Thunder show off against the Warriors, 127-115
Watch Friday’s game in a vacuum, as if the first two months of the season had gone as planned, and you would’ve come away thinking the Thunder made a firm statement, showcasing their ability to overwhelm even the best teams in the league.
But we all know that things are different right now. An impressive win over the Warriors doesn’t carry as much metaphorical weight as it normally would, with the main takeaway being it’s a win, and not the alternative.
A night after a frustrating performance in Houston, the Thunder clicked, steamrolling the best team in the league. Yes, they were without Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala, but the Warriors still possess plenty of firepower. They come at you in waves, with their offense producing at an incredibly rapid rate. What the Thunder did to combat that was just play awesome.
Kevin Durant: 36 points on 14-of-18 shooting.
Russell Westbrook: 17 points, 17 assists, 15 rebounds and four steals.
Serge Ibaka: 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting.
Dion Waiters: 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
Want to win games? Do that.
“We just played harder, man,” Durant said. “We played with passion. We played with that intensity. The real Thunder team showed up. So we’ve got to continue to do that.”
It’s hard to frame some of these games, because it seems like the swings in emotion can give you whiplash. The Thunder stunk against the Rockets, and then produced this. But this is the team they’ve often been the last five seasons. It’s just that they weren’t ever in a sub.-500 hole. Now, when those high-highs bounce back after low-lows, there’s less of a reassurance that this team is good. But here’s the reality: The Thunder are 11-5 when Durant plays. They have some solid wins, and some ugly losses.
“We’ve struggled. It’s a long NBA season. Teams struggle,” Durant said. “It’s part of it. We can’t panic with that type of stuff. I know everybody’s looking at us like we’re behind and trying to catch up, but still playing an NBA season. We’re not going to be perfect, and we know that.”
Everyone knows the rigors of an NBA season and the endurance it takes to survive the ups and downs. But the Thunder are essentially playing under a constant playoff-like spotlight, with fans and media reacting to each loss as if it’s one step nearer to elimination. It’s the nature of their situation, playing out the remainder of the season in a hole created by November adversity. The Thunder started the season 3-12, spending the opening six weeks without Westbrook or Durant. They expected to do better than they did, but it shouldn’t come as some big surprise that they had trouble winning.
They still have time to correct all that, but not a ton of it. Durant said after Thursday’s game that the five days off may not reap their reward for a couple weeks. Against the Rockets, nobody could see much of it. Tonight, maybe some of it produced, with a brilliant fourth quarter halfcourt approach as Westbrook created shots all over for Ibaka, who knocked down 6-of-7 for 14 points in the frame. Westbrook had eight assists in the fourth, six going to Ibaka.
“Serge is a guy we don’t call plays for because he roams around and can shoot the basketball really well,” Durant said. “So when Serge gets it going we’re not going to sit there and call a post-up play for him or run two pindowns for him so he can get a jumpshot. We’re going to find him because he sets screens, he spaces well, and can shoot.”
Like you couldn’t declare them dead after Thursday, you can’t exactly say they’re back now. They have a big five-game Eastern trip ahead, with a chance to finally get on the right side of .500. They might be finding themselves a bit, rediscovering that swagger and confidence that makes them a contender. But then again, we’ll have to wait and see before we can draw those kind of conclusions.
NOTES:
- Durant: “I think that’s what I was put on this Earth to do is to score. I can do everything in the game, I feel like. I can play defense, I can rebound, I can pass, but that’s what I do, is score. Sometimes you’ve got to remind people what you do. They tend to forget.”
- Durant could’ve scored 55 tonight had he wanted. Instead, he stepped back and let the game breathe.
- Westbrook was fantastic. And this kind of game shows why he’s the most fascinating, polarizing player in the league. Because this is what he can do. Everyone knows he has it in him. But what’s better: This, or a 34-point game on 11-24 shooting with seven assists? Because he can do both. Obviously this is better, but the other could be coming next.
- Westbrook’s 17 assists set a career-high. His 15 rebounds tied a career-high.
- Ibaka tied a career-high in points.
- Durant on up and down nature of the season: “Just not care. Just go out there and play and it’ll all take care of itself. I know that’s what we’ve got to get back to and tonight was a step in the right direction.”
- Big sequence at the end of the half. Adams drew two free throws with one second left, missed the second with 0.1 on the clock, Westbrook busted in to tip home the rebound. Then Steve Kerr got a technical foul. So basically the Thunder scored four points in 0.1 seconds.
- That was a solid play drawn up by Brooks with a second left, too. Doc Rivers-ish, getting the big-small switch and lobbing to the rim.
- Waiters played big. He’s scored in double-figures three straight games, and his 21 tonight were mostly out of good offense. He took some bad shots, but he also turned down plenty of them too. And he got the crunchtime minutes again ahead of Jackson.
- Jackson had a nice first half with nine points, but he didn’t check in until late in the third and only played four minutes in the second half.
- Waiters locker has been moved across the room, away from next to Jackson and now nearby Westbrook and Durant. I was told it was at their request so to have Waiters closer to help integrate him.
- Durant on that: “He’s a young player, third year in the league and he got traded. Just wanted to make him feel as comfortable as possible as one of the leaders. It definitely helps. But he’s one of those guys, man, he fits right in. To be honest, it really doesn’t matter because he’s around us all the time in the locker room, at the practice facility, on the bus, on the plane, he’s around everybody. But I just wanted to make it easier on him as far as being a leader and letting him know what we need from him, it’d be easier to come back at halftime and do it there. It’s more so just to make him more comfortable.”
- Andre Roberson: -14 in 13 minutes. It’s becoming a bit of a problem.
- Brooks staggered Westbrook and Durant tonight, trying to keep one on the floor most of the game. It’s a great plan in theory, but the issue is it provides less time for them to play together. And when they play together, they wreck the world. Brooks only did it once tonight, resting both to start the fourth. And immediately upon watching the lead slip, came back with Westbrook with about 10 minutes left.
- I didn’t notice them, but I was told there were some light boos for Scott Brooks during pregame.
- Westbrook stuck to his new routine of not answering questions tonight. Here’s the transcript of it. It was awkward city.
- Look, at this point, Westbrook can do what he wants. The ship has sailed, and his stubbornness with my kind is part of his little brand. It’s who he is and he’s sticking to it. But I will say this: The dude just played one of his best games ever, and his team picked up a desperately needed win with a fantastic performance, and he’s made his postgame antics a story. He may be sick of us and he may not want to answer questions, but his plan backfires when he acts like that.
- Another thing, and good grief I know no one cares about us lowly reporter idiots: People say don’t ask dumb questions. In this case, the questions aren’t dumb. It’s just an open vendetta. Some say Westbrook shouldn’t have to answer anything. You’re saying you don’t want to hear what your favorite players have to say after a game?
- Klay Thompson is really, really, really good.
- Anthony Morrow made some shots again!
- Westbrook’s “dunk” over Draymond Green was pretty weird.
- Two straight DNP-CDs for Nick Collison. My heart, it hurts.
Next up: At the Magic on Sunday
