There have been some huge Thunder wins this season with the Divine Intervention in Philly and the epic double overtime win over the Jazz leading the list, but this win in Portland could very well be the biggest as far as season changing momentum and playoff seeding for the Thunder.This was a game Oklahoma City absolutely had to have to slant the seeding math in their favor to secure home court in the first round. If you looked at the standings and examined the final five weeks left on the schedule this was the game the Thunder needed in the worst way on this brutal four game western road swing.
Mission accomplished.
This was playoff basketball in its purist sense for the Thunder. The starters went heavy on the minutes. The bench was used more sparingly. Dennis Schroder for defensive reasons never saw the floor in the final ten minutes of play. Westbrook played 40 minutes, Paul George played 43 minutes.
This was a game for the stars on both teams standing front and center with the role players understanding this in a sense was a seeding game.
Westbrook scored 37 points on a 14-28 night. Paul George scored 32 points and went 17-20 from the line. Combined they gave Billy Donovan 69 points and a truckload of leadership from wire to wire. This is what your stars are supposed to do in playoff basketball.
Damian Lillard scored 51 points. McCullom added 25 points. Combined they had 76 points, but the Thunder did a good job with the rest of the Blazer roster.
Maurice Harkless had only two points. Nurkic was held in check with 13 points. Enes Kanter only managed 3 points and in no way mitigated the defensive liability he still is as an NBA player.
This game had everything. It was chippy. The Thunder played with an edge. Westbrook dumped Nurkic on the floor from behind. Paul George stung Nurkic with an elbow to the jaw which led to the game’s biggest play minutes later as Nurkic was ejected for head butting George.
Billy Donovan was right on the mark managing the minutes in the game. His rotations made sense. He knows his defense is a sieve with Westbrook and Schroder paired together…and they were never together the final ten minutes of this game.
The Thunder leave Portland at 40-25 with sole possession of the No. 4 seed still in their pocket plus a 4-0 series sweep of the Blazers.The Thunder in LA tomorrow night to play the second night of a road back to back. The goal on this four game road swing was to go 2-2. With a win either in LA or Salt Lake City the Thunder can take a deep breath and regroup for the final 15 regular season games.