Serge Ibaka got a warm twenty-five second ovation from his former home crowd, then turned in a career high 31 point night which included a mid-baseline jumper from the right against Steven Adams which splashed with only half a second left.
OKC used a timeout, moved the ball up court, but came up short on a desperation pass at the rim from Nick Collison to Russell Westbrook.
Orlando Magic 119 — Oklahoma City Thunder 117.
This begins a week of Thunder reunions with some of its former star players. The Detroit Pistons with Reggie Jackson in Detroit tonight. James Harden returns on Wednesday with his Houston Rockets. We’ve already seen the first version of Kevin Durant in Oakland while last night we saw Serge Ibaka at his very best with a sprinkle of former Thunder forward Jeff Green added for good measure. Maybe those five should just assemble their own team and see how far they could go with a starting five of Durant, Green, Ibaka, Jackson, and Harden. You could almost make the argument that stating five would be almost as potent as the Warriors since the Warriors would be without Durant and probably still with Harrison Barnes.
Russell Westbrook was outstanding offensively scoring 41 points on 14-21 from the field. Westbrook triple doubled with a line of 41-13-18.
The Thunder came out with little energy and scored but 13 points in the first period. Westbrook had but five points in the first period, but scored in double figures in the remaining three periods. At one point the Thunder trailed by as many as 21 points before gradually chipping away and had several single digit leads coming down the stretch.
But the Magic always responded with Ibaka, Elfrid Payton, and Evan Fournier all having big offensive nights. With the game tied at 117 and the shot clock off, Serge Ibaka delievered a clutch game winner he never would gotten to attempt when he played alongside of Durant, Harden, and Westbrook.
In the end, it was a bittersweet night at Chesapeake Energy Arena as the Thunder dropped to 6-4 while Serge Ibaka had the greatest moment of his professional career.
Oklahoma City in Detroit tonight for the second night of a back to back.