BOX SCORES

vs PHOENIX SUNS (W 114-101):

29 MINS | 19 PTS (8/13 FG, 3/5 FT) | 7 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 2 TO | 4 PF

vs ATLANTA HAWKS (L 110-108):

31 MINS | 6 PTS (2/4 FG, 2/5 FT) | 9 REB | 3 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 1 PF

at NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (W 121-110):

23 MINS | 12 PTS (6/11 FG) | 4 REB | 3 AST | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PF

NEXT WEEK

Saturday, 1.30pm at Boston Celtics (NZT)

Monday, 2.00pm vs Minnesota Timberwolves (NZT)

Wednesday, 1.30pm at Miami Heat (NZT)

vs PHOENIX SUNS (W 114-101)

Maybe Russell Westbrook didn’t think the Suns were worthy of his best scoring. Like, he still topped with 26 points but he was dishing the ball all over on his way to 22 assists. Yeah, 22 full assists. Not to mention enough boards to ensure his 50th career triple-double too. Whatchu say, lad?

Russ: “My teammates did a great job of spacing, catching and finishing, making some shots. My job is to be able to find those guys. The ball is in my hands a lot.”

22 assists is a Thunder record and so obviously a career high for him too. Having seen those teammates drilling shots for a 15 point half time lead, Westbrook then dropped 17 points in the third quarter and didn’t really have to worry from there on. He scored 51 the last time he played the Suns, by the way.

Devin Booker scored 31 for the Suns to lead all scorers, the win snapped a two-game skid from the Thunder. Speaking of, if Russ wasn’t doing all of the scoring then you know somebody else must’ve been chipping in because there was no Vic Oladipo either…

ESPN: “Adams, not known as a scorer before this season, has scored in double figures for six straight games and has shot better than 50 percent in each contest. He is averaging 15.8 points during the impressive stretch.”

But yeah, Adams may have had the points here on the crushing dunk but Russ’ Shammgod impersonation for the assist was beyond incredible. Top plays of the season contender right here:

NewsOK: “Russell Westbrook could have taken a 3-pointer, but he stutter-stopped and drove left. The slight hesitation and a screen from Steven Adams was enough to provide a mismatch Westbrook identified immediately. When he picked up his dribble, the 7-foot Adams was on the weak side towering over Westbrook’s initial defender, 6-5 P.J. Tucker. Westbrook saw it and lofted a perfectly-weighted pass over Tucker to Adams for an easy layup. It was one of a gamut of brilliant passes from Westbrook, as the assists reached double digits before the points or rebounds in his league-leading 13th triple-double.”

Also this is not a recent sentiment:

A month ago, 19 points would have been a career high for Steve.

What’s a Shammgod, you ask? Well, God Shammgod was the actual given real legit not-lying name of a former NBA player who used to do amazing things like that on the regular. Only ever played 20 games for the Washington Wizards but the legend lives on…

vs ATLANTA HAWKS (L 110-108)

If the previous game was all about the pass for Russ then this one was all about the scoring. He’d log 46 points in this one, though he was a couple short as the Thunder fell to a narrow defeat.

The Hawks were without Dwight Howard and that meant heaps of Paul Millsap, himself only 6 foot 8, playing at centre. Adams (and his less defensively agile backups) guarding a guy who can drag them all the way out of the paint with his range.

Millsap had something pretty interesting to say about Westbrook too.

PM: “If he gets his points - he's going to get that regardless. The game plan was try to take everybody else out of it.”

Well, it worked. Having seen the Hawks take a decent lead in keeping OKC to only 16 points in the first quarter, Westbrook went and scored 18 in the second to give them a five point jump at HT. big advantage in rebounding, which makes sense given the Millsap thing, but not doing well against the shot-making of the Hawks, who’d score 33 in the third to wrestle the lead back. Millsap was big with 30 points and 11 boards, while Dennis Schroder scored 31. Only three Thunder players made double figures and one was Andre Roberson who needed 14 shots for his 14 points while the other was a surprisingly effective Jerami Grant with 15 (5/7 FG).

