Thunder 127, Wizards 108
Give the people what they want, Scott Brooks…And the players for that matter.
Up and down. Fast-paced. High octane.
It’s what we saw in Friday night’s 127-108 win over the Washington Wizards, arguably the most entertaining game the Ford Center has seen this season, with the three-point overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers the only other contest that comes remotely close.
But Brooks backed away from almost everything that made this game fun. Didn’t like the score. Didn’t like his team’s commitment to offense and lack of attention to detail on defense. Didn’t like that the Thunder succumbed to an opponent’s style of play.
How about the result, Scotty?
“It was a good win,” Brooks said before immediately transforming into all-out party-pooper. “We won the game, but it’s not the way we like to play basketball. We’re not a team that’s going to score 30 points in four quarters.”
To that I asked, why not? Why not make it a shootout? Why not turn the game into a catch-me-if-you-can contest?
Seems a reasonable method since the Thunder has more offensive-oriented players than defensive, right? Brooks says not so much, maintaining that this team is not built for a shootout. Not now. Not ever. This team’s identity, Brooks said, is defense.
“We have to get it straight,” Brooks said, “our players understand that you get burned more times than not if you play this style of basketball with our group right now and where we are as a team. We have to continue to get better defensively.”
Every player on the roster, especially the eight who played the majority of minutes in Friday night’s blowout, will tell you that that faster pace is more fun.
“It’s fun to play like that when it’s going well, especially the way we played tonight,” said Jeff Green after the game.
Said James Harden: “It’s fun. It’s just like in high school. It’s like the way you were raised.”
Said Kevin Durant: “It’s kind of 50-50. We could have slowed it down a little bit more. But we also had a lot of opportunities to run, which we like.”
The problem is this defensive philosophy is paying dividends. Before Friday night, the Thunder was 0-5 in games it allowed 100 points or more. OKC was limiting opponents to a little more than 90 points per game and the method was manifesting itself into wins.
For young teams like the Thunder, it’s easy to get sucked into high-scoring affairs. Easy to forget that defense wins games and fourth-quarter stops still matter most. It’s why Brooks preaches defense and will continue to no matter how much his team lights up the scoreboard.
“We can’t get baited into playing this way,” Brooks said. “We have to continue to get better at playing our style of basketball. We have to do things according to who we are. And we are a defensive team that gets stops.”
Thunder vs. Wizards Chat
The Scene At Shootaround
I asked Kevin Durant what advice he had for Russell Westbrook hours before the second-year point guard faced Gilbert Arenas for the first time Friday night.
Durant’s response caught me off guard.
“I haven’t played against him yet either,” Durant said. “The first two years I was in the league he was hurt. So this is my first time playing against him, too.”
The fact that Durant, and Jeff Green for that matter, also will be playing against Arenas for the first time tonight puts into perspective exactly how long the Washington Wizards guard has been on the shelf. Arenas, a three-time All Star in 2005, 2006 and 2007, has played in just 15 games the past two seasons. But the 6-foot-4 point guard is back this season, looking to reclaim his spot atop the NBA’s list of elite players.
Arenas has played in all 10 of the Wizards’ games this season and averaged 36.8 minutes. He’s scoring 22.8 points per game with averages of 6.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
“Gilbert’s back,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “He’s capable of having a big game. He’s very strong, very quick, very offensive-minded. He’s good. I haven’t seen him live, but on film he’s pretty close to being back where he once was.”
Arenas is one of the few point guards Westbrook has yet to face after making his first lap around the NBA last season. What Westbrook could encounter tonight is a player who keeps him off balance with a deceptive shiftiness, an ability to score from anywhere on the court and an underrated sense of knowing how to make his teammates better with his passing skills. It’s a match up that could have a significant impact on the outcome of tonight’s game and determine whether the Thunder pulls its home record to an even 3-3 or drops to a disappointing 2-4.
“I’m not putting pressure on myself or going in like I’m playing somebody that I’ve never played before,” Westbrook said. “I just go with the same mindset, just go out and defend and make sure my teammates have my back and go from there.”
Durant, who’s worked out with Arenas in the past and filmed promotional spots with the Wizards point guard for EA Sports, said the similarities between Westbrook and Arenas extend beyond their uniform numbers.
“We all watch Gilbert. We all know how great he is,” Durant said. “They’re similar. Gilbert right now is just a better shooter than Russell is. They’re similar in their build and athleticism so it should be a fun match up. But we’re going to help Russell out as much as possible.”
Brooks said he wants Westbrook to play with his usual aggressiveness, attacking Arenas on offense while attempting to pester him defensively.
“Respect him but challenge him,” Brooks said of what he will tell Westbrook. “Gilbert’s one of the better point guards in the league. It’s going to be a great test for Russell, but it’s not about Russell and Gilbert going at each other. Russell has to attack when he has the opportunity and he has to be a playmaker when that comes about. But it’s important that Russell really challenges himself and gets after him defensively like he’s done the last couple of games.”
