Thunder Somehow Survive Grizzlies in Memphis, 102-101 OT

This was a microcosm, this game in Memphis might be the most symbolic piece of evidence of this season of acute dysfunction in Oklahoma City to date.

Consider these facts before reading further….

OKC shot 39.1 % from the field
The Thunder shot 18-31 from the line
Russell Westbrook was 7-29 from the field
Carmelo Anthony was 7-20 from the field
Memphis led by as many as 20 points in the first half
Paul George missed his second straight game

And here’s the number which perhaps is why OKC won this game….

Alex Abrines made 6 of 8 threes while scoring 20 points. Abrines also hit OKC’s two first shots in overtime.

Let all that soak in. Even for Little Miss Sunshiners…this was an encore level performance of basketball dysfunction. And, yet, here I sit writing in complete awe that Adam Silver actually has a team in Memphis currently which found a way to lose this game to the Thunder.

I have no idea what specific anti-depressant Billy Donovan is taking each game to get through these games, but know this—it won’t be much longer before I’m with him in that regard.

Billy Donovan must be the most decent, kind, gentle, loving, human walking the earth. He must be. There can be no other explanation for him staying on the bench in the second quarter when every Thunder fan was looking at Russell Westbrook and thinking…WTF.

Russell Westbrook triple doubled with 20, 11, and 14, but for parts of this game was terrible. On a night when Baker Mayfield won the Heisman, Bad Little Dude looked nothing like the reigning MVP of something called the NBA. He was brutal. And, yet, in the end, he pulled it together just enough for OKC to somehow escape Memphis with a 102-101 OT win which remarkably pulls the Thunder within one game of the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. One game.

Carmelo Anthony was terrible as well, but he’s at the stage of his career where you don’t expect him to carry a team or be sharp every night. But like Westbrook, in the end, he did make a couple of plays which allowed OKC to win this game over the worst Memphis team in the Thunder era.

It used to be such a great rivalry. Two hard nosed teams fighting for every inch of space on the floor. The memories of Zach Randolph versus Nick Collison in their primes was soiled tonight. I’m sitting here crying.

Abrines was great and is easily my No. 1 Star of the Game. Steven Adams is second with a 21 point, 9 rebound night in which he had to listen to Russell Westbrook bark at him in the fourth period–and yet still found the inner calm to work through it. Andre Roberson worked his ass off for 40 minutes and was hobbling at the end. Patrick Patterson was better in what I thought was his best night as a Thunder player. Ray Felton is Ray Felton, the dude can come fish with me any day he wants. I love Ray Felton. Jerami Grant, coming back from the leg injury played 11 minutes and wasn’t himself, but I still love him. Zach Huestis came off the bench in the fourth period and hit a couple of big shots in only six minutes of play.

So, in the end it was night where the role players carried their weight on the road and somehow, someway, found a way to win an ugly game in Memphis.

OKC improves to 12-13 overall, 3-10 on the road, and if one gleaning positive is to be extracted from this game it’s the fact the role players pulled their end of the bargain.

Oklahoma City is now 4-0 in the month of December in games played in America. Think of that, after reading all the above. So, here’s what I’m saying, we all need to embrace Billy Donovan’s state of mind and get through this together as members of the human race.

The Nick Collison video below is for me. I need it.

OKC hosts Charlotte on Monday night with a chance to improve to 5-0 in December in games played in America.

Think of it that way.

Here’s Nick with Leslie McCaslin after the home win over Minnesota.