OKC Thunder Discover Magic Elixir in Fourth Quarter to Defeat Denver

9-8! 9-8! 9-8! It doesn’t matter how they got the win; all that matters is that the OKC Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 132-129 in OT Friday night.

Honestly all I can do is laugh after that one. The OKC Thunder trailed by 13 points with 6:24 left in the game and then Russell Westbrook happened.

Westbrook recorded 16 points in the final 4:11 of regular time to help push the game to overtime. The Thunder actually had a three-point lead with nine seconds left, but Steven Adams fouled Jamal Murray on his potential game-tying three. Murray hit all three free throws, Russ got his layup blocked by Kenneth Faried and BAM we got free basketball.

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The Thunder continued their roll into overtime, never allowing Denver to take a lead in the extra period. It wasn’t pretty though.

Oklahoma City shot 1-9 in OT, scoring eight of their ten points from the free throw line. Unlike the fourth quarter in which the offense (Russ) forced their way back into the game, it was the defense that stepped it up.

Nov 25, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) directs traffic in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Thunder won 132-129. Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

After Denver scored 58 points in the paint in regular time, the Thunder forced the Nuggets to shoot from the perimeter. Denver’s devastating pick & roll was stifled once Billy Donovan finally adjusted and pulled an extra help defender to the paint.

Tonight was huge for the inexperienced Thunder. They proved to themselves they can score without Westbrook; OKC put up 62 points in the first half even though Russell had 4 points on 1-7 shooting. Their 29 assists were the byproduct of a team finally looking for open teammates over their own shot, and that starts with Russ.

Westbrook didn’t take a shot in the first four minutes and the Thunder starting unit was rolling because of it. OKC scored 14 points in that span with three different players recording an assist. Russ’ focus was getting his teammates involved, and all four of his starters scored before he took his first shot.

If the Thunder had to come back from a 13-point deficit than SOMETHING had to have gone wrong right? Precisely…

Negatives from tonight’s WIN

The Thunder were outrebounded tonight 51-40. Denver came in as the number one rebounding unit in the league and they dominated the glass. At one point the discrepancy was at 41-25, but once Denver finally started missing shots OKC closed the gap. I wasn’t expecting them to outrebound Denver, but this number should have been closer.

The Thunder gave up 122 points in regular time.

This just can’t happen. Five minutes in overtime proved that OKC was capable of stopping Denver, but they seemed disinterested most of the night. Especially Russell Westbrook. But more on that in an upcoming article (hint hint come back to Thunderous Intentions to check it out!!)

Nov 25, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) passes the ball falling to the floor in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Thunder won 132-129. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Anthony Morrow continues to play over Alex Abrines. So maybe this is just my excuse to complain about Abrines not getting minutes tonight. But it’s my recap so be it. Morrow put up his second straight negative double-digit +/- tonight; his -10 was the worst of the night for OKC. Abrines has done nothing (in game at least) to deserve getting his minutes taken away, and Morrow hasn’t done anything to deserve those minutes.

Few more positives because Why Not?

More from Thunderous Intentions

The Thunder shot 13-26 from three. This has everything to do with the quality of shots Oklahoma City was getting tonight. The guys did a great job finding the open man and the open man did an even better job putting the ball in the bucket. Unselfish teams win over talented teams in this league, and maybe that is finally sinking in with this young team.

Joffrey Lauvergne stuck it to the team that traded him. King Joffrey had a season-high 15 points on 6-8 shooting including 3-4 from deep. He was not afraid to pull tonight, and I am thankful for that.

Victor Oladipo is officially growing exponentially. Oladipo’s defense was crucial in stopping the Nuggets in overtime. Even more crucial was Victor’s seven assists tonight. The Thunder are now 3-1 when Dipo records five assists or more; when he’s attacking in order to free up someone else the Thunder offense is exponentially better. He’s got to keep playing like a pseudo-point guard for the Thunder to be at there best.

Sadly for the Thunder, they won’t have a day off to rest after this crazy game. The Detroit Pistons come to Oklahoma City for the two team’s second matchup of the season (Detroit won the first without Andre Drummond). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm central time.

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