Russell Westbrook continued his excellent recent run of play with a 27, 10, 10 triple double, but it was Paul George who set the tone with one of his better performances as a member of the Thunder in a 103-89 road win over the Utah Jazz.
Paul George was excellent on both ends of the floor. Defensively, George had six steals on the night and set a tone on that end of the floor. Offensively, George scored 26 points on a 10-17 shooting night.
It was OKC’s fourth straight win as the Thunder improved to 10-3 in December and 18-15 overall. Look closer and you’ll notice the Thunder are on the plus side against Western Conference teams and figuring out how to be a decent road team. Both telling indicators on your Thunder dashboard.
As I think back over the first thirty-three games of this season, I would rank this as one of the Thunder’s top three performances given that it was the second night of a back to back on the road and a game the Thunder really kind of needed to win if they wanted to continue to build positive momentum. The Thunder played hard, they played smart, and they played with poise in the second half.
Steven Adams was good again with a 12 point 9 rebound night. I’m not sure how I would rank the top five centers in the Western Conference, but I’m fairly certain the way Steven Adams’ play has been trending he would be in my top five at the least. This Steve Adams in December is the guy we saw in that 2016 post season run. Another good thing for the Thunder.
Carmelo had a decent game scoring 16 points. Nothing stellar, but he doesn’t have to be stellar when Westbrook and George play like they did tonight. Just fill in the gaps.
If you look at the Western Conference standings on Christmas Eve…the conference standings have pretty much fallen in line with what most thought would happen in the West.
The Thunder have a unique challenge in front of them heading into Christmas with four home games to close out the month of December. This is when the Thunder either make their statement or fall back into a clump of teams like Denver, Portland, and New Orleans.
When I originally looked at the month of December–I didn’t think 14-3 was crazy talk considering all the home games. I still don’t think it’s crazy talk, but the Thunder we saw tonight is the Thunder which needs to show up to close out the month on a roll with home wins over Houston, Toronto, Milwaukee, and Dallas.
Yeah, I know, three of these teams are pretty good, but it’s time for this Thunder team to walk the walk and do something kind of special to close out the month of December heading into 2018.
This would start by the Thunder beating the Houston Rockets on Christmas evening inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. This is kind of a big game for multiple reasons in my mind. Not just because of the standings, but maybe as a chance to recruit or influence Paul George to think there’s a reason for him to stay in Oklahoma City as a basketball player.
I just really see this as a big game for the Thunder. It should be a great game and at the risk of being overly dramatic– I think it’s a big game for Russell Westbrook, Billy Donovan, Sam Presti, and the entire Thunder organization. This is why you rolled the dice and traded Oladipo and Sabonis. This is why you rolled the dice and traded Kanter and McDermott. The dice weren’t rolled to be a mediocre No. 5 seed in the West. The dice were rolled to be something special. To show Russell Westbrook the Thunder were committed to excellence heading down the road.
I’ll be there sitting low. Some will say it’s just 1 of 82…I don’t buy into that type of thinking. I think there are special games which define you and your season. I’ve had this game circled as more important than the earlier home win over Golden State even after the Thunder rolled the Warriors
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OKC needs to define its season on Christmas evening. Russell Westbrook needs to help convince Paul George they have a future together. Carmelo needs to prove to himself he can still help a hopeful contender possibly be special. Billy Donovan needs to prove he can be a top third coach in this league.
Storylines abound.
I can’t wait.
This is why you wade through the bullshit games. This is why.