Thunder take control in Game 4, 119-108
DALLAS — So here’s the summary: The Thunder closed the first quarter on a 20-5 run to take control of the game, then spent the rest of it holding off Dallas runs before eventually Enes Kanter completely dominated the fourth quarter with 16 points as OKC put it away.
Oh, and Kevin Durant committed a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected with 50.6 seconds left. The league will review, and despite it appearing to be unintentional, Durant could face further punishment and possibly miss Game 5. Which would be just super.
I wrote about Russell Westbrook dominating the game here at ESPN.com. I am not feeling awesome at this present moment, so let’s just get to the notes real quick.
NOTES:
- In a game with the heat turned up, the Thunder only turned the ball over nine times. Westbrook specifically, only two.
- You didn’t hear me say this, but Durant didn’t play well at all tonight. He shot just 7-of-20 and again, started forcing the issue a bit in the second half.
- Durant finished with 19, which if you’re paying attention, is less than 20. That’s the first time all season he hasn’t scored 20 in a game (not counting the Wizards game where he got injured blah blah). His regular season streak is 64, but overall, it ends at 67.
- Durant on his foul on Anderson: “I wasn’t trying to hurt him. Plenty of plays this season where I blocked shots like that from behind. Just unfortunate I fouled him over the head. It was a flagrant, even though I wasn’t trying to intentionally foul him. The refs had to make a decision and they made the right one. It was just bad timing. I wasn’t trying to hurt him.”
- Enes Kanter was a monster in the second half. He finished with 28 points on 12-of-13 shooting in 26 minutes.
- Kanter remains a touchy topic for a lot of people, probably because they’re sensitive to their takes from last summer when Kanter signed his contract. Many of which said he would be “unplayable” in the postseason. Here’s the thing: There will be plenty that will qualify and justify their points. They’ll note this is against the Mavs, they’ll say that the matchups favored him. But the reality is, Kanter has made a massive impact for OKC in the postseason. He’s been clearly a valuable asset all season long. Will is continue in the next round? We’ll see. But so far, he’s been huge.
- Rick Carlisle had an interesting thing to say about Kanter: “He’s bottom-feeding off their great players.”
- I, for one, enjoy Carlisle’s sarcasm and sassy attitude.
- Carlisle sat down tonight and after a question about physicality said, “I’m not talking about that. You got questions about basketball?” Which is a strange thing to say when the person talking most about it the last week has been… Rick Carlisle.
- A clever tweak Donovan has made in the last month is inverting Andre Roberson and Serge Ibaka on offense. Ibaka spaces in the corner, Roberson is in the dunker spot. Basically, Ibaka plays a lot of shooting guard on offense, and Roberson power forward. It’s smart.
- Ray Felton scoring over and around every Thunder big is a magic I don’t understand.
- The Mavs tried so hard to get Westbrook ejected. It started with Westbrook taking the bait in the second quarter with that little scrap near the OKC bench. Then Salah Mejri grabbed his jersey and yanked it down in the third quarter, expectedly angering Westbrook. He yelled at the crowd and tip-toed the line, but held it together enough to stay in.
- It’s like I’ve been saying all season long, Dion Waiters is the best player in the NBA. He had 12 on 4-of-5 shooting, plus four assists and four rebounds. The end of the first quarter, it was his world, with seven quick points and two assists.
- Kanter and Waiters in the two road games: 80 points on 26-of-39 shooting. Sustainable? No chance. But two big postseason question marks have been massive.
- There are a couple things you hear from an opposing fan base when you know they’re defeated: 1) You have no rings; 2) Oh yeah, well [insert next opponent] is gonna kill you and you’ll never get that ring; or 3)
- Shouts out to Dirk. He’s my favorite player ever and he gave it everything he had tonight. He was absolutely drenched in sweat and was totally wrung out. I felt bad for him in the fourth quarter when he was trying his damnedest to do anything. It was hard to watch.
- Anyone else thought about if Adams would’ve got that shot off a tenth of a second faster this series would be over? Oh, everyone has? Alright then.
Next up: Game 5 in OKC on Monday
