By Michael Doutey
The Oklahoma City Thunder hold on to win 105-99 over the Miami Heat Friday night inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena. It was an offensive struggle for the majority of this one. OKC mustered just 64 points through three quarters. The Thunder turned it on in the fourth, scoring 41 points in the final frame and held on to win. It wasn’t a well played game and wasn’t pretty at all, but the Thunder don’t care because right now, wins are huge no matter how they accumulate them. Here are tonight’s five observations.
1. Steven Adams was the Real MVP
The Thunder couldn’t score through the first three quarters. OKC struggled to score just 40 points in the second and third quarters combined. A huge reason OKC found anything on offense was Steven Adams. The Miami Heat had nothing that could slow down Adams. Steven scored 24 points on 9-13 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds, six on offense and six on defense. Adams was a beast, scoring in the pick-and-roll, off the offensive glass and by getting quick points off postups in transition. He did it all and OKC won this because Adams was the best player on the floor.
2. Uncle Ray’s 8-0 Run
The Thunder trailed 71-66 early in the fourth quarter when Raymond Felton exploded to an 8-0 run that gave OKC the lead. After that, OKC never relinquished the lead and would go on to win. Ray started his scoring birage will a pull up three, a jumper in the lane and then capped it off with an and-one that got the crowd reved up. That was a huge run in part because it got OKC the lead back, but also because the flood gates opened and OKC poured in the points. That burst happened in 68 seconds. It was in a blink of an eye.
3. Russ’ 4th Quarter Takeover
PG and Melo didn’t shoot the ball well at all in this one. More on that in a moment. But Russ sensed he needed to takeover and that’s exactly what he did. Russ busted 17 points on 6-7 shooting and 2-2 from three. Russ was MVP level Russ in the fourth after really struggling through the first three quarters. It’s truly amazing how out of sorts he looks one moment and the next he is running off 17 points in a quarter. Russ scored 29 total points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had eight assists.
4. PG and Melo Stunk
It was an atrocious shooting night from PG and Melo. Maybe the worst of the season. They combined for 18 points on 5-24 shooting, 0-10 from three, and had 5 turnovers. Now, they both had lots of good looks, especially in the first half. But as the game went on, both of them took bad shots in frustration. These two really need to step up their game if OKC wants to play well going into the postseason.
5. A Win is a Win
The Thunder needs wins. With the West was wild as it is, it just doesn’t matter how you get wins as long as they win. Who cares how you get into the postseason as long as you get there? They are a team that is banking on being built for the playoffs. But for the time being, OKC just has to find ways to grind out wins to keep them in good positioning with a halfway decent seed in the playoffs. No wins are ever bad, but this one may have been the ugliest of the season.
The Thunder move to 44-30 on the season and has a huge game Sunday night as they host Portland Trail Blazers. Tip is set for 6 p.m. inside the Peake.
