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Views from OKC: The Thunder played good basketball again!!

By Tony Heim

Feb 3, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Memphis Grizzlies during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 3, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Memphis Grizzlies during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 3, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after hitting a 3 point shot against the Memphis Grizzlies during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 3, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after hitting a 3 point shot against the Memphis Grizzlies during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Welcome to Views from OKC, Thunderous Intentions’ daily roundup of the best OKC Thunder stories across the web.

New to Views? Glad to have you here, and I hope you’ll make this a daily destination. Well, let’s get started!

Thunder power through a rough third quarter to win

“Oklahoma City took a 10-point lead into halftime behind a strong overall team performance. They scored 32 of their 58 points in the paint, shot 6-12 from three and Russell Westbrook only took 6 shots. It was pure team basketball.”

That’s right. That’s my recap. Now I do what I want. Last night was a Thunder basketball to perfection (kinda). In the first half the ball was moving, Russell Westbrook only took six shots and OKC went up 10 after 24 minutes. Third quarter=(kinda). In the fourth, Westbrook took over and scored the last 15 points of the game. Thunder basketball to perfection.

Must read: Analyzing the Grant-Ilyasova trade

Alex Abrines deserves a bigger role

“The Spaniard sharpshooter’s current situation sees him as a floor spacer off the bench, often going stretches where he doesn’t see the floor. He has recorded seven DNPs this season. The slight guard tends to be a liability on defense, that doesn’t mesh well with Billy Donovan’s affinity for defensive play.”

That’s right. That’s another Thunderous Intentions’ article. But that’s because this one is special to me. Daniel Richardson is the newest writer to the TI staff, and he wrote about Alex Abrines. Daniel is now the #1 in my hierarchy. Seriously though-it’s good. Read it. The only thing I want to add: if we acknowledge that Abrines is weak on defense, why aren’t they utilizing his talents on offense as much as possible? Don’t park him in the corner; run him through screens, play him with Russ…give him the environment to thrive.

Views from Twitter

This is incredible. Can Russ just switch shoes every time he has a bad quarter? Westbrook’s fourth quarter-especially the last two and a half minutes-was magical. He was playing on a different plane from his competition. He did it all: threes, layups, steals, free throws, rebounds. Only reason why he didn’t have an assist was because he was to busy scoring.

https://twitter.com/okcbrasil_/status/827697342010757122

Yes. Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. When the Thunder don’t settle and attack the rim, they thrive. They aren’t a good three-point shooting team; in fact they’re 29th out of 30th in the league. And I’m especially looking at you Victor Oladipo. The more you attack, the more open your shots will become. Make teams fear you. You are that talented.

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