Hey, who remembers what happened Sunday? Yeah neither do I
(AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
I have no idea what is going on here. This actually comes to mind.
So the Thunder drops a bad one at home to the Clippers. Then heads out on the road – the place they were 8-33 last year – and beats the 7-2 Miami Heat 100-87. That gives Oklahoma City its third straight road win, the first time that has happened for this franchise since 2007. Did we see this coming? Yes and no.
I think it’s clear this team is going to win games. If you picture them at all like last year’s group, just forget it. This is like a Wayne Knight transformation. Like I’ve said, it’s not about hoping to be competitive anymore. That was last year. But it’s also not really about expecting wins. This team is at the point where you expect to have a CHANCE to win. And when you do that, you come out on top a lot of the time.
I know a lot of people are scratching their heads saying, “Why does the Thunder play up and then down to opponents?” My answer: I have no freaking clue. No idea why. But the thing is, this team really has the look of a group that can be .500 or even better. To shake off a bad one from Sunday and go on the road and beat one of the four best teams in the East is no small task. We knew the Thunder matched up well with the Heat, but Oklahoma City dominated this game in the second half. Just owned it.
I’d say everybody gets a game ball, but once again, Thabo Sefolosha was the stud of the evening. Miami relies on mainly one guy to provide their scoring. And that one guy was held to 22 points on 6-19 shooting and turned it over six times. Thabo on the other hands had just two points, but grabbed nine boards, dished out four assists and had four steals. He’s a wrecking crew. He doesn’t just shut down his man. He jumps passing lanes. He helps on every drive. He communicates. This team is amazing on the defensive end of the floor and it all starts with the Swissman.
And before we move on to a couple notes, hey Mr. Radio Host, feel free to yell at Russell Westbrook before every game. He seems to play somewhat well afterward. So yeah, RUS-SEL WEST-BROOK IS NOT A POINT GUARD HE’LL NEVER BE ONE HEAR ME NOW CAL RIPKEN BIG LEAGUE NOM NOM NOM. OK, I’m done now. I had to indulge myself. I’m sorry. (Westbrook’s line: 24 points, 9-13 shooting. seven assists and just two turnovers.)
See this is the thing people need to realize: It’s all about the development. If you’re willing to deal with games like Sunday, you’ll be rewarded with nights like this. And as his career moves on, these nights will become more and more commonplace. Heck, Sunday against the Clips he was actually really good. Last year, a bad night for Russ was 2-14 from the floor, six turnovers and five assists. This year, it’s 17-7-5 and two turns. I like where he’s headed. You don’t just show up in this league and play like John Stockton. You’ve got to work and learn and develop. Not saying Westbrook is going to be Stockton, but if you’re willing to hang with him, I have a feeling he’s going to pay you back with a lot of these nights.
Notes:
- The Thunder built a nice 14-point lead in the second quarter, but a questionable out of bounds call led to a 9-0 Heat run. But instead of crumbling and letting Miami take a lead into the locker room, OKC fought and led 45-42 at the half. That’s something that has been huge this year. In the last three minutes of a quarter, the Thunder are closing. Such a 180 from last season.
- I honestly don’t know if Kevin Durant hit rim tonight on his makes. Everything was all net. He had another ho-hum 32 on 11-23 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and had five assists. And he stayed under 40 minutes!
- A comment from the Daily Dime chat I found interesting: “I think Westbrook will end up more like a Dumars because he doesn’t have great vision. I think he could be a defensive monster in a couple of years with the ability to score. Something like Dumars or Dennis Johnson.”
- Westbrook had nine in the fourth including a monster No No No Yes Yes Yes 3 and Durant had eight. OKC scored 26 in the quarter.
- Jeff Green was quiet again in 31 minutes (13 points, two rebounds), but Nick Collison was huge. Ten points, six rebounds for Nick and some key late game defense on Udonis Haslem.
- I am asking this while doing my best to not have it come off as complaining: Does any player get as many calls as Dwyane Wade? When I watch him, I honestly wonder why he doesn’t drive the lane and just jump at the rim. He’ll likely get a call. Now Wade is a great player of course, but it just sometimes seems like he gets calls he shouldn’t.
- Get used to this because I’m probably going to do it for a while. Last year’s sixth win: Jan. 10. Last year’s fourth road win: Feb. 28.
- Do you guys think Jermaine O’Neal’s headband is actually the waistband off a large pair of sweatpants? I do.
- Only 11 turnovers tonight. That’s awesome.
One very, very important thing about this game: The Thunder started hot. Not necessarily offensively, but there were no lapses and no hole dug. This time when they put together their patented third quarter spurt, it was to separate themselves from the Heat, rather than claw back in a game. That’s key. Very, very key.
Now OKC travels to Orlando with a guarantee of coming back home at least .500. That feels good. But now I don’t know what to think about Wednesday’s game. This team is going to lose some games that make you want to drop a toaster on your foot, but there will be plenty more nights like this. This team is going places. I’m not sure where that exactly is, but I know it’s in the right direction.
