Thunder finally get over the .500 hump in Miami, 94-86
The Thunder spent the previous two games before tonight blitzing opponents with fresh, crisp, decisive offense.
Against the Heat? They didn’t do much of that. They shot 44.6 percent overall, but hit just 6-26 from 3. They only got to the line 10 times total. Kevin Durant scored only 19 and it took him 24 shots. Russell Westbrook had 18, but on 8-17 shooting. Serge Ibaka finished in single-digits with only nine.
But the Thunder still won the game. Their stars didn’t star and overall, they didn’t play very well. And they still won. To me, that’s as much an indicator that this team is truly on the road to recovery than the previous near flawless offensive lightshows. Because that’s really the true Thunder. The team that can gut out a road win when it’s not clicking. It’s not going to come as easy sometimes, and then it’s about the attrition of it — getting stops, securing rebounds, creating points off turnovers, and finding just enough in crunchtime.
Westbrook did the polishing on the win, executing some excellent crunchtime possessions, two that he finished himself, one off an open floor steal, and another where he set up Steven Adams. But prior to that, it was Reggie Jackson illustrating why he’s a luxury worth keeping.
The trade talk is still going to swirl. One good game isn’t going to put it away. But here’s the thing, and maybe I should say this with a whisper: Jackson has been really solid the past five games. He may not be consistently closing games or hitting big shots, but he’s been playing his role, and playing it well. Tonight, he had the opportunity to play a bigger one as Scott Brooks went with a three guard lineup down the stretch. In the end, Jackson finished with 16 points on 7-9 shooting, which included a dagger corner 3 with 2:54 left — set up by Westbrook — to put OKC up five.
What we saw tonight was Dion Waiters having a terrible game, which featured ugly contested long 2-pointers, while Jackson was fantastic. Brooks still stuck with Waiters through a lot of the second half — more on that later — but with the wealth of options on the bench, the Thunder can play the odds most nights. Between Jackson and Waiters, there’s a decent chance at least one of them will be in a good rhythm. And while Jackson’s situation remains extremely complicated, if the Thunder have real dreams of contending for a title, I’m not sure you can pull the plug on him. Because he just has too much to offer, and it’s unlikely the Thunder would get that kind of return to replace that in a deal.
The Thunder are finally over .500, and it comes on the dot of the halfway point of the season, 21-20. They did it in an oddly impressive manner, slugging out an ugly win in Miami when the offense didn’t flow and the stars struggled. It’s exactly the kind of win that’s negative, but a massive net positive. They did what they had to do, made the necessary plays and came up in big spots. They looked more like themselves than ever.
NOTES:
- You know what’s in play for the Thunder’s second half of the season? 41-0. Think about it.
- Durant went down awkwardly in the fourth quarter on a transition dunk, and came up holding his right elbow. He stayed in the game, but didn’t shoot the ball well after. And for the final 58 seconds, he sat. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s available tomorrow in DC.
- One of the underrated plays of the game, and why Westbrook can drive people nuts, but also win you a lot of games: That pull-up in transition with 5:05 left wasn’t a very good shot, but it was a big one. OKC’s offense had stalled and the Heat were within two, and this had the look of the kind of game the Thunder routinely give away with bad halfcourt execution. Westbrook stopped and popped, splashing it to put the Thunder up four.
- Westbrook and Durant didn’t score all that well, but both moved it. Durant’s passing was spectacular (eight assists) and Westbrook found a nice balance late between scoring and distributing. At one point Westbrook back out, yelled at Ibaka to “MOVE! MOVE!” and got the offense flowing a bit to create an attacking lane. Good point guarding.
- Dion Waiters: three points on 1-9 shooting, and zeroes across the board after that. Not a good game.
- Down the stretch, Brooks went with three guards (Westbrook, Jackson, Waiters) along with Durant and Ibaka. It’s a really good lineup with a ton of offense, but Waiters clearly was off and on top of it, lacking the kind of confidence to keep firing. To me, this is where Brooks has to show the kind of awareness to flex on that lineup, sensing the problem and sub Morrow in, who was shooting well. Brooks will tell you he had defense in mind, which is fair, but a play sticks out to me: Westbrook and Ibaka ran a great high screen-and-roll, with Westbrook finding Ibaka in the lane. Ibaka probably could’ve went up for a finish, but instead kicked to the corner to a wide open Waiters. Waiters hesitated — because he was 1-of-freaking-9 — and swung a pass. If that was Morrow, there’s a good chance that was three points.
- Brooks did adjust shortly after, taking Waiters off and going with two bigs, subbing Adams. Not a bad move, actually, as Adams helped close off the paint and not allow the Heat to spread the floor and attack the rim. Plus, Adams is a good roller, and Westbrook found him late for a big bucket.
- Andre Roberson: five points, which included another 3. That’s three 3s in two games! And 15 points in the last two! In his eight before that, he scored 13 total points and hit a grant total of zero 3s.
- Like I’ve said, it’s such a tricky thing with Roberson. He’s a young, developing player that is only going to become a passable offensive player by playing. He has to take those open 3s if he’s ever going to start hitting them. And if he does with any kind of consistency, the Thunder have a heck of a 3-and-D player on their hands.
- That ATO right before halftime where Westbrook passed to Waiters on the wing, then Waiters passed back to Westbrook, then Westbrook passed back to Waiters, was almost like it was designed to be a terrible contested isolation jumper.
- When Jackson isn’t take weird step-back fadeaway 20-footers, he’s a pretty good player.
- The Thunder allow the most banked-in 3s per game in the last week, according to a stat I’m assuming is true.
- And then Birdman hit a corner 3. The Thunder have had some bad shooting luck lately.
- I was watching the NBATV feed which had the Heat’s announcers and after Granger hit his first shot they said, “He needed that, he’s been struggling.” Is it just me or does that seem to always happen against the Thunder?
- The last two games featured a ton of ball movement and assisted buckets. Tonight, of the Thunder’s 41 baskets, just 15 were assisted.
- The Thunder saved their poor offense by doing two things really well: second chance points (17) and points off turnovers (22).
- Durant and Westbrook took five free throws combined. Weird.
- Durant settled on the perimeter too much tonight. He went 0-8 from deep. (And 9-16 from 2.)
- Big moment in the game was definitely when Hassan Whiteside left with a sprained ankle in the first half. He had 10 points on 5-5 shooting when he left.
- You know what was great? The ball movement in the second-to-last possession of the third. Morrow got a wide open 3, but couldn’t cap it off.
- I’m in DC specifically for it, but it would be pretty funny if KD sat tomorrow’s game, wouldn’t it?
Next up: At the Wizards on Wednesday
