Granted, the Thunder ended their seven game road losing streak against the woeful Brooklyn Nets, but it was a much needed road win and OKC’s third win in a row with Victor Oladipo and Taj Gibson together in the starting lineup for the third straight game.
It was a fairly entertaining game as Jeremy Lin kept the Nets in the game the first half as the score was tied 62 apiece at the half. But the Thunder took control in the second half finally wearing down the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
The ambience inside the Barclay Centre was in a word…fun. A good deal of the crowd was much more into supporting Russell Westbrook’s 33rd triple double of the season rather than cheering for their feeble Russian owned team. When Westbrook grabbed his 10th rebound the crowd gave him an enthusiastic roar which was the first time this has happened on the road to this extent during this Year of Westbrook, not to mention several loud MVP chants emanated for Bad Little Dude as well. Westbrook’s official triple dub line read 25 points, 10 rebounds, 19 assists. An extraordinary assist night for Westbrook as he put an extra 9 assists in the bank for a night when his teammates aren’t making shots. It was a fun night.
Bad Little Dude II was excellent as well as he scored 21 points and was 3-4 from beyond the arc. To me, Victor Oladipo is the piece which takes this Thunder to a higher level when he brings his A game. Oladipo is the player who has to pretty much be there for Russell Westbrook on a nightly basis if the Thunder want to contend in this season’s post season tournament. As Oladipo goes, I think the Thunder will go.
Taj Gibson started his third straight game and OKC is 3-0 in those games. Gibson was rock solid in this game scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. He’s a significant vet upgrade over rookie Domas Sabonis and his calming effect on the team is obvious. He’s Perk with hands and a shot. Nice move by Presti on the deadline.
Three other Thunder players scored in double figures in this game. Enes Kanter with 17 points and 5 rebounds was excellent after starting the game very slowly. Alex Abrines added 13 points making some key threes, and Steven Adams chipped in 11 points.
All in all, it was a fun, memorable night for the Thunder as the they got a much needed road win while Russell Westbrook notched his 33rd triple double to pull within eight triple troubles of Oscar Robertson with fifteen games still remaining.
OKC improves to 38-29 overall and 13-20 on the road.
The Thunder play another road game on Thursday night when they visit the Toronto Raptors in what should be an excellent basketball game between two teams who want to have a say as this season steers towards April.