TULSA – 17,022 loyal Thunder fans packed the seats at the BOK Center on Thursday night, and for the eighth time since the team arrived in Oklahoma City, the fans in Tulsa were treated to an enjoyable night of NBA basketball.
In its fourth preseason game of the young season, the Thunder fell 110-94 to the Memphis Grizzlies in a game where Head Coach Billy Donovan got a chance to see a lot of his younger players compete against high level NBA talent. In the first quarter, led by Russell Westbrook scoring eight straight points, the Thunder racked up a 31-17 advantage, dominating Memphis on both ends of the floor.
“The first quarter is about how we wanted to play,” Donovan said. “We were really good defensively and good offensively. What we were trying to do and the way we were trying to move the ball was good.”
“It was better,” Westbrook assessed. “I thought we started out strong and did a good job of playing with some good pace and getting good shots.”
As the second quarter rolled around, however, the Thunder lacked discipline both with the ball on offense and with their hands on the defensive end. Donovan’s group was in the bonus due to fouls within the first three minutes of the second quarter, and managed to be in a similarly unfortunate situation at the start of the third and fourth periods as well. The Grizzlies 44 free throw attempts combined with 28 Thunder turnovers that led to 37 Memphis points to create a difficult set of circumstances to overcome.
“We turned the ball over way too much and we certainly fouled too much,” Donovan stated firmly.
“Some of it was guys getting accustomed to playing with one another,” Donovan added. “Some of the things we have in offensively is giving guys freedom to make some plays in certain situations. Some of it was trying to make a pass to the right guy that was poorly executed. We can get better at those things and we’re going to need to get better at those things because it’s difficult to overcome those kind of turnovers.”
There were some bright spots on the night, namely the way the Thunder shot the ball from behind the three-point line. Including two first quarter launches from deep by Westbrook, the Thunder went 14-for-21 from behind the arc on the night. Many of those looks came on catch-and-shoot opportunities and from the corner, typically the most efficient jump shots in the NBA game.
“We’re getting the ball from one side to the other. We generated a lot of corner threes today,” Donovan said. “The threes that we generated today were good looks and our guys did a good job of making the extra pass.”
One of the major beneficiaries of the Thunder’s spacing and ball movement tonight was rookie shooting guard Alex Abrines. The lanky Spaniard shot 6-for-11 from the field, including a sizzling 5-for-6 from the three-point line on his way to a team-high 19 points, the most he’s chipped in since joining the Thunder.
“Shooters have this thing, some days you score everything and some days it’s impossible to score,” Abrines grinned. “I hope I have more days like those and can help the team.”
Kyle Singler also continued his hot shooting streak, going 5-for-6 from three-point range and 15 points to go with six rebounds, while Thunder reserves Ersan Ilyasova, Semaj Christon, Josh Huestis and Kaleb Tarczewski combined for 29 points off the bench. While Westbrook sat the entire second half and Victor Oladipo played just 17 minutes, the Thunder’s youngsters had a chance to compete against Memphis’ regulars, veterans like Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol who each played over 23 minutes on the night.
“I was happy that they played Conley, Randolph and Gasol throughout the course of the game,” Donovan explained. “It was great for our guys to be able to go against those level of players.”
Postgame Reaction and Highlights:
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Game Notes
- Before tonight's game in Tulsa, Thunder players expressed support for the family of Terence Crutcher by wearing warmup jerseys with the letters “TC” on them.
- Tulsa native and former Thunder player Etan Thomas delivered a message of unity during pregame invocation.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By the Numbers
5-for-6 – Three-point shooting numbers for both Kyle Singler and Alex Abrines, combining for 10 three-pointers and 34 total points
+10 – Rebounding advantage for the Thunder on the night
39.8 – Shooting percentage the Thunder defense forced the Grizzlies into on the night- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Last Word
“We did a great job, better than last game, at moving the ball from one side of the other. That’s why we created so much space. Plus we have great players like Russ and Victor who can create for other guys.” - guard Alex Abrines