Russell Westbrook hit the game winner from the right wing elbow with 1.5 seconds left to seal a 97-95 road win. But as far as late game heroics go Steven Adams was just as clutch making three keys plays down the stretch which turned a possible third straight road loss into one of the Thunder’s five best wins of the season. It was a game Oklahoma City genuinely had to have if it has aspirations of winning the Northwest Division title.
Let’s start with Russell Westbrook. Westbrook once again showed why it’s an absolute crime he wasn’t named an All-Star starter last week despite getting the votes necessary from players and the media. I’ll address this maybe tomorrow if Donald Trump can act like an adult for forty-eight straight hours. I’d actually like to start writing some basketball stuff on here again if the German unification of Red State America slows down a bit. It’s just such an incongruent thought, Nazis and southern rednecks as one.
Russell Westbrook tripled doubled for the 22nd time this season and the 59th time in his career. He now stands tied with Larry Bird with 59 career triple doubles. I’ll write this though now, I have Westbrook a length ahead of James Harden on my MVP vote sheet and it’s absurd Steph Curry was named a starter over Westbrook given their numbers this season and the fact OKC might have ten wins this season without Westbrook. Steph Curry is basically Steph Curry, but he’s coasted this season with Durant alongside him and the other two All-Stars. Westbrook’s body of work and value over Curry this season isn’t even close.
Overall, this was an entertaining game to watch other than the third period when both teams couldn’t find the bottom of the basket. The Thunder were especially cold scoring only 11 points in the period as Westbrook struggled with an 0-7 shooting period in the third. At one point, Utah put a 13-0 run on Oklahoma City, but coming down the stretch, OKC steadied itself and made the plays on the road to garner a very big game for this basketball team.
The thing I really liked about this game was OKC showed some real mental toughness while Oklahoma City’s five best players all played like their five best players almost in a perfect ascension of what should be their roles on this team. Beyond Westbrook and Adams, Victor Oladipo, Enes Kanter, and Andre Roberson all gave Billy Donovan what he needs if this team is going get better after this brutally tough January schedule lets up and turns into a much easier slate in February.
Oladipo was excellent scoring 18 points and adding a cartload of little things which make Russell Westbrook’s life on the court much easier. Enes Kanter wasn’t spectacular amid his former team’s fan’s still booing him, but he did enough and did it when it was needed in garnering 14 points and 5 rebounds, plus I thought he got a really bad call late when they called him for a foul on his tip play basket.
I get on Andre Roberson from time on here because of his inconsistent offensive game, but he was excellent tonight. To me, if I’m Billy Donovan this is what I tell Andre I expect from him on more nights than not. Roberson scored eight points, grabbed eleven rebounds, and added two assists for good measure. Just an excellent overall game for Roberson. When Roberson makes a contribution in other ways other than just his defense, I honestly think OKC has a chance to be a top three team in the West. When he sucks, not so much.
So a great night for the Thunder in the Rockies as they get out of Salt Lake with a win and improve to 26-19 on the season. OKC now stands 5-6 for the month of January and considering the Adams concussion and the strength of schedule, the Thunder can live with this especially if they can win the next two versus New Orleans and Dallas.
I’ve written this several times on my blog this season, but I’ll write it again now. With Kevin Durant gone the goals for this team this season are obviously going to be massively different. But if you told me before the season started the Thunder would be 26-19 on January 24th I’d have taken it.
The Thunder in New Orleans on Wednesday night to play a Pelicans team which is playing much better since it’s gotten healthier. Should be a good game.
On a sidenote, our family did the Ancestry 23 thing and it turns out I’m somewhat Italian as I thought I might be.. Given that Oklahoma is now Bavaria in the new German World Order, I thought it might be wise to learn how to speak a little German and Italian. So for now, arrivederci.