OKC Thunder mop up sloppy first half in Phoenix: Player Grades
OKC Thunder Best Reserve:
Although Patrick Patterson’s box score won’t give you shivers I came close to giving him this honor. This because during the second half when the bench made a run Patterson affected so many things happening on the floor. In a capsule of 90 seconds Patterson scored, changed the sizzling Bookers shot in one set, in another he drove him into the help defender to force the turnover, got a key rebound and assisted to a wide open Felton for a three point make.
But… Jerami Grant’s energy wins the day along with the combination of his offensive contribution. When the team appeared to be listless it was the reserves (and Westbrook) who brought energy and OKC’s quality defense. Grant didn’t win all his defensive battles, but his energy was palpable and it sparked the players on the floor.
By night’s end he produced 11 points, 4 rebounds, a steal and a block.
Best Opponent:
The minute I read the ESPN article about trash talk and the section where Booker noted how Westbrook shaded him I knew this was going to be a long night for whoever was guarding Booker.
In truth, it’s likely Booker needs little inspiration when it comes to lighting up teams. In my humble opinion Devin Booker is going to be the league’s next super star. Sure he’s a sharp shooter with a sweet pure stroke, but it’s the other aspects of his game I respect.
Booker has the rare combination of tenacity and poise. It’s not hard to envision this youngster stepping up when the spotlight is brightest. The key will be surrounding him with the right core pieces. The jury is still out on how well Elfrid Payton and Booker will mesh and that question may not be answered until the pair spend a full training camp together.
One thing is certain, Booker hasn’t come close to his ceiling and a bright, bright future lies ahead.
By night’s end Booker’s stat line read 39 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 block with 5 turnovers. He shot 6 of 10 from the perimeter and 16 of 28 from the field (57.1 %).
Notably, (and a bit of a reprieve for Paul George) – Booker had 32 points heading into the final frame but was held to seven points in that quarter).
Final Thoughts
The OKC Thunder never take the easy path, they seemingly prefer to take the road less travelled. This is worrisome as the squad constantly seem to flirt with disaster. That said the Thunder are piling up wins and with the victory tonight are winners in five of their last six games.
The elephant in the room is whether these close victories over middling teams like the Grizzlies, Kings, Magic, Mavericks and Suns is fools gold. Are the Thunder simply not taking the lower tier opponents seriously or having issues getting motivated for these wins?
OKC issues with lower seeds is false:
Although everyone presumes the Thunder perform so much better over top tier teams than the lower seeds that’s not true. As I highlighted in the game day preview the Thunder’s record versus playoff seeds is 13-16. And, with the wn in Phoenix their record versus unseeded squads is 23-12. Therefore OKC boast a better win percentage against non playoff seeds (65.7%) than they do against current playoff seeds (44.8%).
True, they’ve lost to a number of teams they should beat (Nets, Hornets, Pistons, Knicks, Magic, Suns, Kings and twice each to the Lakers and Mavericks). But, every top team has some of those defeats and if that number were 7 instead of 11 this might be a moot point. Golden State and Houston have five and six losses to non seeded teams respectively, so it happens. It just would offer more breathing room if OKC had four or five more wins from this group. Not to mention that would put them firmly in the third seed.
Must win in Portland?
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
Moving forward, the immediate issue will be Westbrook just played 40 minutes and has to don the jersey in less than 24 hours to play the squad who catapulted into third place tonight.
OKC also moved into fifth, but with the Blazers holding a 2-0 season series lead, this game against Portland feels like the must win variety. Win and switch places with Portland and stake a claim on home court in the best possible seed the team can hope for at this stage in the season. Lose and be in jeopardy of falling back to seventh.
Stay tuned as tomorrow may be the most important game the OKC Thunder have played to this point in the season.
For the full box score visit ESPN link here and for game highlights, click the video above. Check back tomorrow for the Blazers game day preview, In the news, and an article with an enticing suggestion to Billy Donovan on how to fix the starting rotation.