Oklahoma City Thunder outlast New Orleans Pelicans

The Oklahoma City Thunder make it 2-0 after the All-Star break with a good win over the struggling New Orleans Pelicans.

After a strong performance against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Oklahoma City Thunder got back to Oklahoma City Thunder basketball on Sunday night against New Orleans. That means that they kept it close the entire time and then let Russell Westbrook do his thing in the fourth quarter.

Positives

*RUSSELL WESTBROOK ENDED DEMARCUS COUSINS!

That was the biggest play of the game. OKC’s offense went cold thanks to a lot of bad shots by Westbrook, Cousins and Davis were feasting and it was a one point game with plenty of time to play. That dunk not only put OKC up three (four after Westbrook hit the free throw), it fouled Cousins out of the game. The Pelicans offense from the first quarter on was run through Cousins. Without him on the floor, they forgot how to run things through Anthony Davis.

Russell Westbrook was frustrating to watch tonight. His decision making for most of this game made me want to break my computer, but when he does things like that; it’s really tough not to love the man. Oh yeah, he had another triple-double.

Westbrook finished with 21 points in the fourth, after having just 20 in the first three quarters.

*Andre Roberson fouled out in the fourth quarter. Nine points may not seem like much, but Roberson continues to chip in offensively. In two games since they All-Star break, Roberson is 12-13 from the field and 4-4 from three. If he contributes 9 to 11 points every game, along with his stellar defense, he’ll get himself paid this offseason.

*After a poor game against the Lakers, his first game in a month following losing a fight against a chair, Enes Kanter looked like Enes Kanter. He had 20 points off the bench, shooting 6-9 from the field and 9-10 from the line. Getting Kanter back really solidifies the bench and turns OKC into a dangerous team.

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*Oklahoma City had 56 points in the paint and 28 points from the line. That’s 71% of their points right there. We knew this wasn’t a jump shooting team heading into the season, and they’ve always relied on getting to the paint, but having Alex Abrines shoot like he has been – he went 3-7 from three in this one – and the addition of Doug McDermott opens up the paint even more.

*Speaking of Abrines, he once again looked good alongside the starters. Keeping him with the starters and utilizing Victor Oladipo as the back-up point guard might be OKC’s best play moving forward, especially if they aren’t able to sign a back-up point guard in the coming weeks. Or maybe play Abrines as the back-up point guard.

*Anthony Davis had 24 points in the first quarter on 8-11 shooting. He finished with 38 on 15-28. A lot of credit goes to the Thunder defense and Billy Donovan, who threw different looks at him for the rest of the credit. But credit also goes to the Pelicans offense and Alvin Gentry, who clearly doesn’t know how to utilize Cousins and Davis together just yet. Maybe they’ll figure it out, but thankfully they didn’t on Sunday.

Negatives

*Taj Gibson and McDermott were less effective than they were against the Lakers. Gibson had six points on 2-9 shooting and McDermott had 2 points on 1-4 shooting. Dougie has yet to hit a three as a member of the Thunder. It’s not worth panicking over. It’s only been two games, OKC is 2-0, they have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, and Donovan is smart enough to figure it out.

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To their credit, Gibson and McDermott were both good on defense. Gibson was one of the looks thrown at Davis, and McDermott finished at +10, second highest on the team (Kanter was +21).

*Semaj Christon has got to go.

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*You’re seeing why OKC wanted Gibson when you watch Domantas Sabonis on defense. I thought offensively, he continues to look good, and it’s clear that he has a rhythm and chemistry with the starters, but he just gets bullied and picked on on defense. This will improve over time, but with the team gearing up for a playoff run, Gibson is a luxury.

*There were seven technical fouls in this one, including two (a double tech on Cousins and Adams) in the opening minutes. Westbrook picked up a tech, which puts him closer to that one game suspension. Someone needs to start arguing calls for him.

*How come OKC always gets blown out on the second game of a back-to-back and teams that play OKC on the second game of a back-to-back always play them close?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are back in action on Tuesday against the Utah Jazz in a big divisional match-up.