I remember when Jermaine O’neal was a rookie with Portland straight out of high school. He was built about like Serge Ibaka. Now he’s huge; not in a good way.
Like someone else said, I’m trying not to get overly optimistic. That said, we’re quickly getting to the point where we have to stop prefacing everything with, “it’s early in the season, but…”
We’re more than a tenth of the way through the season, and the Thunder is one of the top defensive teams in the league. Going into training camp, every team says they’re going to focus on defense, but these guys REALLY did it. PJ said it last year, and look how that turned out. Granted, we were only a bit below average defensively, but I can’t help but think a lot of that was due to our rebounding numbers. I wonder what the biggest improvement has been, especially absent big moves ala Celtics?
Lastly, at some point, do we have to reconsider our “gaping hole at interior defense,” especially when you realize that what we have at center is comparatively costing us little more than a cup of coffee?
@MartzMimic I think we still have to look and see if there is someone we can find for that role, but I think it’s becoming less and less of a priority. Frankly, those guys cost a lot of money. And, they aren’t as effective at spreading the floor on offense as someone like Krstic is. This is why we beat Orlando, btw. Because they couldn’t handle Krstic on the wing. It’s kind of iffy so far whether we can depend on him, but when he’s at his best, this is a really hard team to stop.
However, if we were to find some young, defensive minded center for a good price, I say go for it, and we can keep him in the rotation. That’s one of the things I like about this team – the rotation. We have a lot of different looks we can throw out there, and I really do think it causes some confusion for the other team, not really knowing who our PG is or who our SF is with any given set.
@Lefty
I agree. I just think we need to stop referring to our interior defense as a black hole. Obviously, you get better anywhere you can, but what we have isn’t as bad as we sometimes make it sound.
And once again, I don’t think it can be overstated how much Etan Thomas brings to this squad. When we picked him up this summer, I basically expected a guy who could eat up minutes in relief of Krstic and hopefully keep the other teams’ big guys from getting easy buckets late in games.
Little did I expect such a defensive presence, nor could I have foreseen that perhaps my favorite 5 man lineup this year would be Russ-Harden-KD-Collison-Thomas. I love the fire Etan brings to our squad, and I really hope he sticks around for the foreseeable future.
Great win last night.
It was a good win. Russell Westbrook hit his jumpers in the second half, when that happens obviously he’s a lot more effective. I take some issue with the comment that a bad game for RW is 7-12 with 7 assists because he had two real big stinkers back to back already this year. There is definite improvement, though. This game could have just as easily been a stinker if he misses those jump shots, if he’s going to be taking them he’ll need to develop consistency. It’s both exciting and frustrating seeing his guy develop but kudos for the performance last night against a good defensive team. I was afraid that he’d implode after the double technical but he maintained his composure; impressive to see from Russ.
Not much else to add that hasn’t been covered. Nenad Krstic was invisible on defense inside. James Harden again struggled. Ollie, Thomas, and Collison all played well. Serge Ibaka came in and made two mistakes in three minutes of play. Kevin Durant is a beast. Thabo Sefolosha is a wizard on defense but is 0 for his last 12 from three point range. Jeff Green’s getting a bit to perimeter happy, he seems to have success taking the ball closer to the basket.
Nice bounce back win.
@justin
Good points…
Apparently Durant is banned from giving people nicknames… especially ones like “sniper” for Thabo… he’s hasn’t made a three since.
I’m really hoping that Green is just nursing that hip or having a rough stretch. KD had one. RW has been spotty. So I think it’s just his turn.
It’s nice to know that not everyone has to have an amazing game to beat a team like the HEAT on the road… love that
why do we play well against good teams and not so well against mediocre teams?
I wonder if PART of it is that the good teams are typically more veteran (thus older) teams, whereas the mediocre teams are less veteran (thus younger) teams. Since we’re relying a lot on effort and hustle and outworking our opponents, I wonder if that attribute is more effective against the older teams (who are perhaps saving themselves for a late-season run) than the younger teams (who are able to match our intensity)?
@Thunder Tim
I don’t think many younger teams truley match our intensity. I think it has more to do with the team as a whole not preparing for a game against a lower level team the same way. Maybe a lil bit of ‘well we don’t have to do EVERYTHING right to beat these guys….’ Opposed to teams like orlando/miami where you can tell they are very determied to win.
As bad as everyone has thought Westbrook has played so far, his PER is 18.59 this year compared to 15.20 so he has improved a lot and is still only 21. I think people get frustrated cause he has so much potential and everyone expects to see it right away but everyone saw last night how valuable he can be when he has it going
I don’t agree – we dont show the same effort night in and night out . . .
To balance the shot attempt reduction by the defense in my previous comment to the pace – increased turnovers and reduced offensive rebounding we need to add more possessions used at the free throw line.