Thunder were polar opposites from one half to the next.
It was a case of déjà vu. The OKC Thunder gave up a double-digit lead that maxed out at a 17-point deficit seven minutes into the second quarter before re-emerging as a new team for the second half.
Fool me once
The first half left nothing much positive to say about OKC’s performance. The Thunder turned over the ball 10 times while allowing nine different Nets players to put points on the board. Brooklyn chose to pack the paint to make driving to the basket difficult for OKC, and it worked. The Nets outscored the Thunder 30-16 inside the paint. To make matters worse, Brooklyn’s bench outscored OKC’s bench 23-7 in the first two frames. Oklahoma City went into the locker room down by 10 points with a score of 52-42.
To quote country music artist Jerry Reed: “When you’re hot, you’re hot. And when you’re not, you’re not.” The Thunder’s first half was anything but hot. In the second half, OKC caught fire.
Fool me twice
Oklahoma City left nothing to doubt in the second half. The Thunder are simply the better team, and they proved it once again. OKC outscored Brooklyn 66-44 in the final two frames to earn a comfortable win in front of their home crowd.
Starters not named Russell Westbrook contributed at their normal rate with the Thunder’s offense ending the night at a 42.7 percent field goal percentage with a 39.3 percent success rate from behind the arc. OKC only had two more turnovers in the second half and outscored Brooklyn 30-10 inside the paint. The Thunder’s defensive prowess was reignited, and Paul George came alive for a strong outing to end the night.