Thunder pummel the Mavs on trade day, 104-89

BOX SCORE

It was a pretty eventful day in Oklahoma City. The afternoon was about a series of transactions, and the evening was about smoking the Mavericks and officially, finally, climbing into the West’s eight-seed.

Kevin Durant summarized it thusly:

“It was pretty easy,” he said. “We felt like everybody wanted to be here except for one guy. So it wasn’t like everybody was going crazy at shootaround. I went to sleep and woke up and we had new players. It goes like that sometimes. Everybody that wants to be here is here, we’re excited about our new guys, and it hurts to see [Kendrick Perkins] leave but we’re still going to remain brothers until we’re both gone. It was definitely a tough day but a good day as well.”

It was like the good ol’ days and by good ol’ I mean the terrible days when the Thunder only had 10 active players on the roster. With the trade sending Reggie Jackson to Detroit, Perk and Grant Jerrett to Utah, and Ish Smith to New Orleans, the Thunder had to piece together a skeleton roster. Except this around, No. 35 and No. 0 were in the lineup. And really, with Durant hobbled in the second half with his surgically repaired right foot bothering him again, it was Russell Westbrook who did the most damage, torching the Mavs for 34 points on 9-17 shooting with 10 assists and five boards.

(This is where I’d normally insert a quote from Westbrook about the game he played, but do you really care about him saying he was aggressive? I didn’t think so. Moving on.)

(Oh, and this is where I’d spend a paragraph summarizing how awesome Westbrook was tonight. But I’m a little worn down. So let’s just put it this way: He was fffffffffffffff-ing awesome.)

Coming off the break, both teams were a tad out of sync, with shooting percentages in the low 30s for a lot of the first half and 43 combined turnovers. But the Thunder played with consistent energy throughout, led by a monster performance from Serge Ibaka, the first 20-20 game in Thunder (OKC era) history (21 points, 22 rebounds).

“He was huge,” Durant said of Ibaka. “He was everywhere and we needed him to play big tonight because we didn’t have enough bigs, but he came out tonight and played extremely well. He is definitely growing and he did everything coach needed him to do.”

So… If you’ll follow me to my handy jump-to-conclusions mat…

There was a lot of talk tonight about the Thunder looking like they were having fun again. And there’s no question, the energy in the first half especially felt different. But people were saying some of the same stuff before the All-Star break, with Durant even getting asked about the team’s improved spirit. So it wasn’t an all-new thing tonight. Fits the fun narrative, but winning and playing well makes everyone have a good time.

And the Thunder are playing really well. Durant’s foot is a massive concern, but the team is adamant he’s fine. With Westbrook playing the way he is, shouldering so much offensive responsibility, the Thunder may be able to get away with Durant’s workload being lighter the next couple weeks as he plays more decoy than destroyer. There are 28 games to go. Today was a good day for the Thunder. But things change quickly in the NBA. Don’t start dancing yet.

NOTES:

Durant on Jackson: “He got what he wanted. You can’t really –.” Durant paused and thought for a second. “He got what he wanted.”

Durant on the trade: “Made some great moves. It’s tough, losing Perk. And other guys.”

Sam Presti on Perk: “Obviously Perk is somebody that had a significant impact on the trajectory of our organization, and I think he’ll be beloved in Oklahoma City for a very, very long time. We’re really grateful that he came through this program and we wish him nothing but the best.”

Presti on Jackson: “”Reggie, obviously had some great moments for us. We wish him well.” That was it. He spent as much time on Jackson as he did Ish Smith and Grant Jerrett.

Westbrook: “You can’t force anybody to be here that doesn’t want to be here. Reggie did a great job for us while he was here and he made the best decision for him.”

Scott Brooks on if Jackson was a distraction: “I don’t know how to answer that. You’ll have to ask Reggie that. I know as a former player and a coach, you have to have guys that want to be here. You have to have guys that are committed. Reggie is obviously a very good player and he did a lot of good things for us over the years. But he wanted to start. He wanted to be a starting point guard. I don’t know if you know this… but Russell’s pretty good. So it just didn’t happen if he wanted to start at the point. But Reggie was good for us and I have nothing but a lot of good things to say. He’s still a young and developing player and we wish him the best.”

Can I just say that the whole, “You’ll have to ask [insert person] that,” is such a copout answer? Like, OK, I’d love to. But where is he? Can I talk to him right now? And besides, I don’t think Jackson is the person to ask about that. He wouldn’t know if he was a distraction.

On Durant’s foot, Presti said this: “We have to see the best way to manage that going forward. He’s not at risk, but he is sore. We were hopeful that the break would put him in a better position, but we’ll have to take a look at that a little more tomorrow and we’ll keep looking at ways to best manage the situation. His health is more important than anything.”

Durant was clearly laboring in the fourth quarter. He started out fine — going 3-3 in fact — but slowly bogged down. He hit just one of his next 11 to finish 4-14 and at one point grimaced and barely jumped for a rebound. He changed shoes three times, too.

Ibaka’s game came at the right time, with the Thunder shorthanded inside. There’s a lot of focus on his 3-point shooting and lack of aggressiveness inside, but with Ibaka, I don’t think it’s one or the other. I think it’s about finding the right balance each game. A lot like Westbrook bouncing between distributor and raw scorer. One is not necessarily the right answer, carte blanche. It’s about the feel of the game and what’s needed that night.

Andre Roberson had 12 rebounds. Good for Andre Roberson.

Andre Roberson had one airball. Bad for Andre Roberson.

The Thunder killed the Mavs on the glass, 62-39. They had six offensive rebounds on one possession in the second half. Just outworked them.

Nick Collison was terrific starting at center tonight. He played with a ton of energy, rebounded well (nine boards, four offensive) and made some excellent high post passes. And his help defense was spot on as usual. With Steven Adams out, it wouldn’t shock me if Collison remains the starter at center to try and alleviate any political issues with Kanter’s arrival.

The Thunder’s offense was clicking at an especially high level tonight. When the Thunder offense plays like it did tonight, what’s the reason? Is it just an outlier and Scott Brooks still doesn’t know what he’s doing? Or is it the other way? Because if you’re being honest, when they’re whole, they play like this a lot more than they don’t. So what’s actually the outlier? To me, I think we have a tendency to notice the ugly nights and just dismiss these impressive ones. Which isn’t exactly fair.

Anthony Morrow could benefit a lot from the remade second unit. He got 13 shots, which is the most he’s had in two months. His went 7-13 and scored 16.

Dion Waiters looked to have a bit of a new energy about him. It was a bit of a mixed bag still, but he looked aggressive in creating, willing to give it up with confidence he might get it back. A couple nice pick-and-roll set-ups and (mostly) good shots.

Perry Jones in 10 minutes: one rebound, zero points, two fouls and zeroes everywhere else. How does he do that?

Jeremy Lamb got some rotation minutes by happenstance tonight. But it wasn’t until garbage time that he shined, knocking down his patented butter knife 3 (is that the opposite of a dagger? Help me out here.)

Next up: At the Hornets on Saturday