They for damn sure took away Steven Adams, who was limited to only four field goals and 6 points to go with his 9 boards and 3 steals. Left a few points at the free throw line too, for once. There have only been three games this season (out of 29) in which Steve has taken fewer shots. They’re 3-4 in games where Adams has five or fewer field goal attempts.

But Oklahoma City didn’t go away. Kanter and Roberson made some buckets to retake the lead and it went back and forth from there. With 4:05 left, Russ drained a long two for a six point lead, 104-98. Less than three minutes later it was 106-106. Schroder made a long two, Westbrook responded with one of his own. Adams checkout out, then Millsap went and did this:

Pretty gorgeous. The Thunder got lucky with a blocked shot that bounced out off Kent Bazemore for their ball and in came Adams with the timeout taken. And then drama at the finish. Westbrook had the ball, guarded by Bazemore again. No call on the contact, the triple is no good but the ball finds its way to Steven Adams who goes up for the dunk that’ll sent it to OT…

… too late. Time expired. Probably should’ve flipped it up instead but the real drama was on Westbrook’s shot and whether he should have gotten a foul.

Damn, he probably won’t be too happy to find out that the NBA’s official structures later noted that he shouldn’t only have had one foul but two on the play.

NewsOK: “Kent Bazemore’s contest of Westbrook’s potential game-winning 3-point attempt was an incorrect no call, according to the league’s Last Two Minute report, which reviews officiated events that occur in the final two minutes of games within five points. Thabo Sefolosha also should have been whistled for a foul with 7.2 seconds to play as Westbrook drove to the basket for a potential game-tying basket, according to the league’s report.”

Thunderous Intentions: “I’m willing to bet that Adams scores more than six points in the first quarter against New Orleans. Because Russ knows that he failed to get him involved in this game and will make a conscious effort to feed him early against the Pelicans. That’s just Russ.”

at NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (W 121-110)

Stevie had trouble the last time they played the Pelicans, tasked with guarding Anthony Davis who went off for 37 points. There’s nobody else in the Thunder who can guard that guy so it’s a task he has to take upon himself but hardly a rewarding one either. At least at the other end he has the size to bump The Brow around a little.

Although he didn’t take full advantage of that, shooting 3/7 in the first quarter. He did have 3 assists though, which is well above his season average of 0.7 per game. His passing’s a side of his game that gets slept on, to be honest. Everybody remembers the fastball he pitched in the Western Conference Finals but that doesn’t make him Boris Diaw or anything. When he gets the ball in his hands over halfway it’s usually in the paint and it’s usually for a post-up move.

The Thunder shot well and they did so sharing the shots around between them all. They were up 34-28 at the end of the first and while the Pelicans made it a back and forth thing, at the half it was 63-58. All ten of the players to take the court had made a field goal – and this was without Victor Oladipo again who was missing his fifth straight game. Meanwhile Tyreke Evans was playing just his third game of the season following an 11 month layoff.

Adams picked up a couple quick fouls in the second though, so he was a non-factor and rode the pine for the last 3:43 of the frame. Anthony Davis led all scorers with 17 points at the half. Don’t worry though, Westbrook soon took over. Adams scored the first points on the third for OKC with a putback dunk and then Russ scored the next 8 points… before assisting another dunk for Steve.

The Thunder also got some quality off their bench, as Joffrey Lauvergne (10 pts), Enes Kanter (14 pts) and Alex Abrines (18 pts) all put up points. And for once it was that bench that hauled them into the lead and by the time Westbrook was back in for the fourth and scoring all over Buddy Hield, who was giving him a proper contest in a bit of mana y mano, they were already at a distance in front. Business was taken care of from there. Westbrook scored 42 all up, while Anthony Davis had 34.

Weirdly, Adams didn’t have a single defensive rebound, all of his boards came at the other end. First time that’s happened to him in a regular season game since March 22 against Houston last season. He also only played 23 minutes which is probably related to that.

WTLC: “Billy D really needs to let Steven Adams square up and shoot the ball. On several occasions, he was wide open at the foul line with the ball, and he didn’t even look at the rim. His unwillingness to present himself as a threat from a very makeable spot on the court is hurting the team’s spacing.”

ODDS & ENDS