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Recap: OKLAHOMA CITY (NBA.com exclusive) -- Last season the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't win their third game until a week before Christmas. This season it took only six games.
Kevin Durant scored 28 points and the Thunder played a smothering defense that held Orlando 35 points below the Magic's season average as Oklahoma City cruised to a surprisingly easy 102-74 win.
"That's about as good as we can play," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "I understand they were short-handed but we did a good job keeping them away from a big 3-point shooting night."
Orlando played without forwards Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson who are both nursing sprained ankles. Guard Rashard Lewis is suspended for the first ten games of the season. Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy refused to allow any excuses.
"We have no defensive toughness and right now we aren't a very good team," he said. "The Thunder are much better than us right now. They would have beat us if we had everybody. They would have beat us here or in our place. We're just not as tough as they are right now."
The Thunder (3-3) held Orlando (5-2) to 36.8 percent shooting and limited the Magic to a modest 18.8 percent on 3-pointers. Orlando had come in shooting 47.6 percent including 41.1 percent on 3-pointers. That added up to almost 109 points a game.
"That was our game plan, play tough defense," Durant said. "When Howard got the ball we wanted him to see two or three guys around him and we did that."
Howard still managed 20 points to lead the Magic but he was continually frustrated at having to come out away from the basket to guard Oklahoma City center Nenad Krstic. Krstic was 7-for-12 and scored 14 points.
"Krstic spread the floor and brought Howard out from the rim," said Thunder forward Jeff Green."That was big for us."
Howard dominated the Thunder last season when he averaged 25.5 points, 21 rebounds and 8 blocks in the two games. Sunday night in addition to his 20 points Howard was held to just 7 rebounds and no blocks.
"All our guys made (Howard's) night difficult," said Brooks. "Nenad, Nick (Collison) and Etan (Thomas) did a good job of putting a body on him all night."
Russell Westbrook had another double-double for Oklahoma City with 17 points and 10 assists. Thabo Sefalosha also recorded a double-double for the Thunder with 13 points, 3-for-3 on 3 pointers and 10 rebounds.
Brooks has preached defense and more of a motion oriented offense this season. The improvements showed Sunday night. "They play very hard defensively," Van Gundy told reporters.
"They play with great intensity and that is the way I would like to see our team play."
The Thunder meanwhile hit 57.1 percent and 56.3 on 3-pointers. Oklahoma City also distributed a season-high 27 assists.
"That's great basketball," Brooks said. "We have to move the ball; we have to continue to work on that."
Besides Howard's 20 points Orlando had only two other players in double figures. Mickael Pietrus had 15 and Jameer Nelson added 10.
Reminded in the postgame news conference that it took his team until December 19th to win its third game last season Brooks said, "I thought about that 3-29 all summer."
3-3 looks a lot better now for a team that never had a whiff of .500 in the 2008-09 season.
Preview: STATS -- Stan Van Gundy isn't satisfied with the Orlando Magic's defense, but that hasn't kept the defending Eastern Conference champions from getting off to an impressive start.
Dwight Howard and Orlando's hot shooting have helped offset a suspension to Rashard Lewis, and the high-scoring Magic may get Vince Carter back Sunday at the Ford Center as they seek an eighth straight victory over the Oklahoma Thunder franchise.
The Magic (5-1) are without Lewis, suspended 10 games for an elevated testosterone level, and have only had Carter available for three games as he deals with a sprained left ankle, but they're still scoring 108.7 points per game.
That effective offense has been largely thanks to the NBA's reigning defensive player of the year. Howard leads the East in field-goal percentage (67.8) and he's helped draw plenty of defenders to kick the ball out to Orlando's shooters, who connect on a league-high 11.5 3-pointers per game.
Howard and his coach, though, have been less than thrilled with the team's defense. The Magic are among the worst in the league in forcing turnovers at 12.2 per game, they've already allowed four opponents to score 100 points and they rank among the bottom third in the NBA in opponents' field-goal percentage at 46.0.
"We haven't played good enough defense to be a great team," Howard said. "We have to try and be great every night, and that's just not happening yet."
Orlando allowed Detroit to shoot 51.4 percent and score 35 fourth-quarter points Friday but held on for a 110-103 win.
"We're not playing smart enough. We didn't play enough defense and for too many minutes we were just hanging on to win a regular-season game," Van Gundy said. "We aren't making the push to be great. I don't know if we will. We'll have to see."
Ryan Anderson, considered a throw-in piece to the deal that sent Carter to the Magic from New Jersey, has connected on 43.6 percent of his 3-point attempts but sprained his ankle against Detroit and is due to have an MRI. Carter, averaging 15.3 points, is expected to return after missing the last two games.
It's Howard, though, that Oklahoma City (2-3) is likely most concerned with slowing down. He's averaged 30.0 points, 19.3 rebounds and 7.0 blocks in his last three games against the Thunder, who haven't beaten the Magic since Jan. 11, 2006, while still in Seattle.
The only triple-double of Howard's career came in Orlando's first visit to Oklahoma City as he finished with 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks in a 109-92 win Nov. 12.
The Thunder are among the league's lowest-scoring teams at 91.8 points per game and haven't scored 100 since a win on opening night. Russell Westbrook had 33 points and Kevin Durant added 27 on Friday at Houston, but the rest of the team was 15 of 45 from the field in a 105-94 loss.
"They both had good offensive games, but we are all about team," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "We didn't get the job done."
The Thunder don't figure to have an answer for Howard considering Nenad Krstic (8.6 points) is their only big man that averages more than five points.
Krstic averaged 4.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and four fouls in his two most recent games against Howard while with New Jersey in the 2007-08 season.
Game Notes: Nov. 8 @ Oklahoma City: Orlando is 18-22 all-time vs. Oklahoma City (11-8 at home, 1-0 at Oklahoma City, 4-14 at Seattle) during regular season play…The Magic went 2-0 last season against the Thunder…The Magic have won the last seven meetings with the Thunder franchise, and 10 of the last 14 overall…Orlando has won nine of the last 11 matchups at home…The Magic also went 1-1 in Oklahoma City when facing the Hornets in 2005 and 2007…Rashard Lewis played nine seasons with the then-Sonics (1998-2007) and ranks among Oklahoma City’s all-time list in seven different categories…Assistant Coach Patrick Ewing spent one season with the then-Sonics (2000-01)…Assistant Coach Brendan Malone served as a consultant with the then-Sonics during their run to the 1996 NBA Finals. BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. THUNDER: 41 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Seattle, 11-19-02)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 45 pts., Rashard Lewis (@ Orlando, 1-11-06)
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