BOX SCORE

I’m choosing to believe Kevin Durant went glass on purpose. Not just because that means he made the shot he intended to, but because he did it as a little nod to his old buddy Jeff Green.

It was on the opposite elbow, but much like Uncle Jeff’s game-winner against in Oracle Arena three years ago, KD iced the Warriors by banking home a jumper in the closing seconds. Said Durant after the game, “It looked terrible leaving my hands but I’m glad it hit the backboard and went in.” Even when KD misses, he makes it. He’s THAT good.

But if you thought last night’s game was cray, this one took it up another level. Monta Ellis scored 30 points in the first half and finished with 48. The two teams traded like 15 3-pointers in the third quarter. Oklahoma City trailed by 12, and then seven late in the fourth but clawed back to somehow pull out a win. About 10 different times, this looked like a loss. I don’t know what it is about the Thunder, but if they’re within striking distance after that final TV timeout, they’ve got a real good shot at winning.

The Thunder got massive contributions from Durant (33 points), Westbrook (31 points), James Harden (19 points) and Daequan Cook (17 points), who was 5-6 from 3. Each time the Thunder were put in a position of needing a do-or-die bucket, they got it. They got stops, did well on the glass and just found a way.

It appeared that the Thunder would spoil all their hard work with two ugly possessions in the final minute though. OKC led by two, 115-113, and has the ball. Westbrook had Dominic McGuire on him for some reason (he played three really random minutes), and tried to take him off the dribble. Westbrook lost it and the Warriors took possession with 55 seconds left. But OKC got a stop and made sure the ball went to The Closer. KD isolated with Dorell Wright on him but instead of attacking, Durant settled for a contested 3. Two empty possessions and it opened up the opportunity for OKC to blow it. Ellis made them pay on the other end with an and-1 to give GSW a one-point lead, but that’s when KD said, “I got this.”

“Clutch” is a weird thing, and something I’m not entirely sure I believe in. But you can’t ignore that Durant seems to have developed that knack for dropping big shots in big moments. Some guys have it. They want the ball, the want the weight of missing on their back. They want the opportunity to win it, and the responsibility if they don’t. The Thunder are fortunate to have two guys with the stones to want to take those shots, but as it tends to do, the ball finds No. 35′s hands and as he tends to do, he finishes the deed.

Just another night, another banana sandwich win for the Thunder. There’s something about this team’s backbone that gives you a quiet confidence in those big moments. Whether it’s a tough, physical game like in Portland on Monday or a fast break shooting contest like Tuesday’s game against the Warriors, the Thunder are finishing games.

NOTES:

• KD’s line: 33 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, only two turnovers, two blocks. Including the final one on Brandon Rush to seal the win. Durant is next level right now. Next level for himself even. I wouldn’t want any other guy on my team. I’m serious.

• Westbrook nearly got himself a double-double: 31 points and nine turnovers. Whoa. He had seven assists to go with it but he was giving the ball away with great regularity in this one.

• Only three players turned the ball over for the Thunder tonight, but those piled up to 15 total. Westbrook had nine, Perk four and Durant two. Don’t see that every day.

• Westbrook was WIDE open under the basket on KD’s jumper, but Harden either saw him too late or decided it was too risky of a pass. Obviously it worked out well, but had KD missed, I think we’d all be wondering why Russ didn’t get the ball there.

• Monta Ellis had a terrific look to win it with 15 seconds left but missed. I thought he had it all the way.

• Gotta think Thabo would’ve helped a bit covering Ellis out there in this one. Westbrook tried his darndest but Ellis kept making wild layups and hitting that leaning jumper. Some nights Ellis can just be better than even great defense. Not saying the Thunder were playing any, but Ellis has an incredible ability to score the ball.

• OKC shot 52.4 percent, went 11-26 from 3 and 20-21 from the free throw line. That’s some good true shootin’.

• KD has played 89 minutes the last two nights and Westbrook 85. Get some rest, you guys.

• Daequan Cook was simply sensational. Hitting 5-6 was great, but he took smart shots and hit a couple of really timely jumpers.

• I’ve never seen Nick Collison so helpless defensively. David Lee just completely worked him late in the third quarter on four straight possession.

• Brian Davis called labeled James Harden “Never Hurry Harden” which I think is the best/worst nickname for him I’ve heard.

• Serge Ibaka really is pretty terrific at going straight up. Players attack the rim but Ibaka jumps straight up with his arms stretched high and doesn’t foul. If they score, so be it, but he’s not getting baited into a foul.

• We’re real close to putting to bed this Harden on the road stuff.

• If you think Perk is bad, it could be worse. OKC could have Andris Biedrins.

• Nazr Mohammed did some work. He was great in nine first half minutes scoring eight points on 4-5 shooting and grabbing three rebounds. He didn’t play any in the second half, but that was largely because Scott Brooks chose to go small pretty much the whole way.

• Not a good matchup for Perk and luckily Brooks recognized it as Perk only got 19 minutes. With the way the Warriors were working the pick-and-roll and moving the ball, Perk was mostly a complete non-factor.

• The plus/minus numbers are a bit wonky. Only one starter was a plus (Cook, +2), with Ibaka and Perk being -14 each. Durant and Westbrook were both -8. The bench was all pluses, with Jackson and Collison a +14, Mohammed a +13 and Harden a +9.

• KD started the game 1-7, Westbrook 6-7. Westbrook finished 12-21, KD 13-27.

• Reggie Jackson’s failure to execute a 3-on-2 fast break says a lot about his confidence. He decided to take it on his own, but the whole way he didn’t look sure of what he wanted to do.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night: “Threes will put points on the board and hair on your chest!” Though the popular submission was, “KD uncoiling like a rattlesnake in the Oklahoma panhandle!”

Next up: At the Kings Thursday.

BOX SCORE

Was it a block, or a goaltend?

The shame of what otherwise would certainly go down as one of this season’s classics is that will be the discussion. With the Thunder trailing by two, Kevin Durant got to the rim and put the ball off the glass and LaMarcus Aldridge swatted it away. Or Aldridge swatted it to the glass. It didn’t matter what we thought though. Referee Scott Foster saw it as a goaltend. Two points. Overtime.

I think KD’s little grin while he was watching the replay says it all. It appeared to be a block. At least that’s the side I’m going to take after watching it with my face two inches from the screen about 60 times. I think the point is, that’s not a good call to make either way in that situation. Because full speed, it’s nearly impossible to tell. I think if we were being honest here, Thunder fans would be a tad upset if they were on the other end of that.

But try and forget all that because this was a fantastic 111-107 Thunder victory in Portland. So many big points to single out. So many big moments. All of KD’s silencing jumpers that kept OKC ticking. Russell Westbrook’s ridiuclous block on Nicolas Batum at the end of regulation. Serge Ibaka’s work on the offensive glass.

All of that stuff was incredibly large, but it really was all about Perk, who played his best game of the season. He was completely torched by LaMarcus Aldridge for about 44 minutes as Aldridge put up a season-high 39. Aldridge was having his way — off the dribble, in the post, in the pick-and-pop. But the last four minutes and overtime, Perk was incredible. Aldridge finished the game missing eight of his last nine shots as Perk roughed him up, keeping him off the block and contesting every shot. The Thunder doubled some, but mostly relied upon Perk to just do his best. It was going to come down to that matchup. If Perk could stop Aldridge just enough, the Thunder might find enough buckets to pull the thing out.

