The Oklahoma City Thunder earned their second win of the season with a 114-96 win over the Indiana Pacers. The Thunder even their season record at two-and-two and now turn their attention to a three-game road trip beginning on Friday night. Here are my five observations from tonight’s Thunder win.
1. Tonight was supposed to be all about Paul George facing his old team. But that storyline never
took flight. George fouled out after playing just 19 minutes and scoring only 10 points. It was a tough night and George never got in the swing of things as he was in foul trouble from the beginning moments of the game. Instead, Victor Oladipo shined, scoring a game-high 35 points, showing Thunder fans what the new and improved Oladipo looks like. It was a tough night for George, who no doubt wanted to play better against his former team. But other two Thunder studs showed up in a major way in George’s absence.
2. Another win and another triple-double for Russell Westbrook. Russ was assertive from the jump, carrying over from his good play from the fourth quarter of the previous game. He got Steven Adams going early, finding Adams on quick post ups in transition for easy baskets. Then in the half court, the Westbrook-Adams pick-and-roll game was too much for the Pacers to handle. Westbrook has had accumulated 51 assists in four games this season. That’s good for over 12 assists per game.
Westbrook also scored 28 points on only 18 shots. Russ was efficient tonight in nearly every way. He did have seven turnovers and missed four more free throws. But that’s nitpicking his game. Westbrook was phenomenal tonight and the aggressiveness we’ve seen from him in the last five quarters is the Russ the Thunder needs every night.
3. Carmelo Anthony easily had his best game sporting Thunder blue. He scored 28 points on 17 shots , going three of seven from behind the three-point arc. But Melo also grabbed a double-double tonight, adding 10 boards to ago along with his 28 points. Melo even had three blocks! It was truly an example of just how good Anthony can be when he lets the game come to him, rather than settle for contested shots in iso possessions. If you drew up an example of what the Thunder must have from Carmelo, this game was it.
4. The Thunder defense was excellent tonight. The Pacers shot just 33 percent from the field and went 10-29 from behind the arc. The Thunder defense forced 19 Pacer turnovers and OKC blocked eight shots and had eight steals. But the Thunder were able to disrupt many Pacer possessions with deflections and great rotations. OKC outrebounded Indiana 49-41, which had been an issue for the Thunder this season. That enabled the Thunder to get out on the fast break and find easy ways to score in transition. That helped wear down Indiana as the Pacers were on the second night of a back-to-back.
5. With Paul George in foul trouble, Josh Huestis got some significant run for the second consecutive game. Huestis played 25 minutes and did a really nice job on defense. He did foul a little too much, but that seemed to be going around tonight. He was great in his swiss army knife role on defense. He literally played two through four and had no issues guarding out on smaller guards. He is a luxury on that end of the floor with his versatility. It looks like the moment isn’t too big for him and he acts like he belongs. His confidence is at an all time high and he is taking full advantage of this opportunity. I have the feeling that Huestis is carving out a night-to-night role with this team.
The Thunder will be back in action Friday night in Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. I wonder if there will be any extra motivation after Sunday night’s loss at the buzzer to the Wolves? Tip is set for 7 p.m. inside the Target Center.
