OKC Thunder player grades: Paul George leads historic comeback effort to beat Nets
By Rylan Stiles
Player Grades
A. . PG. Oklahoma City Thunder. RUSSELL WESTBROOK
On a night where the OKC Thunder played terrible basketball, Russell Westbrook collected his 103rd career triple-double passing Jason Kidd for third on the all-time list.
Westbrook finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 17 assists.
Russell Westbrook did not have the best game despite the counting stats turning into a triple-double. After Paul George fought and crawled his way back almost single-handedly in this game, bad shot selection by Russell Westbrook late in the fourth quarter almost sealed the deal in Brooklyn. Royce Young said it best.
That was a really bad shot by Westbrook. You can snuff out your own comeback attempt on shot selection alone, and Westbrook couldn't resist trying to tie the game.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) December 6, 2018
Westbrook did poke the ball loose and out of bounds on the Nets last possession of the game down two, to leave them with one-tenth of a second in the game to seal the win for OKC.
D. . SG. Oklahoma City Thunder. TERRANCE FERGUSON
Terrence Ferguson was just off all night. Defensively he never looked to be himself, even getting an out of sorts goaltend on that end. Offensively Ferguson had a loud dunk but a silent 8 points with a rebound. A very forgettable, meh, game for Ferguson.
Oklahoma City Thunder. PAUL GEORGE. A+. . SF
Paul George had an amazing second half, after scoring just 12 first half points, George finished with 47-points, while collecting 15 rebounds, and blocking a shot. This was the most dominant Paul George has looked as a member of the OKC Thunder.
George took over this game and made his impact felt. The hustle plays, going after loose balls and never quitting despite the team being held at a 20 point arm’s length for most of the contest.
This amazing performance was capped off by PG hitting the game-winning three, attributed to a great out of bounds play drawn up by Billy Donovan that saw all the action going with Russell Westbrook before he dumped it over to George for the win.
Paul George scored 25 of his 47 points in the fourth quarter, a fourth quarter for the ages in OKC Thunder lore.
George’s 25 points are the most in a single quarter by any player in OKC Thunder (regular season) history.
. PF. Oklahoma City Thunder. JERAMI GRANT. F
Jerami Grant had four fouls and turned in just a pair of points on 1-of-5 shooting. It was not his best game, to say the least. Grant hauled in three rebounds and swatted a trio of shots as well. Like most of the Thunder roster, Grant just did not look himself tonight. Not even close.
B. . C. Oklahoma City Thunder. STEVEN ADAMS
Steven Adams was very good tonight. The big man posted 14 points, six rebounds, two steals, and block, and a great pass to set up a fiery Russell Westbrook dunk. It was not the most jaw dropping, impressive, stellar game for Adams. However, he did his job and that is more than most the Thunder players can say tonight.