Perk talked before the game how he has to do better and I’d say he did. Not just the defense, but he looked far more active on the glass than we’ve seen him this season. He pulled in 10 rebounds, which is his first double-digit rebounding game in almost a month. He blocked Jamal Crawford’s potential tying shot. He played his butt off and impacted the game the way he should. He wasn’t just a screener and tough guy on the defensive block. He actually made a big difference. You could tell he knew it too in his interview with Kelly Crull after the game. He was clearly fired up and happy. He played a helluva game and was proud of it. Now, just do that 42 more times.

This game though had some serious ups and downs. The Thunder blew it and then won it about five different times. They went up by 12 twice in the third quarter only to see the Blazers erase it with a speedy 13-0 run. But after KD knocked down two cold-blooded jumpers, OKC responded going on their own 16-4 spurt. And then gave it up again, by turning it over twice at the end of the third to help start an 8-0 Portland run. It looked like the Thunder were about to crap away a game as they went scoreless for three minutes in the fourth and only scored six points from the 11-minutes mark  to about the three-minute mark, but KD bailed OKC out again hitting a big time 3 to cut it back to a three-point game.

A stop here, another bucket and just like that the Thunder had tied it back up. A Jamal Crawford jumper put the Blazer up two and the Thunder were going to have to dig deep again. I thought going for the win made the most sense because I couldn’t see OKC winning on the road and stopping Aldridge enough in overtime. Good thing I’m an idiot. Because Durant tied it up and the Thunder took care of business in the OT.

I’m almost out of breath trying to recap this thing. Here are the cliff notes: It was a good game, had a controversial finish and a whole lot of stuff happened. But in the end, the Thunder had more points than the Blazers and nothing is going to change that result. Considering how hard the Thunder played in this game, you could tell they wanted it. The loss against San Antonio really stung and starting this road trip 0-2 wouldn’t have been good. Instead, now the Thunder pulled off a terrific win and could come out of this stretch in good shape.

NOTES:

• You probably don’t care, but my goodness, Blazer fans took this one hard.

• KD’s 33 field goal attempts are the most he’s ever taken in his career. He’s only attempted more than 30 once before tonight. He scored 33 points on 33 shots, with the reason being he only took one free throw in that game.

• OKC finished with a 59-39 edge on the glass. The Thunder had 18 offensive rebounds, led by Serge Ibaka’s animal-like work on the glass where he pulled in 13 rebounds, seven offensive.

• A sign of life from Nazr Mohammed! He had seven rebounds in 11 minutes and played some solid defense.

• Nate McMillan on the goaltending call: “It was a good block. That game should’ve been over.” Except for the fact the Thunder still had possession with six seconds left, but whatever.

• On the skip pass play tonight that Daequan Cook drilled, go back and watch how good Nick Collison’s screen was. He looked like Hines Ward cracking back on a linebacker.

• How about Perk’s baseline and-1 move?

• Gerald Wallace had just four points on 2-9 shooting. KD was doing some work on both ends in this one.

• Westbrook had five turnovers tonight, but not one in the fourth quarter. 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. And one massive block on Batum right at the end of regulation. And a couple huge rebounds. Dude was just after it tonight. A classic Westbrook game.

• On the road, James Harden went for 19 on 6-12 shooting. He wasn’t overly terrific, but was solid throughout. He attacked well, hit a big 3 and played some good perimeter defense.

• Keep in mind the Blazers were without Raymond Felton. Now, Felton hasn’t been great this season, but instead Portland had to use Jamal Crawford at the point which isn’t ideal for them.

• How good is LaMarcus Aldridge though? Even before Perk finished the game strong on him, I thought Perk was doing a great job but Aldridge was just hitting incredible shots. He’s such a tough cover. I honestly don’t know the best way to defend him except for just hope he misses.

• The Thunder turned it over 19 times but still only took two fewer shots than the Blazers. Again, offensive rebounding was important.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night: “And here you thought floppy was a play call and not a defensive tactic.” Or:  “How about ‘roar young lion’ but he’s not a young lion anymore. How about ROAR LION ROAR!”

Next up: At the Warriors Tuesday.

BOX SCORE

It’s hard to be surprised at Saturday’s outcome. Doesn’t mean it’s any less frustrating though.

The excuses are there and they are good ones. Second night of a back-to-back (after some guys played 40+ minutes) and on the road against the best home team in the league. Still, knowing how good the Thunder can be and are, watching them run mindlessly around the perimeter searching for open San Antonio shooters was a bit upsetting.

The Thunder did two things really poor against the Spurs: offense and defense. Other than that, they were pretty good. I guess there’s a reason San Antonio is tough to beat in their own building — they don’t miss much. Especially when left wide the eff open. The great fear when playing the Spurs is that their whole pick-and-roll, drive-and-kick game gets cooking and it did in the first quarter erasing a hot Thunder start with a 13-2 run. After that, it was pretty much all over. Mainly because Tony Parker wasn’t about to let Oklahoma City really get back in the game.

Parker didn’t score all 107 of San Antonio’s points, but it sure felt that way. He finished with 42 on 16-29 shooting along with nine assists and was there to snuff out any momentum the Thunder built. He was like Jar Jar Binks. Every time the movie started looking good, Jar Jar Parker would show up and completely ruin everything.

Not to take anything away from how good Parker was, but this had to be Russell Westbrook’s weakest defensive effort of the season. Westbrook appeared to be frustrated with Serge Ibaka’s communication in the pick-and-roll, but Westbrook didn’t get through screens well and just got torched consistently by Parker’s step-back jumpers and runners in the paint. Westbrook’s defense has been really pretty good this year, but there’s no way around it — Parker smoked him.

It appeared that Scott Brooks was pulling a Gregg Popovich by conceding the game early when he started the fourth without a starter on the floor along with Lazar Hayward. I think Brooks was planning on just sort of waving the white flag, but the second unit put together a little 17-5 run and cut the Spurs lead down to nine with 8:26 left. But Brooks stuck with that second unit that was playing well while on the other side, Popovich had brought back Parker and Duncan. I think Brooks gaffed here by not immediately responding with Durant and Westbrook once the Thunder showed life. Yeah, the second unit was playing well, but honestly, how long can you expect a unit of Reggie Jackson, Harden, Daequan Cook, Hayward and Nick Collison to keep scoring? Brooks eventually brought back his horses with 6:50 left, but it was two minutes too late. The Thunder were down 13 and while they got it to nine once more, the comeback ship had already sailed.

I know some might feel like freaking a bit by saying things like, “I told you we’re not elite!” and “We have GOT to make a trade if we’re going to compete!” but let’s call this like it is: The Thunder were tired, flat and unfocused. They didn’t defend well and the Spurs didn’t miss much. No revealing warts, no signs of bigger issues. Sometimes you lose. Would you believe that no team has ever gone 82-0 (or 66-0)? An ugly, frustrating loss but that’s pretty much it. Really nothing more, and nothing less than that.

NOTES:

• You know what silently killed the Thunder outside of the bad defense and simplistic offense? Free throw shooting. Normally a weapon for OKC, the Thunder went 17-28 from the line. That’s 11 potential points left 15 feet away from the basket.

• By the way, the Thunder lost by 11.

• The Spurs were a +15 from the 3-point line. They actually only made one more basket than the Thunder, but the +15 from 3 and +4 from the free throw line added up to more points for them. MATH.

• Here’s why the Spurs are so stinking good at getting shooters open: The ball moves faster than a person, which is something the Spurs understand and take advantage of as good as anyone in the league. They love to collapse a defense, kick out and then swing the ball around. No matter how hard the Thunder try to contest and rotate, you just can’t outrun the ball.

