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.
https://twitter.com/tony_heim/status/802367932223213572
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.
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…
Related Story: Five Stats that Explain Thunder's Disappointing Record
Negatives from tonight’s WIN
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!!)
Few more positives because Why Not?
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
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.
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.