Thunder scrap to second win, holding off the Kings, 101-93

That’s two.

I counted it up a few days ago, and I came up with 10 wins that the Thunder needed before Dec. 14, when the Thunder play the Suns at home. That’s around the time they should have both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, restoring the team to full strength. They’d be 10-13 at that point, meaning if they played .700 basketball, something they do regularly with a full squad, they’d finish the season 52-30, firmly in the postseason.

That’s the goal. But as the Thunder held off the previously 5-1 Kings on Sunday, I started to wonder: Am I short-selling them at 10 wins? After the way the Thunder have performed against a brutal early schedule, losing four close games to playoff teams, could they be better than that come mid-December? Maybe so.

Either way, something is becoming more and more obvious: Regardless of what their record is when the stars return, the Thunder should be a much better, deeper team. Reggie Jackson handled crunchtime wonderfully against the Kings, scoring eight of the final 14 points which included a nasty step-back dagger to put the Thunder up five with a minute left. Jeremy Lamb was solid in his second game back, scoring 17 points with nine rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes. Serge Ibaka continues to excel as he scored 14 points with nine rebounds and four blocks, none bigger than his swat of DeMarcus Cousins with 54 seconds left. The remaining roster — Nick Collison, Steven Adams, Sebastian Telfair, Ish Smith, Lance Thomas and Kendrick Perkins — all had a direct hand in contributing to this Thunder win. That’s something that is going to matter later on.

“I think it can be good in terms of giving guys some confidence and getting some more opportunities,” Collison said. “We’re throwing the ball inside more than we have and I think that’s something we can use when those guys get back. But, we’d love to have those guys back for sure. It makes things easier for everybody else.”

What’s important about Sunday’s game against the Kings, though, is that the Thunder won. I know that’s an incredible oversimplification of things, but there have been some extremely positive performances thus far that have been empty on the scoreboard in the end. Winning is what this team needs, and against an improved team, the Thunder controlled the game and executed in crunchtime to get it done.

As the Kings closed, it seemed pretty obvious that the Thunder weren’t going to have enough answers to hang on. A 17-point lead had slipped to two with three minutes left and when Sacramento having options to look for, the Thunder were scrambling for any kind of good shot. They’d survived one run in the third by responding with a couple 3s from Nick Collison, and a Perk putback, but the Kings kept coming. But the Thunder defended, cleaned the boards, got an unlikely tip-in from Lance Thomas, made free throws and got the big shot from Jackson. Just enough to hang on.

“I’ve been hearing this a lot, that we’re undermanned and we don’t have our entire roster,” Scott Brooks said. “That’s obvious, but one thing I love about the group is that we’re undermanned but they are not using it as an excuse. We never have been undermanned when it comes to team and team spirit, and they showed that tonight.”

Coming in to this game, I actually feared the Thunder might actually put too much pressure on themselves because this was a rare winnable game on the schedule thus far. Even with the Kings 5-1, the matchup was favorable, particularly at home. This was the kind of game they can’t be losing if they expect to hang in with their stars out. But they did precisely what was needed — defend with energy and stumble into just enough offense. Lamb was big in the first half, Telfair provided some key baskets in both halfs, Smith was a big spark, and Jackson closed the door. Basically, this is the formula to this team winning. Build a lead, then hang on to finish it.

“We needed the win,” Perk said. “I think we’ve got two road games that realistically, are winnable for us. Going to Milwaukee, going to Boston, if you look at names and matchups, we match up the same with all of them. We just got to stay focused.”

That’s the thing: Beating Sacramento is good, but things are starting to soften. This is where the Thunder can gain ground. They have a chance to build not just on the positive performances, but start straightening out that record. And Sunday is a good start to doing it.

NOTES:

A big sequence was Rudy Gay losing his head by pulling a Hack-an-Adams with under two minutes left, giving the Thunder a free throw and the ball. Jackson made the freebie, and Thomas had the tip-in after that.

Jackson on his step-back jumper: “Coach drew up a play for me to try and get a high pick-and-roll and then just attack and find an open lane. If they collapsed, find the open man. They continued to play one-on-one so I just tried to go into the bag of tricks and find a little space and I was fortunate enough for the shot to go in.”

Jackson on running the show in crunchtime: “It’s [a situation] I’ve always dreamed of. I always do my best to try and prepare myself for moments like this. Just trying to stay ready so that when my name is called, I can be ready.”

Jackson shot just 6-19 from the floor, but you could see how good of a game he played. He was under control and was running the offense, not trying to run something for himself.

Lamb hit 2-3 from 3, which is a good thing. He’s a bit of a stat-stuffer too: 17-9-4 is a full line.

Collison: “Reggie’s comfortable with the ball and he’s comfortable in those late-game situations. We’re lucky to have a deep roster and to have a lot of guys capable of playing with this many guys out. To have a guy like that still to be able to run the team, it’s a huge advantage.”

Brooks said he got on Lamb yesterday in film about his defense and felt he responded with a much better performance on that end.

Collison hit two 3s tonight, bringing his season total to five. He hit four all of last season.

Collison on his 3-point shooting: “I worked on it a lot. I knew that to get on the floor, [Brooks] wants the 4-man to be in the corner in a lot of sets. I thought I could help myself and help the team. It’s a work in progress. It feels good to get some makes, but it’s something I’ve worked on all year and hopefully I’ll get more comfortable with those opportunities.”

I asked Perk about all his big teammates stepping out to the 3, when is it his turn? “Nah, shit I tried to take the ball, I tried to drive from the elbow today and turned it over. I was scared to look at the bench. So I’m gonna leave that alone. Scotty lets me shoot jumpers every now and then but I ain’t taking no 3s though.”

Perk on getting a standing ovation in the first quarter: “It felt good. I thought I heard a couple MVP chants.” I told him I didn’t hear any of those. “Yeah, neither did I. Just in my head.” Perk is the best.

Thunder big men did great work on Cousins tonight. He had just four points on 2-7 shooting in the first half and finished with 16 on 7-15.
I never saw Russell Westbrook clap for his teammates tonight. Some leader. (Note: He has a broken hand, and I’m not serious.)

Ish Smith is fast with the ball.

Ben McLemore is going to be a very good player. I wish the Thunder would’ve gotten him somehow.

The Kings are now 0-12 all time in OKC, dating back to the Hornets days.

The guy that dresses up like the Village People and does the YMCA was the halftime show for the billionth time. How does that guy do it? How does he go from arena to arena putting on that stupid outfit and performing that same routine every time? There’s never a new twist or anything different. I just don’t get it.

I couldn’t look at Nik Stauskas tonight without thinking every time, “Nik rocks!”

Highlight of the game: Brian Davis holding out a fist for Steven Adams to bump an Adams not seeing it while Davis continued to hold it out for an incredibly uncomfortable amount of time before finally withdrawing it.

Injury update: Perry Jones, Andre Roberson and Anthony Morrow are all day to day and could return soon. Kevin Durant and Mitch McGary were on the floor pregame doing some light set-shooting.

Next up: At the Bucks on Tuesday