• Westbrook broke an ugly streak of five straight games with five or more turnovers by only turning it over three times tonight. Yay Russ.

• KD had his fifth straight double-double, which is nice. He looked like he was in store for a big time night early on, but cooled off finishing with 11 rebounds and 22 on 9-19 shooting. Four assists and four blocks though.

• Just 13 turnovers for OKC. That’s good, right?

• Harden scored 19 on the road too. The positives are EVERYWHERE for this game!

• Serge Ibaka’s free throw shooting has really regressed. He hovered around 80 percent for most of last season and finished at 75 percent. After a 2-7 effort from the line against the Spurs, he’s down to 56 percent on this season.

• You can tell when Daequan Cook is feeling good about his shot because his release gets really quick. He was forced to force some 3s, but hit 4-10 from deep.

• Cook also took his first two free throws of the season.

• Not often do you see the Thunder lose when they have six guys score in double-figures. But 42 from Parker, 13 from Duncan and 15 unexpected points from Kawhi Leornard was too much.

• Cole Aldrich’s 3-point celebration is one of my favorite developments of this season. And we were treated to some Aldrich garbage time, which is always fun.

• Got no problem saying it tonight: Perk wasn’t good. Largely because he couldn’t stay on the floor. He picked up two fouls in about 90 seconds to start the game and only got 17 minutes total. Tim Duncan pretty much worked Perk over in the pick-and-pop game too as Perk was too slow to recover. There were possessions where Perk was almost moving while standing still in the paint as the ball whizzed around the perimeter.

• This upcoming stretch of games is a bit scary now that the Thunder started off with a loss to the Spurs. At Portland, at Golden State, at Sacramento, at Utah. Honestly, returning back 3-2 from this trip would be a massive win in my mind.

•  Brian Davis Line of the Night: “You know the French are very passionate people. It was probably an empathetic response.”

 Next up: At Portland Monday.

BOX SCORE

All Kevin Durant could do was smile.

After hitting a stupidly tough off balance jumper over Rudy Gay as the shot clock expired to essential ice Memphis, Durant backpedaled down the floor shaking his head and smiling. Maybe he thought it was a little lucky or something. But he’s like Harvey Dent. He makes his own luck. He’s just good.

Durant scored the Thunder’s final 10 points, including seven in the last 50 seconds. A 3 right over the top of Rudy Gay with 53 seconds left put the Thunder up 97-94. Next trip down, KD hit the tough free throw line jumper around Gay. Then some free throws to seal the deal. The crowd chanting “M-V-P” as he sank them and really for the first time, I thought, “It fits.”

Some nights, that guy is goes from disgustingly nasty good to swine flu worldwide epidemic filthy sick good. You’re sitting there watching him and have to stop and say, “Is this dude real life?”

As is the usual, it didn’t come easy though. I think the Grizzlies could substitute a D-League roster in and it would come down to some key fourth quarter possessions. The game had the look of one the Thunder would never be able to fully climb out of a hole. Each small spurt was met with Memphis snuffing it out. The Thunder went on a little run to start the fourth, had the crowd roaring, lead down to four… and Tony Allen hits a 3. Then there’s a big James Harden 3 to cut it to two, crowd roaring… O.J. Mayo draws a foul and hits one of two free throws.

“We knew we had to pick it up,” Harden said. “We didn’t play well for three quarters, especially on the defensive end so we had to turn our intensity up. I got some shots to fall. We got a lot of stops, especially in the fourth which was key.”

It was Harden who led a 15-4 push that finally pushed OKC to a lead. He scored 10 points early in the fourth including back-to-back 3s in O.J. Mayo’s face, the second tying the game at 81-81.

“That is what I do. I pick my spots. I play off Kevin and Russell, you know they make plays,” Harden said.

Finally the Thunder took the lead 82-81 on a Nick Collison free throw. Daequan Cook dropped a big 2-pointer the next possession and Russell Westbrook drilled his nightly fourth quarter 3. The Thunder were finishing the Grizzlies by getting stops, getting rebounds and by hitting big shots.

Scott Brooks went small, as he usually does against Memphis, in the middle of the fourth with Collison playing the 5 and KD at the 4. The Grizzlies really just don’t have a way to match that without Zach Randolph to create a mismatch. Durant still gets to guard Rudy Gay and Gay isn’t nearly the stretch 4 Durant is. It’s a simple adjustment Brooks likes to make, but it’s one that’s turning out to be consistently effective.

I was all prepared to write a recap saying this way the worst loss of the season, even worse that the one in Washington. Coming home from a road trip to an amped crowd, rested, against a team that played the night before, the Thunder had to take care of the Grizzlies. They eventually did, but it just took Kid Clutch from OKC to get it done.

NOTES:

• Someone asked me to explain how ugly the first half was. I said it looked like a Kendrick Perkins jumper. The Thunder were just flat and unfocused. Stupid turnovers, horrible execution and really weak defense at times. OKC was lucky Memphis didn’t stretch out to a 15-point lead heading to halftime. The Thunder had only one assist in the first quarter and six at halftime. The second half was obviously much better with the Thunder finishing with 16 assists.

• Durant gets the glory, but it was Harden that gave KD a chance at all to play hero. Kind of becoming a theme with this team. Someone picks the Thunder up and gets it to KD Time. Harden finished with 24 points and hit 4-6 from 3 and provided OKC a much-needed spark.

• Harden was killing the Grizzlies and O.J. Mayo so badly that when Westbrook checked back in, Tony Allen switched on to Harden. Allen had been guarding Westbrook the entire game, but Lionel Hollins clearly feared the beard more.

• KD had 23 points and 10 rebounds… in the second half. He finished with 36 and 10  for the game, plus three assists, two steals and three blocks.

• There’s no way around it, but the Grizzlies have a legit gripe about the officiating tonight. It wasn’t good all over, but you can’t ignore 24 Memphis fouls to OKC’s 16 and 33 Thunder free throws to 20 for the Grizzlies in a game that physical.

• The Thunder ran the same curl play for KD four straight times in the third quarter and wouldn’t you know it, four straight buckets. Two by KD, one by Cook (assisted by KD) and a dunk by Ibaka (assisted by KD). By my unofficial count, I think OKC ran it six times during a four-minute stretch.

• KD on his jumper over Gay where he used a pump fake: “I thought I was going to have a lane to the basket but he stayed in front. Guys always bit when I pump-fake, so I was able to get him off the ground a little bit and give him some space and I tried to shoot it good and it went it.”

• Perk picked up technical foul No. 9 after getting tangled with Marc Gasol. The officials talked about it for a solid 20 seconds before deciding to hand out the double technicals.

• Westbrook’s turnovers don’t always drive me crazy when he’s trying to create while attacking or if he forces a tough pass into a tight space, but the unforced ones are just killers. He had three quick ones in the first quarter, but only gave it away two more times the rest of the night.

• Here’s your classic Perk night: His line was five points, one rebound and one block in 28 minutes but he was really good on Marc Gasol. Yeah, I know. Gasol had 24 on 9-12 shooting. But a lot of those were just really tough shots Gasol hit. Collison was solid on Gasol too, but without Perk guarding the big Spaniard one-on-one, OKC loses this game.

• Serge Ibaka cannot catch a pass below his waist. He is catching rebounds better however, pulling in eight. But he only had three blocks in this one. Off night, I guess.

• I paid close attention to the first half rotation tonight. Harden checked in with 4:58 left in the first. He played two minutes with the starting five and didn’t score. He started the second with the entire second unit and had just two points in three minutes with them. But when Harden really seemed to get going was when the full starting five joined him on the floor in the last half of the second. He hit two 3s and appeared to settle into his game comfortable. Maybe it’s just me, but this rotation stuff is kind of fascinating.

