I’m not sure what we saw tonight beyond tonight, but it was a different version of the Thunder we haven’t seen before. This wasn’t Russell Westbrook’s team tonight, it was more of Paul George and Steven Adams taking the reigns with the mercurial Russell Westbrook weaving parts of his game here and there.
OKC finally won a game against a Northwest division foe in beating the Minnesota Timberwolves by a 111-107 count inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Thunder started great, built a twenty something lead, then gradually saw it dwindle to almost nothing, but held on at the end with a huge Steven Adams putback at the 27 second mark and two big free throws by Paul George at the very end to ice the game.
Oh, it’s not like Wild Thing or Bad Little Dude or the reigning MVP wasn’t in the building, but this was a different OKC team in that Paul George and Steven Adams were the storylines and Russell Westbrook was a supporting character still trying to figure out how to calibrate his game with his new teammates.
I’ll start with Steven Adams. He had a career night scoring 27 points making all 11 of his field goal attempts. You knew it was his night when he made all five free throw attempts and was a Thunder best at +18. This was the Steven Adams we saw glimpses of two post seasons ago when in essence his play commanded the $25 million salary he now enjoys. Tonight was the Steven Adams we thought would emerge last fall but never materialized. This may have been Steven Adams’ best game in Thunder blue. Anyway, he would be my No. 1 star of the game. Nicely done, mate.
Having written all of the above in the previous paragraph, Adams wasn’t the best Thunder player on the floor in this game—that would have to be Paul George who was fabulous and had maybe his best game in Thunder blue as well. While Bad Little Dude was still struggling on a 6-21 shooting night, it was Paul George who calmed the Thunder when they needed calming.
George’s line was brilliant. 36 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds. He was 11/11 at the line and his defense was solid. I thought he was the best basketball player on the floor. Period. He played 42 minutes, made the plays when they were needed and steered the Thunder to a win they had to have if there’s any hope in turning this season into something of note in OKC.
Russell Westbrook showed flashes of what he needs to be in the Maurice Cheeks point guard template from the ’83 Sixers, but not enough. I hate to bitch about this, but Russell has to stop jacking threes on nights when other guys are having really good nights. Russell went 6-21 from the field and 0-8 from beyond the arc. There was no need for some of those quick threes, it was a night when Adams and George were scoring at will.
On the night, Westbrook almost tripled doubled with 15 points, 14 assists, and 9 rebounds, but he still needs to be better. What Russell Westbrook has still yet to show me as a basketball player is that he can totally turn himself into a point guard who calibrates his game from scorer to facilitator as the game goes through nuance flow changes. This is the part of Westbrook which has to emerge if he ever wants to win an NBA championship.
Carmelo Anthony didn’t shoot much on this night and that’s a good thing because he had two teammates in Adams and George who were on fire on this particular night.
Roberson, Jerami Grant, and Ray Felton did their usual array of blue collar team things which never go unnoticed by this blogger. I love what they do for the team.
Not much from again from the rest of the bench as Patterson, Huestis, and rookie Terrance Ferguson made minimal contributions. Alex Abrines was a DNP again and Donovan is getting virtually nothing from his two three point specialists in Ferguson and Abrines. Some how, some way, that needs to change. OKC needs something from at least one of these guys because that’s why they’re on the fucking roster. Link on a chain, boys….pull your link.
Nick Collison played two minutes late in the first half and made a quick dish off assist which touched my heart and reminded why I love him so much as basketball player.
OKC was good on the boards, had 28 assists, and was 21/22 from the line. All good things.
Fool me once it’s on you. Fool me twice….. So I’m not going to sit here and write some bullshit about how the Thunder turned a corner and it’s all blue skies moving forward, but on this night in Oklahoma City–Steven Adams and Paul George were good enough to get the Thunder a win over a playoff caliber team from the Western Conference.
I have no idea if this has any carryover whatsoever or if it’s just another cruel turn in this season of dysfunction which seems more like Little Miss Sunshine than Hoosiers, but on this night…I’ll take it and be somewhat grateful.
San Antonio Spurs in Oklahoma City on Sunday night.