Thunder vs. Magic Live Chat
Defense has been very good
Remember when there was concern the Thunder’s new “shell” defense might have problems defending 3-pointers after the Rockets and Spurs lit Oklahoma City up for a combined 25 3-pointers in back-to-back preseason games?
Three weeks into the season, the Thunder leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense.
In case you read over that too quickly, OKC leads the league.
Opponents are shooting 28.2 percent beyond the arc. Combined with being ranked among the league leaders in overall field goal percentage defense (43.7) and scoring defense (91.2), the Thunder’s new and improved defense has been drawing rave reviews from opposing coaches.
“You can tell right away (their defense is much improved),” said Miami coach Eric Spoelstra. “They’ve been playing well all season. Their athleticism is noticeable. They cover a lot of ground. They have a lot of length. They’re getting after it. They compete, are organized and are playing hard.”
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy, Houston’s Rick Adelman, Lakers’ Phil Jackson and Spurs’ Gregg Popovich have made similar comments the past two weeks.
After Oklahoma City coasted to a 100-87 win Tuesday night over Miami, Spoelstra said the Thunder’s young, athletic, harrassing defense will pose problems for a lot of teams.
“We could never put it together for sustained, long moments of solid play,” Spoelstra said. “They put a heck of a defensive game on us. They played well. Give them credit.”
Led by Thabo Sefolosha, whose defensive reputation continues to grow, the Thunder is living up to coach Scott Brooks’ off-season mantra — improve defensively, share the ball on offense, play for each other and give good energy.
A good example of the defensive improvement was when the Heat went into hurry-up mode in the fourth quarter, trailing by as many as 17 points. On three or four fourth-quarter possessions Miami was trying to get a good shot quickly but settled for what was available when the shot-clock was about to expire.
“They’re a very athletic team, a young team that has improved on both ends of the floor,” said Heat guard Daequan Cook. “They’re a lot more aggressive on the defensive end. They’re getting a lot of stops.”
Sefolosha, assisted by teammates who were told to limit Dwyane Wade’s touches and provide help defense on the league’s reigning scoring champion, suffocated Wade into a 6-for-19 outing.
“Everybody did a very good job playing team defense,” Sefolosha said. “We closed down the paint. We had a whole lot of rebounds. That was the key tonight. You have to be excited going against guys like (Wade). The team did a tremendous job closing down his drives and taking away the easy stuff.”
Coaches bristle when their team is praised for good effort and good defense. Brooks is no excpetion.
“After last season, we felt one area we were going to need to improve was defensive basketball,” Brooks said after the game. “We needed to play with a toughness and we needed to have an identity of playing with defensive thoughts in our mind from the first practice. I thought the guys really bought in.
“They’re doing a great job. We’re not perfect. We’re still understanding what we need to do. But we’re trying to do a really good job of helping each other defend.”
Thunder 100, Heat 87
The date was Feb. 28, 2009.
That’s when the Thunder recorded its fourth road win last season, a full four months into the season.
Shocking isn’t it?
But in what’s become the latest bit of evidence of how much Oklahoma City has improved, the Thunder secured its fourth road win Tuesday night at Miami, just three weeks into the 2009-10 season. It was a dominating 100-87 win over Miami at American Airlines Arena, one that bumped the Thunder’s road record to 4-2, or half its win total from last season’s 41 road games.
Good teams win on the road, and Tuesday’s win proves the Thunder is blossoming into a good team. This 6-5 start is no fluke. Oklahoma City has a better road record than it does at home (2-3). Granted, Miami is far from the toughest place to win in the league. Heat officials were so desperate for fans that two entire sections in the upper deck were allowed to move down to the lower bowl. But the Thunder has also gone into Detroit, San Antonio and Los Angeles and won, holding off talented Pistons, Spurs and Clippers teams in the fourth quarter with solid late-game execution and exceptional defense.
Road wins are vital for any team looking to land in the postseason when the regular season music stops in mid-April. Seven of last season’s 16 playoff teams finished above .500 on the road. Another two, Portland and Houston, were one game under .500 away from their home buildings. The Thunder could be on that same track, especially when you consider OKC’s two road losses, at Houston and at Sacramento, both came down to the fourth quarter, the Kings loss ending with a last-second shot that could have forced overtime.
Since that letdown in Sacramento, the Thunder has now won three straight road games. Oklahoma City’s 4-2 road record now trails only Phoenix (6-2), Portland and Dallas (both 5-2) in the Western Conference.
The best sign is that the Thunder is succeeding because of a commitment to defense. The Thunder held Miami to 43.1 percent shooing and limited a hot-handed Heat team to 5-for-18 shooting from behind the 3-point line. OKC now ranks fourth in opponent scoring, allowing just 90.1 points per game. The Heat’s point total was the seventh time in 11 games that the Thunder has held an opponent to less than 100 points. On one of the four occasions that a team did score in triple digits on the Thunder, it took the Los Angeles Lakers overtime to notch its 101-98 win.