• Westbrook was hit with a technical early in the second quarter almost got run right at halftime by ref David Jones. Westbrook thought he was fouled (shocker) on the last play of the half and was very demonstrative about it. Jones signaled at Westbrook to go to the locker room and do it quickly, otherwise he was getting the hook.

• Jones also didn’t let Ibaka smell the ball in between free throws. First time I’ve seen that happen.

• Perk, Reggie Jackson and KD went with Russ’s capri tights. If Nick Collison does it, I’m going to say it’s banned.

• Daequan Cook’s defense is way underrated. He had three blocks, including a nice one on O.J. Mayo, but he isn’t a massive drop-off from Thabo. And he does a lot of little things on the glass like getting a hand on a would-be offensive rebound and tipping it to a teammate.

• Perk absolutely dropped Mike Conley on a screen in the backcourt late in the fourth and actually stood over him for a second. I was fearful of another tech.

• Ibaka broke out his first Air Congo of the season with a dunk over Gasol. It was nice to see it.

• Nazr Mohammed checked in with two minutes left in the first quarter and got seven minutes tonight. So it looks like he hasn’t been entirely squeezed out of the rotation yet.

• KD tried something new in the post. Spun baseline on the left block and went for a lefty baby hook. He airballed it, but still, cool.

• My favorite thing about a team returning home from a long road trip is all the fresh haircuts. Even Scott Brooks got one.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night: I didn’t get one from anybody, so I’m just going to guess that he said this: “KD, swirling and twirling like a piece of coffee cake to the basket! Cut ‘em up like a ham sandwich and served it to them cold!”

Next up: At San Antonio Saturday night.

BOX SCORE

A win on the road against Dallas is probably cathartic enough for this Thunder team, no matter how it comes. And that’s good, because OKC’s 95-86 win Wednesday over the Mavericks was pretty ugly for long stretches.

But chalk up some of that to some fantastic interior defense by the Thunder, who used a record-setting performance from Serge Ibaka to bring the kind of intimidating defending that can lead to some discombobulated, ragged offense. Ibaka had 10 blocks, the most by a Thunder player since the franchise arrived in Oklahoma City, and OKC harassed Dallas into 36 percent shooting on the night.

The power forward position dominated the night for the Thunder. Ibaka had an off shooting night, but paired 11 rebounds with his blocks for a double-double and was a force all night. Nick Collison was his usual active self in relief. Kevin Durant played a lot of four when the Thunder went small, and he’s Kevin Durant. But both Ibaka and Collison made the difference for Oklahoma City by playing Dirk Nowtizki tough. Dirk shot a miserable 2-15 and got to the line only four times for eight points on the night.

Some of it was undoubtedly pure cold shooting by Nowitzki. He was 0-5 from deep and missed open looks he usually knocks down. He was able to get good looks with that one-legged turnaround. They just didn’t fall. But credit Ibaka and Collison for making him work, knocking him off his rhythm an making it the kind of night when Dirk just didn’t feel right shooting the ball. Maybe there’s lingering problems with his knee, who knows. But there was a hand in Nowitzki’s face most of the night, and you could tell the Mavs weren’t going to crawl back in the second half without him.

In a way, the disappointing thing for Oklahoma City was that it was a close game at all. When your opponent shoots below 40 percent, you should expect to win big. But the Thunder struggled to only 41 percent shooting themselves and continued to look erratic in the half court for long stretches, despite a ho-hum (for OKC) 14 turnovers on the night, matching Dallas’ total.

That’s a big part of why this win probably isn’t quite as satisfying as it could have been for Oklahoma City. It was good to see the Thunder fight back from a first half deficit to lead by up to 10 points in the fourth quarter, and hold off the Mavericks after they closed to tie the game late. But it would have been even better had the Thunder finished it out with sharp offensive half court execution, the kind of plays that win games late in the postseason, instead of relying on more shot-making on that end to go with defensive willpower.

Seeing the effortless ball movement even from a shorthanded Mavericks team always tantalizes when you think about OKC. And when the Thunder shows its potential in bursts, it makes your mouth water. But Oklahoma City still couldn’t really run plays to get Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden shots in the flow of the offense late in the game. The critical baskets down the stretch came from two Westbrook jumpers, one a 3-pointer, and a Durant fallaway. It worked. It was great to see. It was a confidence-building win. But shot-making won’t always be the answer.

But maybe the best thing to take away from the game is that the Thunder found a way to win against the so-called “big brother” opponent, at least in Jason Terry’s eyes, despite a change in the routine. Scott Brooks’ decision to start Daequan Cook over James Harden didn’t pay obvious dividends, as both players had offensive nights well below their capabilities. But the second unit did have at least a little bit of its rhythm back, and Cook and Harden mostly did their job on a strong night of team defense. At least it broke the “can’t win without Thabo Sefolosha” hex.

Oh, and don’t forget 33 points from Westbrook. Not the best shooting night, but he hit three critical jumpers late in the game, two in the most important stretch of the game. Durant had a below-average shooting night but also rose to the occasion.

Let there be no doubt. Seeing the Thunder make the plays down the stretch against Dallas is sweet. Bouncing back from a tough loss to the Clippers that had SportsCenter fallout is impressive. But the Thunder still has work to do if they truly want to feel good about facing the Mavericks in the playoffs again, especially when Dallas is at full strength.

NOTES:

• The Mavs were missing Jason Kidd, Lamar Odom and Brendan Haywood. Odom and Haywood were late scratches — Odom with a stomach virus and Haywood with back issues.

• It was obvious right away this wouldn’t be OKC’s best night in the half court. It took three and a half minutes before the first Thunder bucket, a jumper by Cook.

• Yi just looks cool on the back of a jersey.

• Serge’s most fun defensive sequence of the night ended up getting ruined. Ibaka blocked Delonte West on two shots during the same possession.  Then Jason Terry hit an and-one to finish it.

• I really dislike the old guy who sits courtside on the near-left side of the screen who uses those bright clapper things. He’s just annoying. He comes to games in Oklahoma City and brings his clappers and wears hideous jackets and it offends me.

• Harden’s alley oop to Westbrook in the first half was one of those moments that makes me think of how crazy it is that Russell could barely dunk his senior year of high school. The man is a ball of fire.

• The last eight or so minutes of the second quarter, for the most part, was the only long stretch of consistently good basketball to watch. There were a couple of sloppy turnovers — the Thunder were involved, after all. But it felt like two good teams trading punches for the first time in the game. First time since the Dec. 29 game in Oklahoma City, really, because the Thunder didn’t acquit themselves well in the first game in Dallas this year.

• I think it will take Westbrook a week to get over a bad out-of-bounds call before a media timeout late in the third. The Mavs clearly touched the ball last, and I know that kind of thing kills Westbrook to his core. The injustice! He complained to the official, but, alas, to no avail.

• So Rick Carlisle got ejected after he kicked a ball that ricocheted into some lady’s head. Carlisle picked up his first technical after a no-call on a drive by West into Ibaka in the fourth quarter, though Ibaka looked straight up and down on his jump to me. The second came on the kicked ball. Westbrook had a dunk in transition, and the ball bounced Carlisle’s way. Looked like he kicked it without thinking about it, and it hit behind the basket and bounced into a lady’s head. He went over to apologize on his way to the locker room. Might as well get his checkbook out, because that’s going to be a fine. Terry Stotts, a former head coach himself, finished the game for Dallas.

