The OKC Thunder beat the Philadelphia 76ers behind Russell Westbrook’s 35th triple-double, here’s the game round up.
The OKC Thunder held their heads as shot after shot clanged off the rim – clearly still reeling from the Monday loss to the Golden State Warriors. That could have easily been the case for this young team. However, it stayed focused and poised and didn’t let another inexperienced team gain any confidence.
The first quarter was all Russell Westbrook, pouring in 12 points and hitting all of his shots and free throws. What was apparent for the OKC Thunder is they wanted to focus on the paint with Philadelphia having a shortage on bigs that could defend or even stifle any Thunder player looking to get to the rim. OKC was +10 in points in the paint with 18 in the first quarter. Not only was the team scoring from inside, it was gobbling up the rebounds – 15 was the count in the first quarter, nine more than the 76ers.
Reserve Specialist:
Enes Kanter was a big part of leading the paint attack for OKC. Philadelphia tried single coverage, it didn’t work. The team would send help, Kanter would attack before the help came – or simply power through and take the contact. His 7 free throw attempts led all players in the first half. His 19 points set a new career high for points in a half. Prior to tonight, 17 was his current mark.
Taking a 13-point lead into the half, OKC still had plenty of room to further keep the team at bay. That’s exactly what the team did. Coming out of the half, there was a clear sense of focus from the OKC Thunder the 76ers couldn’t seem to match or stop.
Four minutes into the start of the third quarter the Thunder went on a 17-4 run, going on to produce 32 points for the quarter. Russell Westbrook used the run to fuel his way to his 35th triple double of the season. 18 points 11 rebounds 14 assists – this marks the 16th time this season that he dished 14 or more assists in a game.
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The team took a 95-70 lead into the final quarter. Westbrook didn’t play in the fourth quarter and got some much needed rest. The OKC Thunder took the game 122-97. OKC scored 76 points in the paint and held the 76ers to 25 total rebounds. With the Thunder pulling in 54 of their own.
Nightly Notable
Westbrook went 6-6 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line for the game. After the Warriors seemed to bottle him up and take away anything he wanted to do offensively, it was apropos for him to literally not miss anything the next game.
Per Elias, Westbrook is the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double going perfect from the floor and the free throw line.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) March 23, 2017
Nik Staukas had himself a game. He poured in a team leading 20 points, hitting 62% from three on eight attempts. No other player in this game shot more than five threes. Some of his shots were incredibly contested and he just would hit them anyway.
The defense of the Thunder was especially brilliant. After letting Golden State do whatever they pleased on Monday, OKC made a concerted effort to challenge everything at the rim and make it hard for the perimeter players to find any airspace. OKC had 8 total blocks, 5 came in the first quarter alone. Philadelphia shot 42% for the game.
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Uncharacteristically the OKC Thunder have three full days off prior to a matinee on Sunday at Houston where the top MVP candidates will face off.