By Michael Doutey
The Oklahoma City Thunder snap their two game losing streak with a 115-87 win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. The Thunder had good energy to start the game, something they’ve had issues with since the All-Star Break. However, the Thunder found themselves in a seven point hole. But the Thunder started to hit shots and got stops on the defensive end. What was a game through the first quarter, turned into a healthy lead going into halftime. OKC held a 49-38 halftime lead and quickly turned the game into a much needed blowout in the third quarter. The Thunder have struggled with the Suns in recent years, especially this season. So a blowout win over the Suns is a step in the right direction. Here are tonight’s five observations.
1. Russ Was Himself
For the first time in nearly a month, Russ seemed like himself. He was filled with energy, he was aggressive and he was incredibly efficient. Russ scored 27 points on a tremendous 11-14 shooting from the field. Oh, and he took no three’s. Russ also did a great job of moving the offense. There was lots of flow to the game, even in the moments where shots weren’t falling. Westbrook dishes out nine assists and had only two turnovers. He also grabbed eight rebounds. But, he most importantly got to sit the entire fourth quarter and cheer on Nick Collison in garbage time. This is the version of Russ that the Thunder need from him in the remaining 15 games of the season.
2. Thunder Defense
The Thunder have really struggled with the Suns. That struggle goes back not even a week ago when the Thunder needed a late rally in Phoenix to win. But tonight, the Thunder really got after it on defense. The Thunder held the Suns to 87 points on 33.7 percent shooting and 24.3 percent shooting from behind the arc. The Thunder forced 15 turnovers and scored 18 points off of them. The Thunder did an excellent job of getting stops and getting out in transition, scoring 27 points in transition compared to the Suns measly six.
3. Corey Brewer Inserted in the Starting Lineup
Billy Donovan, not surprisingly, added Brewer to the starting lineup tonight. And Brewer really played well on both sides of the ball. Brewer is a ball on energy. He played nice defense, doing a decent job while he covered Devin Booker. But he did a great job of scoring, too. Brewer scored 17 points on 6-11 shooting and 2-4 from three. He did a good job of picking his spots of cutting and spotting up in the corner for three’s. Brewer has a decisiveness about his game that really benefits the Thunder offense. It almost forces everyone else to play to his speed, which is good. The Thunder have missed that since Andre Roberson’s injury. I think Billy has his starting two-guard for the remainder of the season.
Devin Booker cheap-shotting Corey Brewer. Not sure if something happened this game, but if not, Brewer has eaten Booker’s lunch this year defensively through aggressive defense & ball denials. Would make sense Booker is all in his feelings about it. https://t.co/jR6FAjC2F6
— Darius Soriano (@forumbluegold) March 9, 2018
4. Steven Adams Was Great
Adams was just great on both side of the ball against the Suns. He had 16 points on 7-8 shooting, grabbed 12 rebounds (six offensive) and swatted three shots. He was a great tone setter in this one and his energy was infectious. Honestly, there are no words for how great Adams was tonight. He was a monster.
5. PG Late Minutes to Help With Rhythm
I’ve always said that the team goes as Russ goes. That goes especially for PG. Earlier in the season, once Russ started playing his game and not worrying about everyone else, PG started playing well shortly after. So, since Russ has been struggling lately, it is no real surprise that PG finds himself out of rhythm. Now that Russ seemed to have broken his slump, I’m expecting a huge game from PG against the Spurs. Billy decided to leave PG in the game in the fourth quarter, even though the game was well in hand for the Thunder. After the game, PG said that Billy left him in to find his rhythm, which he did. PG scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth. PG shot 4-7 from the field, including knocking down both of his three’s. PG was 3-3 from three in the second half and 4-7 for the game. The second half, especially that fourth quarter, could be what gets Paul George back to his old self.
With this win, the Thunder move to 38-29 on the season and are back in action next on Saturday night, hosting the Spurs. Tip is set for 7:30 inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