• For what it’s worth, the wife thinks Brendan Wright looks like this guy.

• My love for Nick Collison can be explained by watching one sequence in the fourth quarter. On defense, Collison jumped out on a screen to make Terry run wide enough for his man to catch up, and Terry almost lost his handle. Collison recovered in time to defend an eventual entry pass to Nowitzki, get a hand in his face on the turnaround jumper and alter the shot. Then on offense, he did the patented roll to the basket after setting a screen for Harden and dropped in two points. Sweet, sweet music.

• Ibaka was just incredible. Forty minutes, almost every one of them impactful. And this is a guy who plays around 20 minutes some nights. What helped the most, it seems, is that he got going early. Serge seems to be streaky like a shooter. When he gets a block and a couple of tough boards early in the game, he’s locked in. And that’s what happened in Dallas. Ibaka is putting together a nice stretch of games in 2012.

• The new NBA Rajon Rondo commercial is sick, just like KD’s.

• The Mavs started 3-25 in second half. And that’s why this game shouldn’t have been as close as it was.

• Shawn Marion ran away from KD when Durant had a clear dunk on the fast break. Kendrick Perkins didn’t run away when he got posterized by Blake Griffin. Some guys run away, and some guys don’t.

• Not a single minute tonight for Nazr Mohammed. First time this year. Why no Cole Aldrich even at all? It’s clear Brooks is moving away from Mohammed. But it’s not clear why Aldrich isn’t getting the minutes instead.

• Roddy Beaubois had four assists and no turnovers in 32 minutes, but shot only 3-13. He was a victim of a few unkind bounces after cutting to the rim, but really, it’s not often I watch him play and really think the Thunder screwed up with the Byron Mullens draft day trade. Guys like Beaubois come along often enough. So when you have two highly rated prospects and one is seven feet tall, you go with the seven footer. … Wait, what’s that about Greg Oden and KD? Nevermind.

• If it wasn’t for Wright and Terry, the Mavs may not have been in this game late despite the Thunder insisting on missing enough shots to keep Dallas in the game. They were 11-15. The rest of the team was 19-69. Yikes.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night via ThunderBDsays: Coach Brooks says, “Phooey and Poppycock!!!”

Next up: Memphis at home at 7 p.m. Friday

BOX SCORE

Contrary to reports, Monday’s game in Los Angeles actually contained more than a single dunk by Blake Griffin. But maybe it shouldn’t have. Because really, that said it all.

The fallout noise from the Thunder’s 112-100 loss to the Clippers will largely come from the THUNK leveled by Griffin’s posterization/destruction/murder of Kendrick Perkins, but it really was about 50 seconds at the end of the second quarter. The Thunder had dug themselves in a hole early on, but kept plugging eventually trimming the Clippers’ lead to six with 1:24 left in the half. It appeared that Oklahoma City had weathered the storm and found its way back into the game, setting up a competitive second half.

Then Mo Williams hit one. Then Caron Butler. Then Williams again. Then Chauncey Billups. Boom, bang, bing, blam. One, two, three, four. Four consecutive 3-pointers took a six-point lead to 18 faster than you can say “Holy crap Blake Griffin.”

It was an odd game to see the Thunder completely helpless defensively. Not that OKC has been a great or even all that good defensive team this season, but giving up 36 points in the first quarter (most this season) 64 at halftime (most this season) and 112 for the game (most this season) just isn’t like them. And to watch a team drain 13-25 from deep, including 10-14 definitely isn’t something you see all that often. It feels like I’m taking something away from a well-deserved win by the Clippers, but that was not your normal output of offense from Lob City. That was a team wide hot hand that the Thunder just couldn’t slow down.

The bad thing is, the Thunder stayed in the game, actually whittling it to 12 with three minutes left. But as the theme of the night went, the Thunder couldn’t get the necessary stops to complete the comeback. No fault to Kevin Durant (36 on 14-23 shooting) and Russell Westbrook (31 on 13-26) though who combined for 67 of the Thunder’s 100 points.

Which means if you’re good at simple math, the rest of the team scored only 33 points. James Harden was terrible starting for Thabo Sefolosha, scoring only seven points on 2-9 shooting. Really, the extra scoring only came from Daequan Cook who had 12 on four 3-pointers that really didn’t matter. A Thunder player not named Kevin or Russell didn’t score a single point until Nick Collison made a basket with 33 seconds left in the first quarter. That kind of night.

I wouldn’t read much at all into this game though. The Clippers are indeed a good team and one that I think can contend for the West potentially, but whenever you endure a barrage of 3s like the Thunder did in that second quarter, it’s tough to recover. Some nights the other guy has just got it. It’s only loss No. 4 for OKC and it comes on the road against a high quality opponent. No reason to hang your head in shame after that one. Well, unless your name is Kendrick Perkins that is.

NOTES:

• The Clippers had balance, the Thunder were left to Durant and Westbrook trying to push a car uphill. I think a one game sample is far too little to declare Scott Brooks right, but maybe he does have a point with this Thabo starting business. Starting alongside KD and Westbrook, Harden did absolutely nothing the first nine minutes of the game. Not only did Westbrook and Durant score all the points, but I’m not entirely sure Harden was on the court at all. He touched the ball maybe twice. Possibly Westbrook’s fault, but it’s also possible that the fit isn’t there. You can see what Scott Brooks sees. When Harden is allowed to take ownership of that second unit, he’s free to score. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Harden’s average in the fourth quarter dips severely despite playing most the minutes. It’s just hard for him to figure out how to find his place and let down his beard and go at it when playing with Durant and Westbrook.

• Related note: OKC is now 0-2 without Thabo and really 0-3 as he played very little in the loss to Dallas. Considering his thing being perimeter defense, I tend to think he would’ve helped in this one.

• The Griffin dunk was the low moment of the night for Perk, but he got worked by DeAndre Jordan early on. Jordan used his height and athleticism to grab an offensive right over the top of Perk and put it back with a dunk. Not just because of the poster from Griffin, but I think this was Perk’s worst game of the season. He was slow in his rotations, didn’t defend the pick-and-roll well and really just had an overall bad matchup.

• The only thing worse than a transition pull-up jumper from Westbrook is a pull-up transition 3. Which he tried tonight.

• One thought on the Griffin dunk: I’d much rather have a guy like Perk that tries to stop that than a guy that just lets Griffin have two points. Yeah, people are going to rag on Perk for a long time now, but I think it’s worse if you sidestep and take yourself out of the play. Perk went for it and you know what, he’ll go for it again next time too.

• Things faster than Perk’s windup for a jumper: the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly, Rich Eisen’s 40-yard dash and the amount of time it takes to make eggs benedict.

• Perk picked up his eighth technical of the year. He said earlier in the season he’d slow down at eight, so I guess we’ll see if he was serious.

• I liked Scott Brooks’ move to go small for a lot of the first half, playing KD at the 4. He basically neutralized Griffin. Vinny Del Negro only played Blake 12 minutes in the first half because he couldn’t just stick him on Durant. Brooks tried it again in the second half, but the Thunder were in a scrambling hole and never got any stops with that lineup.

• Chauncey Billups took an all-time stupid shot with three minutes left in the fourth and the Clips up 13. It was a 1-on-3 break and he stopped and pulled up for 3 with 22 on the shot clock. That’s his thing and he sometimes makes those, but still. Dumb.

• The Clippers had 28 assists tonight. OKC had 15. The Clippers had six guys in double-figures. OKC had three. Says a lot right there.

• The Thunder allowed only six offensive rebounds to the Clippers. That’s a plus. Maybe not though because there aren’t a lot of offensive rebounds to be had when every shot is swishing through the net.

