Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

Five takeaways from the Thunder’s easy win against Indiana

By Tony Heim

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 25: Head Coach Billy Donovan and Russell Westbrook #0 of the OKC Thunder talk during a time out during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 25: Head Coach Billy Donovan and Russell Westbrook #0 of the OKC Thunder talk during a time out during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – OCTOBER 25: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the OKC Thunder talks to a official during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – OCTOBER 25: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the OKC Thunder talks to a official during a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

The OKC Thunder left Wednesday night’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers with a few important lessons about themselves.

Good news Thunder Nation: Oklahoma City is back to .500.

Bad news Thunder Nation: Just kidding, there is no true bad news from last night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat up on the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night, ultimately winning 114-96. Russell Westbrook recorded his second triple-double of the season; Steven Adams and Carmelo Anthony accrued double-doubles of their own to support the League MVP.

It was an all-around solid performance. Besides Victor Oladipo, Indiana struggled to get anything going on the offensive end while Oklahoma City destroyed a Myles Turner-less Pacer defense. The Thunder shot 48.3% from the field and assisted 26 of their 43 made field goals. They outscored Indiana in every quarter – OKC’s overall talent was simply too much for the Pacers to handle.

They’ll be plenty of games like this all season. The quartet of Westbrook, Anthony, Adams (yes he deserves to be grouped with them) and Paul George provides too many weapons for most teams to effectively handle. Even when one has an off night, there’s three other players who can almost single-handedly win a game.

It’s not a coincidence the Thunder’s two wins (both blowouts) have come against two of the worst teams in the league. Unlike last season Oklahoma City won’t lose many of these games. Even when they play poorly they have enough talent down the roster to beat 1/3 of the teams in the league. That didn’t happen tonight, but two blowout wins against bad competition and two losses to fringe Playoff teams show where this team is currently at.

Let’s get on with the takeaways.

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