Recap
For three and a half quarters on Monday, the Thunder played what head coach Scott Brooks called extremely good basketball.
The final six or seven minutes, not so much.
But when the Thunder was able to regroup and come away with a 110-105 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns at the Ford Center, it went back to what Brooks has continued to say throughout the preseason: every minute is valuable, every opportunity should be seized.
Players who usually wouldn’t have a chance to close out a game did. Guys who typically wouldn’t share the floor together were able to do that. They made it work.
“How many minutes you get in a game, whether it’s exhibition, regular season or playoffs, you’ve got to play them hard and play them as well as you can,” Brooks said.
Turnovers were an issue in the second half, when the Thunder committed 15 of its 25, and it played a significant factor down the stretch when OKC blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead.
One thing Brooks has stressed throughout training camp has been passing, something he was pleased with on Monday. Brooks said there were several instances where players passed up open 16- and 17-foot jump shots, but he considered that a good problem to have. The Thunder tallied 25 assists on 40 field goals, led by Russell Westbrook’s 10 assists to go with 10 points.
Westbrook, for his part, has tallied 27 assists to six turnovers in three preseason games.
Kevin Durant scored 19 of his 30 points in the third quarter, when he hit 6 of 7 from the field, including all four of his three-point attempts. Jeff Green scored 15 points and had three steals, James Harden scored 11 and Serge Ibaka had 10 points and six rebounds.
It was the Thunder’s first preseason win in three tries as well as its first home game this season.
“It means a lot – it’s a win,” Westbrook said. “It gives us confidence.”SEFOLOSHA MAKES DEBUT
Brooks admittedly was a bit worried about Thabo Sefolosha’s conditioning considering the Thunder guard hadn’t received much playing or practice time heading into Monday’s game.
Any concerns Brooks had were addressed within the first two minutes of the game, when Sefolosha had four points, a steal and a rebound.
Sefolosha got up and down the floor with relative ease. He was active on both ends of the floor, which was evident by his two blocks and two steals.
But after dedicating a ton of time into his jump shot this offseason, it was Sefolosha’s 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting that stood out on Monday.
“I want to see that every game now – 5-for-6, 2-for-3,” Brooks said. “No, he has improved. One of the things Thabo worked on all summer back in Switzerland was working on his outside game. He’s a premier defender in this league and he takes pride in his defense but he’s going to improve on the offensive end because he works hard at it. He’s a great weak-side cutter, one of the best on our team, but his outside shooting has improved.”
Sefolosha said that improving his jump shot came down to form and repetition, which in turn gave him more confidence.
“I did a lot of shooting this summer, so hopefully it will pay off this year,” he said. “I really feel good right now so hopefully it stays this way and I stay positive.”Overtime