• KD really was absurd in this game though. He scored 36 on 14-23, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked three shots. He was terrific. I wish he would’ve just said, “Screw it, I’m taking over” late in the third though and tried to go for 50. He had it going. He could’ve done it.

• Westbrook with six more turnovers. But five steals. Balancing act.

• Serge Ibaka was not great on the inside. He fumbled away like six rebounds or passes, finished with only five boards and two points and wasn’t great one-on-one against Griffin.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night: “Westbrook might want to change his name to Maytag. Put him in the spin cycle.”

Next up: At Dallas Wednesday.

BOX SCORE

Entering the fourth quarter, the Thunder led by eight, but it felt like a small eight. Any time you play the Warriors, especially at their place, you flirt with their offensive-minded players pouring in points in bunches.

Instead, the Thunder went on a big 13-1 run late in the fourth that put Golden State away, 120-109. It started with a Kevin Durant 3, had a gorgeous two pass fast break as the body with the conclusion being an and-1 layup by Russell Westbrook. Just like that, in the span of less than a minute the Thunder had opened the game up and put some much needed distance between them and the Warriors.

Stop right here though and have a look at the box score. It’s worth it. Westbrook: 28 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and seven steals. Durant: 37 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. Serge Ibaka: 20 points, 12 rebounds with eight coming on the offensive glass. James Harden: 19 points, four rebounds and two assists. Between those four, the Thunder got 94 points, 36 rebounds and 16 assists.

And… 18 turnovers. Once again, the Thunder gave the ball away with great ease, turning it over 22 times. Durant and Westbrook each had seven apiece. The good news is though, the Thunder entered the fourth quarter with 17 turns, meaning when it counted most, OKC valued the ball a bit more turning it over just five times in the last 12 minutes. Baby steps, you guys.

The other problem OKC has had this season was actually a major positive. The Thunder crushed the offensive glass, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and were a plus-19 on the boards (53-34). The Thunder had 20 second chance points to the Warriors six. The Thunder won the game with some good offensive execution, at the free throw line (32-37), by getting enough stops and owning the glass. You can give it away 22 times when you win all those other areas. (And it helped Golden State turned it over 20 times as well.)

This was the type of game that was really dangerous for OKC coming in. A solid offensive team that can getting rolling in front of their home crowd that needed a win. I honestly didn’t expect the Thunder to win this one. That eight-point lead to start the fourth felt like it was three and it seemed like the Warriors were primed to go on an 8-0 run at any second. But the Thunder maintained, killed the glass and whipped the Warriors on the offensive end. The turnovers were ugly, but everything else about it was so very, very pretty.

NOTES:

• The Thunder actually took more shots than an opponent — 88-87. That’s rare.

• Russell Westbrook had his first double-double of the season and his first double-digit assist game of the season.

• Ibaka had his first double-double of the season as well. Ironically though, his best game of the season didn’t include a single block breaking a streak of 31 consecutive games with a swat.

• Interesting move by Scott Brooks late: He chose to leave Perk on the bench and go with Nick Collison at the 5. Great decision as the Warriors were running primarily pick-and-roll and Collison is the best big at defending that. Brooks didn’t want to sit Ibaka and go small because he was destroying the offensive glass, so he hedged and left Perk on the bench. Plus, Perk didn’t have much value in this game because was he was guarding Andris Biedrins and Ekpe Udoh for most of it.

• Serious question: If you put a glass of water in front of Nazr Mohammed and told him to jump over it, would your next move be getting some paper towels to clean up the mess? I think it would be.

• Westbrook was terrific in the pick-and-roll. He found Collison and Ibaka multiple times for easy baskets, kicked out well and picked his own spots. Save for the turnovers, which a lot came from him trying to force something in transition or him aggressively trying to split a double, he almost played a perfect Westbrook game.

• Instead of Cole Aldrich taking his place, Scott Brooks may be shrinking his rotation down to nine. Mohammed is playing less and less, only getting eight minutes tonight and none in the second half.

• Because some people were probably thinking it all night: I’d much rather have Reggie Jackson playing backup to Westbrook than Nate Robinson. Robinson does some nice things — like destroying Jackson’s lower half on this crossover — but you never know what he’s going to give you. His random shot chucking is something I wouldn’t want to see in OKC’s second unit.

• It can’t be ignored: OKC had 15 fouls, Golden State 29. You know you’d be complaining about that one.

• Don’t think we’ve seen this yet: Reggie Jackson and Russell Westbrook on the floor together. It was a result of Thabo Sefolosha sitting out the second half with a sore foot, but instead of going with Daequan Cook at the 2, Brooks chose to use his two point men. Why? I suspect because of the Curry-Ellis backcourt on the other side. Brooks didn’t want Cook chasing around Monta Ellis.

• Great play by Westbrook in the first quarter: Durant hit him in stride as Westbrook attacked the rim and instead of recklessly flying into a set defender, he stopped short of him and hit an easy bank shot. It’s learning.

• Perk picked up his seventh technical for a cheap little shove under the basket after a bucket.

• Robinson drilled a halfcourter and then stared down the Thunder bench hard after it. I don’t know why.

• I really kind of hate Westbrook’s 1-on-5 pullup transition jumper. Except when it goes in.

• Curry and Ellis combined for 11-33 shooting and 28 points. Exactly what I was looking for in the pregame primer. The Warriors got an unexpected 14 from Klay Thompson and 23 from Dorell Wright which kept them in it, but good defense and cold shooting from the Warrior backcourt was big.

• KD finished with 24 shots, which I approve of, but in the first half he was overpassing a bit. It seems like sometimes he wants to make that perfect pass to a cutter a little too much, hence the seven turnovers. And in some cases, he’s passing on taking a quality shot that he could hit.

• Dorell Wright had you sweating just a little bit in those last two minutes, didn’t he?

• I want a CD with all the soft acoustic riffs from the commercials during Thunder games.

• Perk’s jumphooks look good right up until the point of him releasing it. He fires it at the rim like he’s trying to see how hard he can make it ricochet off. Needs to work on putting it up softly, with some touch.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night: “Oh, Captain Underpants. We remember it well.”

Next up: At the Clippers Monday.

BOX SCORE

For the first time in four home games, the Thunder starters weren’t spectators for a fourth quarter. And actually had to really work to secure Oklahoma City’s third straight win.

The New Orleans Hornets never would give in, keeping the score within 10 points before the Thunder finally just kind of quietly finished them off 101-91 with a couple Russell Westbrook baskets, a fast break oop to Kevin Durant, a big bucket from James Harden and a couple deep balls from Daequan Cook.

The difference between the first and second half was pretty striking. The first half might’ve had the best ball movement and offensive execution of the season. The Thunder had 13 assists at the half, scored 60 points and  shot better than 50 percent. Oklahoma City wasn’t relying on just easy transition baskets (only 19 fast break points total) but were moving the ball, cutting and hitting shots. For a stretch in the second quarter, there were multiple possessions where all five guys were getting touches in rapid succession.

That type of thing is often difficult to sustain and the Thunder lost a little air out of that bubble in the third. OKC scored just 18 points in the third quarter and started an ugly stretch of turnovers that carried on throughout the second half. Westbrook had seven and Durant four. Eight Thunderers had a turnover. Scott Brooks, not happy about it.

“Just too many turnovers. We kept them in the game by turning the ball over,” he said. “There are aggressive turnovers and there are sloppy turnovers. And we’re doing both of them. It’s not like we don’t work on it, but it’s happening and we have to correct it.”

