Thunder take down Spurs B, 111-92
And the Thunder take the season series lead over the Spurs two games to one with a huge statement wi-
What’s that?
Apparently there’s a minor footnote to this game. Apparently they only dressed two thirds of their roster, the one third that sat being rather important to their goodness.
So, in terms of Big Huge Takeaways And Things To Learn, we don’t get much. Other than Boban Marjanovic is a big person, and Patty Mills can’t guard Russell Westbrook.
In terms of recapping the game, you knew the Spurs would Spur and be competitive. They led by nine in the first half, and had the brief look of possibly scaring the Thunder. OKC closed the half well, taking a 48-44 lead to the locker room, and then resumed playing better in the third quarter to pretty much coast through the second half.
Billy Donovan clearly was a little leery of the Spurs garbage time All-Stars though, leaving Kevin Durant and Westbrook on the floor for a good part of the fourth quarter. It’s understandable, considering the way the Thunder have let some games go along with the fact San Antonio’s second group is always a threat to make games more interesting than they should be.
In the end, it was too much Westbrook, too much Durant and too much Enes Kanter who found a way to another 20-10 night despite only 21 minutes.
And seven straight wins. The Thunder are pretty much where they are, sitting third and go nowhere else. But it’s about trying to make sure the standard of play remains high, and hopefully, improve as they head into the final few weeks and beyond.
NOTES:
- And Dion Waiters went back the other way again. It’s just the story of his career, really.
- Durant got caught reaching real bad by Jonathan Simmons in the second quarter, but Serge Ibaka bailed him out with a crazy block.
- Westbrook got hit with a technical foul in the third quarter. He pledged not to get them anymore earlier this season. And it’s been a while since he had. It was only his sixth of the season, and really the only I can remember for arguing a call. What did he do? Yell “that’s bulls—!” at Danny Crawford.
- Ibaka looked awfully solid tonight. Had a couple springy blocks, knocked down some jumpers and was aggressive all over the floor. Wouldn’t be a bad thing if he started to turn it up a little in time for the postseason.
- Don’t think this is necessarily a good thing Donovan said: “Reminded me of old Serge tonight.” Kind of a backwards admission that he hasn’t been himself this season.
- What’s the deal with the sleeved jerseys lately?
- There’s no doubt about it, Kyle Singler’s introduction to the game killed OKC’s rhythm.
- Boban, man. Boban. I couldn’t get over how very large human being Steven Adams looked like a more normal size human being standing next to him.
- Westbrook clearly sensed his matchup and was more aggressive scoring. His 29 points are the most in a game this month. Most over 25, in fact. That’s what Westbrook talks about a lot. Read the game, react accordingly. Tonight, he had Patty Mills on him and took advantage of it.
- Yay, alma mater.
Next up: At the Raptors on Monday
