into a charged Verizon Center to play a very good Wizards team. The hype of the game centered around Durant’s homecoming, but the fact was the Thunder needed another win to keep pace in the West. Forget any kind of hoopla. It was about the final scoreboard.
The Thunder overcame a sloppy start to take a five-point lead late in the fourth, but missed opportunities to finish off the Wizards. Durant missed a fading 3 at the buzzer in overtime and with the Wizards scoring the first four points of the extra frame, the Thunder looked suspect of running out of gas. A couple buckets set up Durant to hit a murderous 3 in Paul Pierce’s face, but it was back to tied with 22.6 seconds left after a somewhat dubious goaltend on Andre Roberson.
The Thunder isolated Durant, the Wizards doubled, he passed to Westbrook, then got it back, then attacked. The Wizards had a foul to give and took it with 3.6 seconds left. Considering the Thunder’s history in these circumstances, the promise of a second overtime seemed likely. OKC’s initial action to Durant was closed down, and Westbrook improvised, slingshotting off Bradley Beal to attack the basket for an uncontested layup with 0.8 seconds left.
“I was going to try and end the game myself, but coach drew a great play,” Durant said. “Russ ran to the halfcourt line and they threw two at him and he was able to get free. We said whoever catches it be aggressive. So it wasn’t just a play for me. It was a team play. And Russell made a phenomenal, phenomenal move and Steven [Adams] cleared the lane for him as well.”
Durant finished with 34 on 10-23 shooting, with 18 coming in the fourth and overtime. Westbrook was his typical relentless self, finishing with 32 on 12-28, plus eight rebounds and eight assists. With the noise of Durant potentially eying Wall and Beal as future teammates, he was asked if these kinds of games help him appreciate what he has running alongside him in Russ.
“I don’t know what you’ve been watching,” Durant said. “Can’t go back and forth, man. You have a great game, you there. Have a bad game, you kill him. I don’t see why — this is just a regular night for him, to be honest. We all know what Russell can do and if you don’t appreciate him, that’s, in the past, then I don’t know what to tell you. Because he’s been doing this for a while.”
The last two wins from the Thunder have been pretty textbook. This is how you win lots of games. Those nights where the ball snaps around and people hit shots look pretty, but they don’t come as often as you’d like. The Thunder win by attrition, relying on a stiff defense that enables their stars the time to finally catch up and find their game. Durant and Westbrook started slowly, with the team slogging through their worst shooting quarter of the season (4-22 in the second), which is saying something considering, you know, November.
They made the plays when they needed them, got plenty of stops and let No. 35 and No. 0 take care of the rest. Decent formula.
NOTES:
- Durant on if there’s relief to put this game behind him: “I try and not let that overshadow that I’m playing at home, in front of my friends and family. I only get this opportunity once. I was just happy I got to play in front of them and see my brother courtside and all my friends. It was cool to get a win in front of them. My mom, my grandma, everybody was here. I just tried to focus on that and not worry about all that other stuff. Because I’m always a guy that’s trying to bask in the moment and not worry about the past or the future. I was just happy to get a win in front of my family.”
- The two-man action between Westbrook and Durant was great late in the game. That sidescreen and slip opened up a lot. Either Durant was free to catch and attack (and kill Marcin Gortat), or they overplayed allowing Westbrook room to attack the middle of the floor.
- New career-high in rebounds for Steven Adams, and he did it halfway through the third quarter. He finished with 20 and played an outstanding game.
- Though he did make a weird play late where he caught the ball on a roll and passed on a dunk, kicking to Reggie Jackson in the corner for 3. I’m all about advanced stats, but that’s going too far.
- Westbrook picked up his 11th technical of the season, putting him five away from suspension. And he’s missed 14 games this season. Impressive.
- Wizards fans yelled at Westbrook, “Hey Russell! Execute!” as he walked through the tunnel to the locker room both at halftime and after the game. I think we’ve officially reached the saturation point on that joke.
- Dion Waiters struggled again offensively (4-12, eight points, one assist), but I thought his defense on Brad Beal was exceptional. Both Waiters and Roberson tracked him all over the floor to force him into a 5-21 shooting night and essentially eliminated him for Washington’s crunchtime offense.
- I was going to write like 5,000 words about KD’s dunk on Gortat, but let’s have some respect for the deceased.
- Perk had his float game going a little tonight. He also broke out a dance worth $9 million after KD’s dunk. (OK, maybe not.)
- One of the problems in those 2.1-second situations is the overwhelming desire to get it to Durant. You know would been the Popovich-ish play there? Durant is the inbounder, passing to Morrow, who fakes the hand-off, and then turns to what I suspect would be a wide open shot. But that kind of play is easier said than done, because if it fails, you’re saying, “How do you not get it to Durant there?!?!”
- Durant on what he does when he comes home: “That’s about it. I stay in my area, on the Maryland side. So I don’t really do a lot of looking at the monuments or the White House and stuff like that. I stay with my people, that’s what I’m about, I’m a people person. I like being around being around my family and that’s the most important thing when I come back here. I can hang with my family in Oklahoma too.”
- How about Scott Brooks’ in-game speech? That was pretty good!
- John Wall: “Their superstars made plays down the stretch. That is why they have two superstars and made plays.”
- Wall on the Wizards not getting to the line: “The difference I think is the jersey number and the name on the back, simple as that.”
- Waiters’ habit of taking a dribble or two in to take a long contested 2 is starting to wear on me a bit already. Granted, he is better off the dribble than the catch, but when that shot doesn’t drop, it’s not good.
- Halftime featured a freshman scrimmage of Montrose Christian High School. Subtle, Wizards.
- Sometimes, the criticism of Brooks is absolutely warranted and valid. But sometimes, it jumps the shark. Like in overtime, one person barked at Brooks for not understanding the Wizards were going to use their foul to give, so the Thunder should’ve went earlier. If the Thunder attack with say, 12 seconds left, maybe the Wizards realize it and don’t foul at all, likely leaving them last crack to win the game with the score tied. Or the Thunder score and leave the Wizards a chance to tie or win. Don’t second guess just for the sake of it.
- The Wizards were real proud of their sellout tonight. It’s their fifth of the season. The Thunder have sold out 149 straight regular season games. #KD2DC
- In the fourth quarter, KD had just hit a 3 and the Wizards left him in transition to pull up straightaway. Instead, he drew the wing defender and kicked to a more open Waiters. Who missed. Sometimes the right play isn’t always right.
- I came away from tonight’s game not at all feeling the buzz of Durant going to the Wizards. Who knows what the future holds, but he’s not some beloved figure. There weren’t a ton of signs. There wasn’t chanting. There wasn’t this wave of support and love. There were some sprinkled 35 Wizards jerseys here and there, but in a lot of ways, it just seemed like a favored superstar visiting any arena. He got a nice cheer in pregame, but I saw a lot more Thunder Durant jerseys than Wizards Durant ones.
Next up: At the Hawks on Friday