Said Durant on the turnovers: “Sometimes we’re just trying to make a home run play and we just have to make the easier play. But we have good intentions always. I think it’s something we can correct but we’re still winning basketball games.”

It looked like Serge Ibaka was about to complete his breakout after putting up 10 points and seven rebounds in the first quarter, but he didn’t grab a board or score a point in the second half, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds. Part of that is definitely on Ibaka, who played like an animal the first 24 minutes of the game, but the other part is just on the fact he wasn’t on the floor. Scott Brooks, as he likes to do, chose to go small down the stretch playing KD at the 4.

“It’s a matchup,” he said. “It’s a tough decision to make, especially in a game like tonight. Serge was really playing good basketball. I felt their pick-and-roll offense was really bothering us, so Kevin allows us to switch all pick-and-rolls. Kevin can stay in front of the point guards and our guards and our wings are same size guys and are athletic and have long arms and defend. So we switch. I though that was a pretty important of our win tonight.”

That’s just a reality sometimes though. The NBA is a matchup league and if that means a guy gets squeezed a bit on a given night, so be it I suppose. Brooks identified it correctly too. The Hornets pick-and-roll was indeed hurting the Thunder and going small with KD wasn’t really going to sacrifice anything else. OKC was rebounding well and protecting the paint good enough. It was Jarrett Jack and the mid-range pick-and-pop stuff that was breaking down the Thunder.

Good to handle business at home before eight of nine games on the road coming up. Maybe it was a bit more difficult and some players had to log more minutes than we’ve become accustomed to at home, but you can’t ever take winning for granted.

NOTES:

• The Thunder did much better on the boards, allowing only eight offensive rebounds to New Orleans. That’s the first game a team didn’t grab double-digit offensive boards on the Thunder this year.

• KD was 5-5 from the floor in the first half and 9-13 overall for 25 points. The Thunder offense was good and efficient and all, but KD needs more than 13 shots. I love efficiency but when the offense starts to stall, go to No. 35. He can kickstart an offense pretty quickly.

• I’m ready for the Cole Aldrich era. I said before the season that I thought he would crack the rotation at some point and I think that time has come. Nazr Mohammed just isn’t producing nor is he playing very well. His minutes are getting cut more and more and the Thunder basically have a dead spot behind Perk right now. I’d give some time to Aldrich if anything just for the shot of energy he could give for six or seven minutes.

• The first bad night for Westbrook in a while. He started the game 1-10 before hitting three of four shots in the fourth to finish 4-14 for 14 points. But he turned it over seven times trying to force the perfect pass and had just five assists, with only one in the second half. I only remember one bad pull-up jumper from Westbrook though. His shot selection was mostly good, just didn’t finish some good looks.

• Daequan Cook’s 3-point shooting was awesome. He went 3-3 from deep and hit a really big momentum killer in the second half. And he converted a skip pass play 3, which is my favorite thing ever.

• Westbrook was really close to two highlight dunks but got stopped at the rim on both of them. Same thing happened to Durant when Jason Smith blocked KD on a dunk attempt out of nowhere.

• KD’s step-back jumper is more pure than Tim Tebow. It needs it’s own True Love Waits purity ring. It’s seriously so beautiful that sometimes, a single tear rolls down my cheek as it swishes home.

• KD with three blocks, seven rebounds, two steals and four assists. And the 25 points. Complete night.

• Late in the third, Reggie Jackson was trying to get the Thunder into a set but clearly wasn’t communicating it well. The shot clock was ticking away as he halfway made a waving gesture for KD to go to the weakside — 15, 14, 13 on the shot clock. KD yelled, “What? WHAT?” because clearly Jackson wasn’t communicating it well. That’s something he’s got to do better. Take control of the offense and make sure everyone is running what he calls.

• Westbrook missed KD a few times on their little side-screen-and-roll play. He chose to attack rather than drop it to Durant. Not an easy play to execute, but it was there a couple of times.

• Again, Ibaka’s first quarter: 10 points and seven rebounds. Most of this year, that was his final line. And that’s been a good night.

• For the first time this season, Perk didn’t have a block.

• Thabo went 1-4 from 3. BENCH HIM. (Just kidding.)

• I really have no idea who Gustavo Ayon is or how he wound up in the NBA, but I’m a fan.

• Wonderful decision by KD at the end of the first quarter — he had the option to shoot a contested 3 at the buzzer, but instead trusted an open Reggie Jackson in the corner. And Jackson paid it off with a deep 2. Durant said after the game that he wanted to run a different play than what Brooks had called but he was overruled. “He called a better play than I did,” Durant said.

• KD clearly wasn’t thrilled with Westbrook holding on to the ball to be fouled with 19 seconds left. He obviously would’ve liked to been the one to take those free throws.

• Question: Does James Harden have the best Eurostep in the league?

• Ibaka’s running hook should become more of a thing. I would love to see Ibaka get three or four isolation postups a game.

• Before the game, I guess Westbrook had downloaded some music mixing app on his iPad because he had most of the team gathered around his locker as he played DJ, spinning his fingers around the screen. Trust me, it was way more interesting than that sentence made it sound.

• I have no idea why, but the Rumble on stilts thing totally creeps me out.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night via ThunderBDsays: “He nods his head approvingly! Pumps his fist mildly!”

Next up: At Golden State Friday.

BOX SCORE

It’s hard for a game to be over with a score of just 8-2 and nine minutes left in the first quarter, but Monday’s game against Detroit was done pretty much right then and there. The next 45 minutes were just window dressing.

Two plays in the first five minutes sealed the Pistons’ fate. First, Russell Westbrook blew past rookie Brandon Knight for a vicious Westbrook-style one-hand hammer. Second, Westbrook made maybe the pass of his young career, a left-handed behind-the-back fastbreak fish to Kevin Durant for an and-1.

“I’m naturally left handed you know,” Westbrook said. “[KD] was running with me and he was he was going to get the pass. He just didn’t know how.”

After that, it was really just a matter of what the final score would be and what everybody’s stats would look like.

I honestly don’t know if the extension has anything to do with it, but over the past two weeks Westbrook has looked so loose, confident and sure of every part of his game. He hasn’t had a double-digit assist game yet this year (six tonight), but it’s not really a bother considering how well the Thunder offense is cooking.

Watch that behind-the-back pass a couple times. The anticipation is just crazy. You have to have a serious feel and chemistry with a teammate to pull that off. Because Westbrook never really looked at KD. It was all telepathic. He just had to trust Durant would run on to the end of that pass, otherwise it would’ve been an ugly Russ turnover and everyone would groan. Instead he felt it, trusted his instincts and let it go. The result? Truly a beautiful, fantastic pass. Take that, Ricky Rubio.

Save for a minor run in the third quarter that saw the Pistons “cut” the Thunder’s lead to 21, this thing was on cruise control for about the last 36 minutes. The Thunder led 29-12 after the first quarter, 60-33 at the half and never really had to look in the rearview mirror. It was one of those games where you were really only paying attention just to make sure someone didn’t get hurt and for the eventual eight minutes of Cole Aldrich bumping into everyone, fouling everything and just being his usual hilariously awesome self.

Between Westbrook (24), Durant (20) and Harden (24), those three put up 68 points on 28-41 shooting with Harden hitting 5-6 from 3. And check this: Harden was a +32.

It was basically the ideal thumping of a good team whipping a bad one. The Thunder shot 53 percent to Detroit’s 34. The Thunder killed the glass, grabbing 51 rebounds to Detroit’s 38. A weird stat though is the Thunder turned it over 19 times to just nine for Detroit. And the Pistons took 27 free throws to just 14 for OKC. But when you make 13 more baskets than you opponent, and dominate the boards like that, you’re going to win and mostly likely, win big.

