By Michael Doutey
The Oklahoma City Thunder finished off their two-game road trip with two wins, finishing it off with a dominant 134-111 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
The Thunder got off to a bit of a sluggish start, which was to be somewhat expected. The Thunder had just played the night before and had to make a furious comeback in the second half. Then the Wizards, who were off to a 1-6 start to the season, got Dwight Howard back for the first time this season. There was a little bit of energy in the building for the Wizards as they got off to a tremendous start.
The Thunder got going offensively, taking advantage of the very poor defense of the Washington Wizards. Meanwhile, the Wizards came back down the earth from their hot shooting start and the Thunder absolutely took the Wiz to the woodshed, dominating every facet of the game. The Thunder blitzed their way to their fourth consecutive win and pull their record to 4-4 on the season. Here are tonight’s five observations.
ONE: Thunder High Assists
The Thunder offense put on the clinic all night long. The guys ran their sets and got open looks whenever they wanted. This is something that the team has been doing all season long, but shots haven’t fallen. Tonight they did, which is why the Thunder had one of their best nights of the season. The Thunder finished the night with 34 assists, which is easily a season high. The Thunder had 22 assist by halftime. This was the first time all season the Thunder shot the ball this well. The Thunder made 49 of their 86 shots, good for 57.6 percent from the floor. The Thunder had excellent ball movement all night long and it wasn’t just one player. Russell Westbrook was the catalyst, dishing out 12 assists in just three quarters of action and had just one turnover. Paul George had an impressive seven assists, Dennis Schröder had five, Jerami Grant had four and Terrance Ferguson had two. This was easily the best the Thunder offense has looked all season.
TWO: Raining Threes
The Thunder are the worst three point shooting team in the NBA and it really isn’t close. OKC is shooting just 26.5 percent from three on the season. Tonight, the Thunder reversed course, shooting an incredible 15-32 from deep. The Thunder never really took bad threes tonight either. They were open and they guys knocked them down. Ferguson and Grant for the Thunder off to a hot start before everyone else fell in line. PG got his shooting stroke going in the second quarter, going 4-6 from three for 17 total points. Ferguson went 3-5 from three for nine points in easily his best offensive night of the year. Grant went 2-3 from three, finishing with a career high 22 points. Patterson went 2-5 for eight points, Schröder went 2-3 for 16 points, and Alex Abrines went 2-7 for eight points. All this hot shooting was really impressive in general but especially because they played last night.
THREE: Another Career Night
Last night it was Alex Abrines creating a new career high, scoring 25 points. Tonight it was Jerami Grant’s turn. Grant had a really good night, scoring 22 points on an impressive 9-11 shooting and 2-3 from three. He also went 2-3 from the free throw line. He added four rebounds, four assists, and three steals in his 34 minutes of action. Grant is still adjusting to his starting role. At times he looks really comfortable and then other he looks out of place. But tonight was the first time he put a full game together since he took over the the four in the starting unit.
FOUR: Thunder Bench Mob
The Thunder got a lot from their bench tonight. The bench unit is lead by Schröder, who is a starting caliber point guard. Schröder had a really solid night, scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting and 2-3 from three. He also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Abrines was swell again tonight, scoring 8 points and was a plus-27 in his 24 game minutes. Nerlens Noel had some really strong play as well, scoring nine points on 2-2 shooting and 5-6 from the free throw line. He snagged six rebounds, one steal and one block. Patterson added 8 points and five boards while Hamidou Diallo brought his energy and toughness, scoring seven points, grabbing four rebounds and had a steal. The bench is a strength of the team for the first time in years. The bench certainly flexed their muscles tonight.
FIVE: Can’t Take Much from This Game
I would love to take a bunch from this game. But the Thunder are who they are. They are going to have a few nights this season where they make everything they shoot. These guys are pros and it will happen. The Thunder aren’t going to suddenly turn into a lights out three point shooting team. The Wizards were just completely awful on defense. Even with having Dwight Howard, the Wizards had no one at the rim to deter anyone from getting off clean looks. Russ and Dennis lived at the rim in this game. The Thunder did an excellent job tonight, don’t get me wrong. But the Thunder’s identity is playing good defense and scoring in transition. The Thunder did that and it was a bonus that they shot so well.
The Thunder have a few days off before they put their four-game winning streak on the line against the New Orleans Pelicans who have lost their last four games. The Thunder and Pelicans play on Monday at 7 p.m. inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