One thing that has been proven early this season, though, is the Thunder, because of its youth, is as erratic as it is stingy. The Thunder followed up big wins against San Antonio and Orlando with heart-breakers against Sacramento and the Clippers. Oklahoma City very well could travel to Orlando for Wednesday’s game against the Magic and get run out of Amway Arena.
But the Thunder is now conscious of how to win and confident it can clinch victory on anyone’s court. And at this rate, would anyone really be surprised if the Thunder beat the Magic in Orlando on Wednesday, even if Oklahoma City didn’t see road win No. 5 until March 10?
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Miami Heat Live Chat
Chat with Thunder beat writer Darnell Mayberry
Thunder plays big in crunch time to post big win
A young Thunder squad found ways to lose a ton of close games last season. While it’s only 18 days into the season, you can see a new level of maturity this season, the primary reason Oklahoma City is 5-4.
A 101-98 win over the veteran San Antonio Spurs Saturday night was more than just your normal win. A young team is showing signs of making the type of late-game plays that so many times make the difference in the NBA.
Bottom line it was the Thunder, the second youngest team in the league, that came up big in crunch time more often than the veteran Spurs who have won three NBA titles this decade.
After dominating the third quarter to take the lead, pushing it to 83-74 early in fourth quarter, the Spurs twice got to within one point but could never regain the lead.
The final two minutes had a lengthy list of critical plays.
* Nenad Krstic’s block of George Hill’s point-blank shot with just over two minutes left was huge, protecting a 93-90 lead.
* When the Thunder led 94-91 with 1:18 left, Kevin Durant missed what would have been a huge basket. OKC, though, maintained the possession when Krstic came up with an offensive rebound that several players had a shot at grabbing.
With an extra shot on the possesion, Russell Westbrook hit the game’s biggest basket — a running, scoop shot in the lane, the highlight on a night the second-year point guard from UCLA was sensational (19 points, 11 assists, 0 turnovers).
Westbrook’s basket gave the Thunder a 96-91 lead. On the Spurs next possession Tony Parker stepped on the base line, an uncommon mistake for the veteran.
But the game was far from over as the Thunder was far from flawless closing out the win.
Thabo Sefolosha hit only one of two free throws with :31.9 seconds left.
OKC also had a major blunder after the Spurs closed to within 97-94 on a Hill 3-pointer. The Spurs stole the inbounds pass in a one-possession game but the Thunder quickly reseized the momentum when Sefolosha swatted the ball away from Richard Jefferson, leading to Sefolosha’s fourth steal that all but sealed the win.
Durant his two free throws with 13.8 left but hit only one of two at 9.6 seconds after Parker scored.
Now leading 100-96, the Thunder was in good shape, but a tip-in gave the Spurs hope.
Westbrook hit only one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left when two would have iced it.
Out of the timeouts, the Spurs had a shot at a miracle to force overtime. But Tony Parker’s 35-footer desperation shot didn’t fall as the Thunder flew back to Oklahoma City with a huge win.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich summed it up best.
“Oklahoma City had more people play better,” Popovich said. “As individuals, and as a team, they executed better than we did for more minutes. Thus they got the victory. And they deserved it.”
Popovich is right. The Thunder got solid performances from everyone who played and made more big plays down the stretch.
What was interesting in the Thunder locker room after the game was players’ reactions. They admitted it was a good win, beating a top-notch team on the road. But each player also stressed they have three more games the next four days and it was time to focus on what’s ahead, not the quality win they had just posted.
They may be the second youngest team in the league but the Thunder is showing signs of growing up.
Full strength Spurs will be a tough challenge
The Thunder has caught a lot of breaks this season with key players on opposing teams missing games because of injuries. That scenario flip-flops tonight in San Antonio. Coach Gregg Popovich said during pre-game that Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will both play after missing the previous two games with ankle injuries.
The intriguing backdrop to tonight’s game is Oklahoma City split its season series with the Spurs last season, including winning once at AT&T Center.
It was mindboggling that the Thunder fared so well against the veteran Spurs considering Tim Duncan and a strong perimeter game are the very things that constantly doomed Oklahoma City last season.
One explanation is three of the four games were late in the season when the Thunder finished with a 20-30 record and was playing much better basketball.
Another theory is the Spurs are one of those teams a young team could get up for.
The revamped Spurs were supposed to be one of the top contenders this season after adding Richard Jefferson and a few other veterans to a team that has won three NBA titles this decade.
But so far the Spurs have been as unpredicatable as any team.
San Antonio won a 131-124 shootout over Toronto earlier this week without Duncan and Parker. Two nights later is was a defensive slugfest when the Spurs, once again playing without Duncan and Parker, defeated Dallas 92-83.
Earlier in the season, with Duncan and Parker, the Spurs dominated New Orleans at home but then looked lethargic the next night in Chicago in a loss. They lost by double digits at Utah and Portland but romped past Sacramento at home.
Bottom line is the Spurs have been very good at home (4-0) and very bad on the road (0-3) which makes tonight’s challenge all the more difficult for the Thunder.
