By Michael Doutey
The Oklahoma City Thunder went from playing one of their ugliest games of the the year last night, gutting out a 95-86 win over the hapless Cleveland Cavaliers, to blowing out the Houston Rockets by 18 points the very next night. I really didn’t think the Thunder had a chance on the second night of a back-to-back without Russell Westbrook and facing the Houston Rockets. That shows you how little I know.
The Thunder dominated the Rockets, leading by double figures the entire second half. The Rockets tried to make a late push in the fourth quarter, but the Thunder responded and shut down the Rockets weak attempt to try and get back in this game.
The Thunder played a complete game. They played solid defense and spread the wealth on offense, resulting in a dominant 98-80 win and extending their win streak to seven straight. Here are tonight’s five observations.
ONE: OKC Defensive Domination
To put it simply, the Thunder kicked the crap out of the Rockets and they did it with defense. OKC held the Rockets to a season low 80 points while also holding them to 26 percent shooting from three. The most impressive part? They did all that without fouling. The Rockets went to the line just 10 times. The Thunder forced 18 Rocket turnovers and had 11 steals. Paul George was excellent on defense, collecting six steals by himself. OKC did a great job all night, with a small lapse in the second quarter where the Rockets hit a few corner threes and took a small one point lead. That was their only lead of the night. But besides that, the Thunder were completely locked in.
TWO: Paul George Controlled This Game
For me, this was easily the best game of the season for PG. He didn’t shoot it great, scoring 20 points on 7-21 shooting, including just 3-11 from three. But he righted the ship for OKC in the second quarter when the Rockets took their only lead. He scored 14 points alone in the second quarter on 5-5 shooting and hitting all three of his three point attempts. But he did so much more. He controlled the game on defense and offense. He swiped six steals. He grabbed 11 rebounds. He dished out six assists and he was a team high plus-35 in his 35 game minutes. He was superb tonight and stepped up big in Westbrook’s absence.
THREE: Terrance Ferguson’s Best Game Ever
Many had written Ferguson off after a very poor start to the season, especially after his rough game against the Kings. Heck, some have been a detractor of his since his lackluster showing in summer league. But I’ve tried to preach patience with him. He is only 20 years old and we’ve seen flashes of what he can do. But tonight was the first time of his short career where he put it all together. He got off to such a fast start shooting. But he followed it up with stifling defense, even on last year’s MVP, James Harden. He was really good tonight and it is a sign of what he can do. Raymond Felton had high praise of him after the game, calling him one of the teams best defenders. He scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting and hit 4-9 from behind the arc. He also had four rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot.
FOUR: Steven Adams Bullied Houston
The Rockets tried to go small on OKC and switch everything. OKC had their way with that, forcing Harden, Carmelo Anthony, PJ Tucker or whoever else to switch on the Thunder big. The Rockets had no answer as they were bullied in the paint all night. Adams scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting. He went 5-9 from the line, grabbed 10 rebounds (six on offense), had four assists, grabbed two steals and helped the Thunder score 42 points in the paint. Adams was a beast and the Rockets had no answer for him tonight.
FIVE: Carmelo Is Not Our Problem Anymore
I couldn’t help but grin watching the Rockets play tonight, which probably makes me a bad person. It reminded me of the Thunder last year. They looked confused and not at all like the team that would carve up the best NBA defenses with ease a year ago. Then there is the Rockets defense. They are just completely helpless. They sacrificed two outstanding defenders in Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute to sign an aging Chris Paul back to a huge contract. Then they decided to bring in Melo in to help their scoring. Now, Melo will have his nights scoring, but he will never be able to defend. We saw that last year. But then there are games like tonight where Melo never saw a ball he shot go through the basket. He was 1-11 from the floor and 0-6 from three. The only basket he had was off a Nerlens Noel goaltend that probably wasn’t going to fall anyways. The Thunder struggled with an identity last year. They couldn’t play the way they wanted with Melo. Now you see what they can do. Even on nights where OKC struggles to score, like these last two nights, they can always count on their defense. That isn’t something last years team could do. That wasn’t something OKC could do this season if they had kept Melo. Not all of OKC’s problems last year were Melo’s fault and not all of Houston’s problems are his fault either. But he isn’t good enough to right the issues. Be glad Thunder fans that you don’t have that problem anymore. That is an anchor you don’t want and it is one that will hold the Rockets back all season long.
BONUS Observation: No Westbrook No Problem
This one is short. You mean to tell me that OKC just won two games on back-to-back nights without Russell Westbrook and one of those was a blowout win against the Rockets? Call me VERY impressed. This is a sign to me that this team isn’t the same team from a season ago. That is a big deal.
The Thunder look to extend their winning streak to eight games against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas on Saturday night. Tip is set for 8 p.m. inside the American Airlines Center.
