OKC Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns Game Grades
Feb. 10, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket against Phoenix Suns center Marcin Gortat (4) in the first quarter at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Oklahoma City Thunder won their fourth straight game Sunday night 97-69 against the Phoenix Suns on the road. The win brings the Thunder’s record to 39-12 on the season, just a half game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the NBA.
The Thunder tied a franchise-record allowing just 69 points in the game. The Suns shot 31 percent through three quarters and ended the game at just 33 percent from the field.
The Thunder were without sixth man Kevin Martin but the starters picked up the slack accounting for 71 of the team’s 74 points through three quarters. The starters got to sit out the entire fourth quarter for the fourth straight game.
The Thunder will be on the road again for their next game Tuesday night when they take on the Utah Jazz.
Here are the Game Grades:
Kevin Durant – 29 minutes, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists – B
It really felt like Durant didn’t do much at all last night and that’s mainly because he didn’t need to. He made 6-of-11 shots from the field and didn’t make any threes. The only suffering from these last four games for OKC is Durant’s scoring average since he hasn’t been needed to play many minutes.
Russell Westbrook – 28 minutes, 24 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound – A
Westbrook has been taking advantage of the Suns this year and their inability to match up with him. He shot over 50 percent from the field for the game including a dagger three to end the first half at the buzzer. Westbrook was a menace on the defensive end as well and ended up with four steals.
Serge Ibaka – 27 minutes, 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks – B
It was another solid game from Ibaka. He was making his jumper finishing 5-for-11 from the field for the game. Like Durant, the Thunder didn’t need much from Ibaka to get past Phoenix.
Kendrick Perkins – 26 minutes, 0 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks – C+
Perkins was the only starter not to score and this was coming off a 17-point outing in the Thunder’s last game which was also against the Suns. Perkins did other things as usual to make an impact. He had three blocks, three steals and two assists and held Marcin Gortat to just six points.
Thabo Sefolosha – 34 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists – A+
After scoring 18 points against the Suns two nights prior, Sefolosha goes for 20 last night including making a career-high five three-pointers. It’s not often Sefolosha outscores Durant but he was very aggressive all game long and put together one of his best games of the year. He would also come up with three steals and the Thunder were plus-38 with him on the floor.
Nick Collison – 14 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist – B
Collison didn’t play a lot of minutes last night. He just showed up to work and did his job.
Reggie Jackson – 20 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists – A
This was one of Jackson’s best games of the year if not his best. He is starting to look more and more like a point guard with every game and that’s because he keeps getting more comfortable in the offense. The rebounds are always a plus but it’s really the assists and scoring that you want to see from Jackson and he brought it last night.
Hasheem Thabeet – 11 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebounds, 1 block – C
Nothing too special from Thabeet last night. He always finds away to get a block no matter how little he plays and had a nice dunk as well off a Jackson feed.
DeAndre Liggins – 22 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist – C+
Even though Liggins was 0-for-3 from the field and didn’t score he still did a lot of things and fit in well with the team. He got more minutes with Martin missing the game too. Liggins will start to get even more minutes if he can start knocking down threes but he didn’t do that last night.
Perry Jones, III – 10 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist – C
Jones has been getting a lot of burn in these last four games and isn’t exactly taking advantage of it. He went just 1-of-6 from the field last night and mostly took jumpers. He does seem to be getting more comfortable in the offense and thus more aggressive but he’s still a long way from having a shot at cracking the rotation.
Eric Maynor – 10 minutes, 5 points, 2 assists – B
Maynor is another guy who has finally been getting some minutes lately because of all these blowouts. He looked good last night with a couple of dimes and knocked down a three as well.
Daniel Orton – 8 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound – B
Orton is a big body and has a decent touch around the rim. He could possibly become a nice backup center in the future for OKC.