After perhaps the signature performance of his career, a high-cresting wave amongst a sea full of incredible games he’s had all season long, Russell Westbrook had self-restraint. Sure he was happy. Who wouldn’t be?
But he also recognized that the job that he and his teammates did during the first 30 minutes of action against the Orlando Magic, then the furious 21-point comeback it made over the final quarter-and-a-half and overtime is not sustainable. And it certainly won’t be the blueprint in the playoffs.
“Russell, being in the league for as long as he’s been in the league, he understands that there are moments because of his ability and talent level he can make things like that happen,” Head Coach Billy Donovan explained. “But he’s smart enough to know that every night to rely on that, would be really difficult.”
The Thunder knows that it has to play with more consistent focus, concentration and discipline for a full 48 minutes, not just on Friday against the San Antonio Spurs, but in each of its games. Although it certainly was encouraging for the Thunder coaching staff to see the heart, determination and relentlessness the team showed down the stretch. It’s clear the team has a level it can rise up to, but Donovan hopes his guys can avoid having to get there just in the nick of time to steal games.
“We got stops, we were able to prevent them from scoring which enabled us to get back into the game. Russell made some incredible plays,” Donovan reviewed, before coming back to the message he relayed to his team. “We didn’t really need to dig ourselves a hole like that. There were things we had control over and we could have and should have done a better job with that.”
- Westbrook showed again on Wednesday why he is not just an MVP candidate, but by far the most prolific clutch player in the league this season. With 7.1 seconds remaining, Westbrook knocked down a deep 31-foot three-pointer over two defenders to force overtime. It was a defining moment in the game, and only someone who plays with no fear can approach those situations time and again with bravery and broad shoulders.
- “Some people get freaked out about ‘I don’t want to be the guy who misses. I don’t want to be viewed that way.’ Then there are guys who don’t think about that. They go for the win,” Donovan said. “Russell always plays to win. There’s a mindset you have to have for that.”
One of the biggest factors in the Thunder’s come from behind win was the way the Thunder’s turnovers changed. In the first half, Westbrook had seven turnovers, including five in the first quarter when the Thunder actually had a real chance to completely put the game away mentally. But those giveaways gave the Magic life, and turned it into a ballgame. In the second half and overtime, however, Westbrook had zero turnovers. An emphasis on ball security from both Westbrook and Donovan at halftime seemed to have made the difference.
- “Coming down the stretch of the game you want to be taking care of the basketball,” Donovan began, before explaining how he addressed the turnover problem with his team. “We need to deal with (problems) and figure out how to move forward and get better from it... Players want honesty. They want the truth.”
One of the factors for the Thunder’s success down the stretch was the lineups that Donovan utilized in the fourth quarter and overtime. Game-in and game-out, Donovan seems to be able to push the right buttons, find the matchups to exploit and combinations to put on the floor. Typically, Donovan aims to keep some combination of Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, Taj Gibson and Domas Sabonis on the floor – staying with two traditional bigs can be a major factor on the glass. On Wednesday, however, he went with Jerami Grant for 19:15 of the second half and overtime, all but 7:45 of those final three periods. Grant was a plus-30 without even making a field goal. In the extra five minutes, Donovan put Gibson in at center, for the second straight game, to close out the smaller Magic.
- “I always feel like the strength of our team is our size. We have an advantage there and have depth there,” Donovan said. “I always try to look to see if we can play to our strength there, our size.”
- “Coach trusts me in game situations to come out there and play defense and try to stop them however I can,” Grant said. “I just want to help us win however I can.”
There was news on Wednesday out of Thunder practice, that assistant coach Anthony Grant has accepted the head coaching position at his alma mater, the University of Dayton. The Thunder organization is happy for Grant and wishes him the best of luck on his new role, and that sentiment was echoed loudly by Donovan, who has a long professional relationship with Grant. While Grant certainly made an impact with the group during his time in Oklahoma City, the Thunder is confident in the coaching staff assembled inside the building. As the team heads towards the postseason, everyone will come together to pick up the workload.
- “Anthony is such an incredible human being,” Donovan said. “We have great people here. Different people will pick things up. It’s a matter of picking up his scouts and that kind of thing.”