The Thunder pulled it out tonight in a close one at the Barclays Center. OKC relied greatly on their big three tonight, with the trio combining for 75 of the 117 points tonight. Kevin Durant chipped in another on of his signature games with 32 points on 16 shots and adding 5 rebounds along with 6 assists. This is the 3rd game in the past 6 that Kevin Durant has scored 30+ plus points (About damn time!). He was also perfect from the line, 12 out of 12, and the arch, 2 of 2.
Russell had a very typical night, with ups ( 25 points, 9 assists, and 3 steals) and downs (5 turnovers and 5 fouls). Russell seemed to have a hard time defending D-Will tonight, with Williams shooting 5 of 9 from the arch and scoring a total of 33 points. However, you can't really blame Russell. Brook Lopez, one of the the leading scorers for the Nets, was out with an injury which caused the ball to fall into D-Will's hands more than usual.
Serge Ibaka continued his extremely efficient streak as of late, shooting 66% and scoring 18 points along with his usual 3 blocks. Thabo Sefolosha added to the scoring tonight, adding 14 points although 10 of them came in the first quarter. Three other Thunder players scored above five points with Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Martin, and Eric Maynor chipping in 7, 7, and 9 respectively. The team shot an impressive 60.6% from the field and 50.0 percent from the arch with the typical 88% percent from the line. The Thunder got out fast tonight and pushed the pace, scoring 20 fast break points, and pounded the paint against the Lopez-less Nets, scoring 44 points in the paint.
The Thunder defense did a decent job tonight, holding the Nets to 43% from the field and out rebounding the Nets on the defensive boards 31-24. They also kept the Nets from keeping up with their pace, holding the Nets to only 9 fast break points.
Analysis: This game was exactly as scrappy as I thought. The Nets are a good team who are still well over .500, 11-6. They have one of the better distributors in the game with Deron Williams, and a man who eats the boards for breakfast, Humphries (Mhmm. Tasty). The Thunder never could really shake the Nets and jump out to much more than a 15 point lead all game. However, the Thunder never felt too anxious, with the Thunder never relinquishing the lead through all 4 quarters. KD believed as such, saying after the game, "We played hard, got through that tough stretch [3rd qtr], 2nd unit was really good tonight." Kevin Durant himself also went hard, almost making the best poster dunk ever. So the Thunder got their 6th win tonight against a decent Eastern Conference team pretty handily and are starting to build that momentum that can lead to rolling off another 6 quick wins and putting themselves solely at the top of the NBA ladder. The Thunder play the Lakers on Friday and the Pacers, Hornets, and Kings after that so it is not crazy to think that the Thunder could be on a 10 game win streak going into San Antonio on Dec. 17. It's definitely nice to see the Thunder on a roll, beating the teams they are supposed to beat and handing out defeats in games that come down to the wire.
DNP: Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Liggins did not play any minutes for the Thunder. Daniel Orton and rookies Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III are all playing for the 66ers in Tulsa.
Player of the Game: Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant had another great game against a quality opponent scoring 32 points on a super efficient stroke, going 100% from the line and the arch and shooting 56% from the field. He also added, to the already stuffed stat sheet, 5 rebounds and 6 assists while registering a steal and a block.
Stat of the Night: 22. The Thunder registered 20 assists for another game this year, when their avg. for all of last year was 18 assists per game. The Thunder seem to be moving the ball at an increased clip as of late, with several games reaching the 30 assist mark.
Next Game: Hollywood heads to "The Peake" on Friday, playing in a rematch of the Western Conference semifinals from last year, as the Thunder face the Lakers. The game is at 8:30PM CT on ESPN and Fox Sports Southwest.
(Credit: ESPN Stats and Information)
Might not need the DNP every game unless something unusual happens.
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