The Thunder win, 104-96
Good news: The Thunder won.
Bad news: It was pretty ehh. Actually forget the bad news. It’s not about that right now.
The Thunder roared out of the gates, looking focused and determined as they led 32-12 after a quarter. The Bucks can score a little, so expecting that kind of defensive lockdown throughout wasn’t reasonable, but, the Thunder went ahead and allowed 36 points in the second quarter. They re-established to take control, but then they de-established to let their 21-point lead slip all way down to two early in the fourth quarter.
Another solid response, coupled by the Bucks doing dumb things, helped expand the lead back up to 14. And then they pretty much just coasted in to the finish line. It wasn’t especially impressive, it wasn’t anything to say, “THEY’RE FIXED!” but it was a win, and it was them at least facing the possibility of collapsing again but maintaining composure to push back and not fall completely on their face.
It also helped they were playing the Bucks. A better team might’ve not been so forgiving.
It was obvious, though, that Billy Donovan sensed the urgency of this one, and the consequences of blowing it. Instead of sticking with the staggered rotation to begin the fourth with Russell Westbrook sitting and Kevin Durant on the floor, but going with both basically for the entire 12 minutes. There was no messing around here. Give this one away, and you’ve got a real, actual problem.
So the Thunder got it handled. It wasn’t in the most crisp, procedural way. Durant was pretty obviously hunting a triple-double down the stretch which resulted in a couple silly turnovers. Which was punctuated by Serge Ibaka taking an inexplicable 3 with 35 seconds left in an eight point game, simply gunning to try and get Durant an assist closer. Those type of things aren’t that bothersome when you’re playing in a good rhythm and handling your business as you should. But when those habits reflect other issues, and resemble the problems that crescendoed with that Clipper game, you have to shake your head at it.
Again, before this one started the only thing the Thunder needed to really do was win the game. That’s it. I said it myself, so I can’t complain — forget style points, forget aesthetics. Just win the dumb game. And they did. So good job.
NOTES:
- It was kind of a weird game. Westbrook had taken only one shot up until six minutes left in the third. And then of course he got busy firing, putting up five in two minutes. He only finished with seven attempts, though, hitting three on his way to his 10th triple-double of the season: 15-10-11.
- However, seven turnovers for Westbrook.
- Durant had five, three coming in the fourth quarter.
- An example of the lack of attention to detail: Back-to-back turnovers under three minutes led to two quick buckets for the Bucks. The game should be headed back to 20. Instead, it went down to 10. We were all ignoring these types of things up until a week ago. Now that we’ve seen what can happen as a result of it, it grabs our attention a lot faster.
- That sequence happened after Durant tried a home run pass that had zero chance. And then after that sequence he tried to force a pass into Steven Adams in traffic that was a total giveaway.
- For a little while there, Dion Waiters was playing well after returning to his bench role. And then, as it often does, it’s all fallen apart. Today: two points on 1-8 shooting.
- On the staggering: I’m still pro-staggering for the most part, but I do think a negative to it is compounding your rotation and reducing yourself to be more reliant on Westbrook and Durant than ever before. You’re basically running your entire team through them for 48 minutes. So it makes it more difficult for others to get involved, unless Westbrook and Durant make a point of doing that. Which they did today, especially in the first half.
- I’d like to officially welcome Kyle Singler to the Thunder. He’s played some solid role player ball the last couple weeks, but especially in the last few games.
- I don’t know why, but starting a game with an Andre Roberson 3 on the first possession feels like the Thunder go on a 9-0 run instantly from tipoff.
- Enes Kanter: 18 points and 12 rebounds in 20 minutes.
- Adams was good, too: 14 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes. But the big thing: four assists. He was really good at catching on a roll and looking to find shooters.
- The Randy Foye party might should be nearing its conclusion. It’s all fun and games until he ends up guarding Tim Duncan in the Western Conference finals.
- The Thunder went 2-2 on this little road trip, but it feels more like 2-10. If they had only held on to that Clippers game, 3-1 with a tough loss at Oracle wouldn’t have everyone on edge.
- I know, IF, IF, IF, but let’s IF for a moment: Don’t give away the game to the Warriors, and don’t give away the game to the Clippers and we all feel MUCH differently about the state of this team right now.
- 1-and-oh in the Nazr Mohammed era.
Next up: Home against the Clippers on Wednesday
