Thunder fall to the Suns in second game of road trip
By Tony Heim
The OKC Thunder, playing without Andre Roberson and Alex Abrines, fell to the Phoenix Suns 120-99.
Honestly I could have told you that was going to happen. After dismantling the Milwaukee Bucks on national television and beating the Grizzlies in Memphis the next night Oklahoma City was due for a let down game. And the Phoenix Suns have been a problem all year.
A combination of sloppy defense and careless offense led to tonight’s loss.
Phoenix scored their 120 points on only 83 shots; they shot 51.8% from the field while taking 31 attempts from the free throw line. They allowed a smaller Suns team to record 50 points in the paint because the perimeter defense was leaky without Andre Roberson. But that’s not an excuse for the effort that was displayed with three games left until the postseason.
On the bright side the OKC Thunder shot under 40% for the first time since the beginning of March and only hit 7-31 from deep. It was the Thunder’s third game in four nights as well.
Since the playoff seeding is all but solidified tonight’s biggest news came in the form of player achievement. Russell Westbrook officially became the first person since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-1962 season to average a triple-double
Related Story: Russell Westbrook breaks Oscar Robertson’s record
What Westbrook has done is truly remarkable and he deserves all the accolades he is bound to receive. Tonight proved that.
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Russ finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, but he shot 6-25 from the field. He also had eight turnovers. Because Westbrook struggled in turn the rest of the offense struggled; it is the burden he has to carry every night. It was obvious – and rightfully so – that the history of the triple-double had gotten into his head tonight. I detailed it earlier in the day, the wins and losses don’t matter this late in the season.
It’s great seeing four players not named Russell Westbrook receive 10 or more shots. Jerami Grant thankfully played 19 minutes, and minus two terrible three-point attempts he played solid. Even Kyle Singler got some playing time.
Look, this game isn’t that big of a deal. Sure they looked bad, but it doesn’t affect the playoffs whatsover. Now if they go into Denver AND Minneapolis playing like this I’ll start to worry. Until then I’ll chalk this up to a normal Oklahoma City Thunder dud.