Former OKC Thunder players deliver critical performances in playoff victories

While OKC Thunder fans are relegated to awaiting the draft it doesn’t mean we aren’t paying attention to the postseason. Several former players who donned the Thunder jersey are playing in round one playoff series and giving us someone to cheer for.

On Sunday, two players who started for OKC a season ago as well as two former stars of the franchise had big games which subsequently majorly impacted their team’s outcome.

Danilo Gallinari is no longer starting given the depth of the Hawks but his production is critical to Atlanta.  He delivered on Sunday to help his squad take a 3-1 series lead. Gallo scored 21 points off the bench for the Hawks plus four rebounds, an assist, and a block.

While Gallinari is known for his 3-point accuracy in this match he was driving the ball more and that resulted in him getting to the charity stripe where he shot eight for eight.

He also played irritant to the Knicks when Reggie Bullock took exception over an elbow in his back that went unpenalized. In the subsequent play, Julius Randle purposely fouled Gallo as retribution which resulted in a flagrant foul for the Knicks star. Atlanta easily won the match 113-96 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Former OKC Thunder captains deliver in Game 4 of playoffs

While the Brooklyn Nets have a Big 3 it was the former OKC Thunder superstar that had one of the most efficient games of the postseason.

Kevin Durant was extremely efficient on his way to collecting 42 points. He shot 14 of 20 from the field and was perfect from behind the arc (3 of 3) as well as from the charity stripe (11 of 11).  James Harden was also on fire dishing out copious assists as he posted a double-double of 23 points and 18 dimes.

Perhaps the surprising part of their games was the steals and blocks they produced with KD collecting a steal and two blocks while Harden was even better with two steals and three blocks. With the 142-126 victory the Nets will return home to Brooklyn up 3-1

But the big news of the weekend centered around last season’s captain Chris Paul. It was revealed that Suns head coach Monty Williams considered sitting CP3 for Game 4 on Sunday due to his shoulder injury.

However, the veteran point guard convinced his coach to let him start the match and if there were concerns about his play or range of motion they agreed he would come out.

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Instead, Paul delivered his best game so far leading the Suns to a victory that evened the series with the Lakers.  His 18 points were the team-high along with nine assists, three rebounds, and three steals.

The Point God made critical plays in the match like a steal in clutch time off 7′ Lakers big man Marc Gasol and running the offense to close out the match.

Injuries have become the biggest factor in this series with Anthony Davis going down with a groin strain. Since groins tend to take time to heal it’s likely AD won’t be available for Game 5 in Phoenix.

Couple that with the former OKC Thunder captain looking much closer to himself and it should give the Suns the advantage moving forward.