NOTES:

• Incredible sequence from Thabo: He stuffed Tayshaun Prince at the rim and then single-handidly stopped a 3-on-1 fastbreak right before halftime. Brooks: “Nothing Thabo does really surprises me anymore.”

• Fun out of context stat: Harden was a +32, Thabo a -1.

• Westbrook just completely abused Brandon Knight. Abused almost doesn’t do it justice. It was a complete manhandling. Westbrook whipped him off the dribble, took Knight to the post and just dominated the smaller point guard. Sometimes Westbrook can truly make you say wow. If that post game keeps coming, it could be something good for OKC in the future.

• For a while, it looked like this was going to be a rare game where the Thunder took more shots than their opponent, but the Pistons finished with five more attempts.

• Scott Brooks made the decision to use Perk on Greg Monroe and I’d say it worked. Monroe is Detroit’s best player and finished 3-14 from the floor with only 12 points. Brooks: “Perk is really a dominating low post defensive player.”

• What that allowed was for Ibaka to roam the paint a bit, because he was defending Ben Wallace. Ibaka had another solid game blocking five shots and grabbing 10 rebounds.

• Harden started 6-7, 4-4 from 3 and scored 18 points in his first 16 minutes on the floor.

• You can see that Harden really takes ownership of the second unit. In the second quarter, he pulled the bench group together and gave them a little talk. It’s his unit and he takes pride in leading them. You can tell that he really enjoys that role.

• Brooks: “We go into the game wanting to take 3s.” He talked about how he likes the offense to get rhythm 3s where there’s a “swing, swing and a shot.”

• I can’t get enough of how unselfish KD is playing. At one point in the third he was sitting on just 12 points and clearly wanted to put a few more points in the box score before sitting the entire fourth, but he still made two smart passes to open teammates when he could’ve taken a tough shot. A small thing, but a smart thing.

• Important note about Lawrence Frank’s tie: The skinny part underneath was longer than the main tie part and was hanging out. It’s hard to know if that was just a double-windsor mishap by him or had something to do with his short stature. He probably thought he had them completely level and could get away with it. Except once it came out of that little part that you tuck it into, there was no stopping the thin part from getting out.

• As much as Westbrook likes to dance, I’m waiting for the time he’s bringing the ball up and starts grooving to the beat that’s playing.

• Seems to me that Westbrook is short on almost all his catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts. I’m not entirely sure the cause of that, but I do think he rushes himself on them. He’s a much, much better shooter off the dribble.

• Nick Collison sprained his left ankle and didn’t play in the second half. He’s day to day but should be ready to go for the Thunder’s game Wednesday.

• Unimportant note: Just two Thunder players put their hand over their heart during the national anthem: Nick Collison and Lazar Hayward.

• The Thunder have allowed double-digit offensive rebounds in every game so far this season.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night via @ ThunderBDSays: “NASTY!!! NASTY!!! NASTY!!! BLOWING BY THREE DEFENDERS AT THE TOP UNMOLESTED TO THE RIM!!”

Next up: Home against the Hornets Wednesday.

BOX SCORE

We’ve been spoiled.

Most of the time when the Thunder win ugly, it’s just because they didn’t play a great game, didn’t shoot well or played bad defense but found a way to win. It doesn’t normally mean that the game was pretty much unwatchable.

We’re not used to the Thunder playing a game where you genuinely start thinking about how you could be better using your time. Really, what it was, was the Thunder should’ve been blowing the doors of the Nets and had things in cruise control for the fourth quarter but instead was in game where they had it under control, but never had it entirely put away for good.

Russell Westbrook was solid, Kevin Durant the same and everyone else fine, but nothing really stood out about this game. (Except for Serge Ibaka’s ridiculous block on Deron Williams.) The Thunder handled their business and beat a bad Nets team, as they should, but I think we all expected a bit more of a takedown considering the bad taste Oklahoma City had to deal with the past couple days from the Wizards loss.

Any time you win on the road, it’s a good thing and the reality is, the Thunder won by 10, played a very sound defensive game, rebounded decently (a plus nine on the glass, including 55 boards) and executed well enough offensively.

The Thunder sort of went through the same motions in the second half as they did in the Wizards game, except Nick Young wasn’t there to get hot for New Jersey. Had someone done that, this could’ve been a tighter finish. Instead, the Thunder were able to just sort of walk to the finish line getting stops and rebounds and scoring enough to keep a comfortable margin. Don’t expend too much energy when you don’t have to, I guess.

Most times, you kind of look for a hook to a game and this game was really missing one. I guess it was the Thunder’s defense that held New Jersey to 31 percent from the floor, 3-23 from 3, 74 points total and forced 16 turnovers. And it’s not that the Nets are a bad offensive team. They came in ranking in 11th in offensive efficiency, so they can score a bit. The Nets primarily do it with the 3 as they were tops in the league in made 3-pointers before tonight. Instead, OKC did a good job contesting everything and limited open looks for the Nets.

The season is long and sometimes you don’t look good, but the end result does. Nothing wrong with putting another tally in the win column. I think we all enjoy the exciting, fun brand of basketball the Thunder normally play with beautiful jumpers by Durant, lots of transition hoops and relentless pace from Westbrook, but wins are wins. I think we learned that Wednesday with a loss to the Wizards.

NOTES:

• First game after his extension, Westbrook was steady and smart. Took mostly good shots, made a bunch of really slick passes and his decision-making was sound. Nothing changed in his game. He had 21 points (but on 9-21 shooting), six assists, two steals and just three turnovers.

• Westbrook is such a dynamic offensive player with that jumper. It’s such a weapon. Still not a big fan of him taking it 1-on-4 with 18 on the shot clock. Except when it goes in. Then it’s cool.

• Rebounding looked to be an issue again early on with the Nets grabbing 10 offensive boards in the first half. They got just six in the second.

• KD had 15 rebounds. When OKC struggles rebounding, Durant normally comes down and gets much more aggressive on the glass. Great quality to have in him.

• He didn’t score well (six points), but I thought this was one of Serge Ibaka’s best games. He really had that energy in him finally we’re so used to. He was going after everything (five blocks), rebounding and busting it every possession. That’s what you want from Ibaka all the time.

• Nineteen turnovers and only 13 assists is not good.

• After KD finished a fast break dunk, he yelled, “NOT ON ME!” I don’t know what that really means, but it was awesome.

• Reggie Jackson has regressed a bit since his great debut. He hasn’t been bad by any means, but again, he’s certainly not going to give the Thunder the same steady production Eric Maynor did.

• He’s always been solid, but Westbrook really is becoming a great defender. He gambles and is a bit overeager at times, but he had a big hand in Deron Williams going 5-18 for only 14 points. He’s improved a bunch in pick-and-roll defense and does a great job staying disciplined when his man attacks.

• Is it just me, or does Daequan Cook seem to be better from 3 when his look isn’t very clean? Seems he shoots better when he’s NOT open.

• Also, not minutes for Cook in the second half, which was odd.

• KD missed four free throws. Don’t like that.

• James Harden (nine) and Thabo (eight) combined for 17 rebounds.

• Is that what it’s like to watch the Bulls all the time? Because if so, booooorrrrring.

• The Nets are horrible.

• Brian Davis Line of the Night: “This game is like the old Perils of Pauline! A thrill a minute!”

Next up: Monday at home against the Pistons.