5 Observations from OKC’s 121-108 Win in Detroit

Posted on January 27, 2018

By Michael Doutey

The Oklahoma City Thunder take down the Detroit Pistons 121-108 in Detroit Saturday evening. The Thunder were cruising along in the third quarter as OKC lead the Pistons by 27 points. With 4:33 left in the third quarter, Andre Roberson jumped up to catch a lob pass when something went wrong as Roberson came crashing down to the court in awkward fashion. Roberson, with tears in eyes, was put in an air-cast and was wheeled off the court into the locker room for examination. The Thunder struggled to regain focus and the Pistons cut the lead to single digits. The Thunder were able to pull out the win, but Andre’s loss is a tough one. OKC does get the win, extending their streak to seven games in a row. Here are your five observations from today’s game.

1. Andre Roberson Likely Done For the Season

As soon as he jumped I could tell something was wrong. As Dre was flailing to the floor in pain, I was screaming “no” over and over again. Andre Roberson’s knee buckled when he jumped. You can clearly see it here.

Later came word that Andre had ruptured his left patellar tendon. Dre missed eight games not long ago with tendonitis in that left knee and around the patellar tendon.

Since December 1st, OKC is now 16-0 in games where the starting unit is in tact. This is a huge loss. During the eight game stretch where OKC was without Dre, the Thunder went 4-4 and the Thunder’s defense was not great, and at times it was very poor. Here is a look at the defensive numbers with Andre Roberson and with him.

Here is some reaction from the locker room.

It is a really rough injury and to a guy who is absolutely vital to the team. He is a well liked guy in the locker room. The Thunder are a different team without him. This puts a different spin now for OKC as we approach the NBA trade deadline. The Thunder didn’t have to much a big splash, but now the Thunder are in a different spot now. We’ll see what OKC will do now in less than two weeks. I’m biased when it comes to Dre. He is one of my favorite Thunder players to have come through here. He has been all class. He is a very nice guy and is very honest, respectful and thoughtful with the media. We are all sending prayers to him for a full and speedy recovery.

2. Melo joins 25 K Club

Carmelo Anthony passed the 25,000 points scored in his career today. Melo has been really good for the Thunder over the past month or so. Melo is just the 21st player in NBA history to score 25,000 points in a career. Melo scored 21 points on 8-21 shooting and 2-6 from three. He also grabbed five boards and had two steals. Here is some reaction from around the NBA

3. Russell Westbrook Records 15th Triple-Double of the Season

Russell Westbrook had another vintage Russell Westbrook type game. He scored 31 points on 13-22 shooting. Russ also had 13 assists and 11 rebounds. Russ did have six turnovers, which is a little too high. But he was able to stabilize the Thunder and finish this game out for OKC.

4. Paul George Another Hot Start

PG13 got off to another hot start, scoring 16 of his 26 points in the first quarter. PG was able to get going downhill, making some of the best drives to basket as he has all season. He was finishing in the lane and even through contact. Then PG got it going from distance. He nailed 4-7 from deep. PG got to the free throw line a lot tonight, hitting 10-12 from the line. After the game, PG was announced as a replacement for DeMarcus Cousins in the All-Star game after Cousins ruptured his Achilles tendon in the closing seconds of last night’s game against Houston. PG is making his 5th All-Star Game appearance and will join Russell Westbrook on Team LeBron James.

5. Thunder Bench Really Struggled 

The Thunder bench has been hit or miss as of late. Tonight, they were miss. The Thunder starters built leads and then the bench came in and gave them up or allowed major runs from the Pistons that cut the Thunder lead way down. Every Thunder bench player was a negative in the plus-minus stat. Patrick Patterson was a minus-19. Josh Huestis was a minus-7 in six minutes of action. Jerami Grant was a minus-8. Raymond Felton was a minus-16. Alex Abrines played just six minutes and was also a minus-7. Terrance Ferguson, who will likely start now for the injured Roberson, was a negative -11. The Thunder will have to figure something out on the bench with the injury now to Roberson. But the Thunder will have to look to the trade deadline to bolster the Thunder’s depth.

The Thunder have a very quick turnaround as the Thunder will fly back to OKC to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip time is at 5 p.m. inside the Peake.

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