Schroeder, Westbrook Lead Thunder Past Suns, 118-102

Granted, this was a game the Thunder won against the lowly (9-27) Phoenix Suns by a score of 118-102 on the road Friday night, but beyond that initial fact it was a game in which I was actually somewhat impressed by how the Thunder finished the game in the fourth period.

It was a game where the Thunder had to overcome the absence of Paul George due to a contused quad and then lost Terrance Ferguson due to some sort of illness after he played his normal rotation in the first period. Add to that, since apparently Alex Abrines is only going to make sporadic appearances this season due to his never ending physical frailty…the Thunder were playing the Suns without three rotational players.

So for me, just winning the game period with this scenario was a good thing for the Thunder especially considering the formidable contributions made by Dennis Schroeder and Abdel Nader.

Schroeder had to start in place of Paul George and struggled mightily until the fourth quarter. But then when it became money time his light switch clicked and he scored 15 of his 20 points in the fourth when the Thunder were finally able to dispense of the worst team in the Western Conference. I had Schroder as my No. 1 Star of the Game just ahead of Westbrook who was excellent scoring 40 points on a 17-29 shooting night. Combined—the guard combo accounted for 60 points on the night which was needed since the NBA’s Player of the Month was sitting with that contused quad.

Besides winning the game, the thing which might give me some hope moving forward was how well Westbrook and Schroder managed the game together from the point in that pivotal fourth period. It was like watching Harden and Westbrook in that magical run in 2012. But of course this game wasn’t against Dirk’s Mavs, Kobe’s Lakers, or Timmy’s Spurs– this was against the lowly Suns. But still, it’s something you can maybe cling to if you’re into rainbows and butterflies. But again, these Suns won’t be around when the Western Playoffs begin in April as much as we all wish they could be the Thunder’s first round opponent.

Abdel Nader for the second straight game got minutes. This time though he got 33 minutes in that Billy Donovan had no other options given the fact his was down three rotational wing players.

Nader was superb. He scored 18 points, hustled on the boards, didn’t do anything stupid I could detect and was my No. 3 Star of the Game. I thought he was excellent. He has a much better body than either Ferguson or the frail/anemic Abrines so who knows…maybe this could be the start of something positive for the Thunder this season if Nader could take over the Abrines role and give the Thunder some toughness and production with those minutes. Nader kind of has a body type like Shane Battier but I won’t get ahead of myself.

I’m totally good with the minutes Diallo and Ferguson are getting in relation to their level of play…keep that coming. Abrines is the dude I have circled in red as a hockey coach. As in — how do I make my team better using those minutes in a different manner. To me, Nader, Ferguson, and Diallo all appear to be better athletes than Abrines…so if I’m Donovan that’s something I have to think about and clearly Billy Donovan has given that some thought. So…we’ll see.

Jerami Grant and Steven Adams were both good and I’m to the point I don’t worry about either one of those guys as far as them being starters on a team which we hope can get beyond the first round this season. The Abrines spot is the one which concerns me. That was the spot heading into this season I knew the Thunder needed consistent production from night in and night out. He seems like a sweet kid, but you can’t miss games every time someone bumps into you or breathes on you with some germs.

The Thunder improve to 22-12 and for the moment nudge back into second place in the West.

So…well see. As you can tell–I’ve come to terms with Wild Thing and this non-profit called the Thunder. One step at a time…see the big picture as a human. But I do find it extremely odd that in this year when my wife and I are starting to talk about the possibility of moving to Denver in the future…that the Denver Nuggets and the Thunder sit atop the Western Conference standings.

Is god sending me a sign beyond Kendra Horn winning the 5th Congressional District in otherwise dumpster fire Trumpland Oklahoma?

Could be.

The Thunder play the Mavs on Sunday.

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