Behind Russell Westbrook’s 40 points and Abdel Nader’s career night, the OKC Thunder took over later to take a 118-102 road win over the Phoenix Suns.
For most of the season, the OKC Thunder have been known as a third quarter team. But against the Phoenix Suns, the Thunder became a 4th quarter closing machine turning a three-point deficit into a 16-point victory. With Paul George (quad) and Alex Abrines (illness) missing prior to the tip and Terrance Ferguson tapping out after just seven minutes of action (stomach big) OKC rode Russell Westbrook‘s 40 points and Abdel Nader’s career-high 18-point night to propel them to victory.
This contest had the makings of a trap game. Had OKC lost, it would have been easy to blame it on the missing core players. But Russ would have none of it. For all the talk of his “struggles” this season (with some “fans” even calling for a trade), Westbrook looked very much like a former MVP in this one. He posted 40 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists en route to his most dominant performance of the season. He was in total control when he was on the floor, looking like the 2016-17 version of himself that won the league’s Most Valuable Player.
But Westbrook could not do it alone. The surprise of the night was the performance by Nader The sparsely used forward came into the night having scored just 16 points the entire season. With Abrines and Ferguson out, the team needed someone to step up and the Egyptian answered the call scoring 18 points on just 13 shots (7-13 from the field). He was aggressive right from the outset and eclipsed his previous career high of 11 by halftime.
Dennis Schroder had a rough first three quarters, scoring only six points on 3-12 shooting. But he erupted in the fourth, going 5-6 (2-2 from 3) to finish the quarter with 14 points. It was the spark the Thunder carried the entire quarter on their way to a 118-102 victory.
For Phoenix, Devin Booker had 25 points, but needed 22 shots to reach that amount. T.J. Warren scored 19 and DeAndre Ayton had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Up next for the Thunder is a home/road back to back against the Dallas Mavericks to finish the calendar year.
Alex Roig is on recap tonight for this great team win. You can simply play the link below or visit Anchor to load the podcast.
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