The Thunder had just been battered for the previous eight minutes in the fourth quarter. The Utah Jazz had just ripped off a 21-4 run, suffocating the Thunder’s offensive attack and scoring off tough shots in the lane. What was once a 13-point lead had evaporated into a 106-102 deficit with just 48 seconds remaining.
Then, Russell Westbrook happened. The Thunder’s point guard and MVP candidate shook off a turnover with just over three minutes remaining to score 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting to close out the game. The most pivotal plays came when the Thunder’s back was against the wall after Utah’s Joe Johnson hit a terribly difficult fadeaway to create that four point deficit.
On the ensuing possession, Westbrook went left, stutter stepped on the wing behind the three-point line and drained his sixth deep ball of the night, part of 15 total for the Thunder on the evening. Then, the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd gasped as Gordon Hayward’s three-pointer missed short and Westbrook snared the rebound over the 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert.
Shot out of a cannon - per usual when he sees open space – Westbrook went coast to coast and finished at the rim through contact, completing the old-fashioned three-point play to give the Thunder the lead, for good, with 15.5 seconds remaining.
“We have a player in Russell who has great internal belief in himself and great belief in his teammates,” Donovan said. “He’s always playing with a level of optimism, with a level of enthusiasm and a never-die attitude all the time. Regardless of what has happened on the previous play, he can move to the next play.”
“It was just being calm. Situations like that, we’ve been in them before,” Westbrook noted. “They made a fight. They’re a great team. We did a great job of keeping our composure and executing down the stretch.”
After some harrowing defensive moments down the stretch, Steven Adams forced Johnson into an uncomfortable position on the baseline in the closing seconds, leading to a Jerami Grant steal in the middle of the lane to seal a 109-106 Thunder victory. The win vaulted the Thunder to 10 games over .500 on the season at 35-25, plus just two games behind the Utah Jazz in the Northwest Division.
“Little things like that, making them shoot high, contested shots, being able to get out, get on the break and rebound and push,” Westbrook said. “Everybody did a great job of closing the game out.”
“We just locked in and it feels good to grind out a tough game like that,” said Taj Gibson, who helped close out the game on defense.
Westbrook, yet again, was sensational even when he had tough stretches. Despite starting the fourth quarter 1-for-8 shooting and turning the ball over eight times on the night, Westbrook still managed to shoot 13-of-28, making 6-of-9 three-pointers for 43 points and adding 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his 30th triple-double of the season, one shy of Wilt Chamberlain for second most ever in a season and the 67th of his career, 11 back from Chamberlain’s career total. This was also Westbrook’s fifth 40-point triple-double this season, and eighth of his career.
None of the late-game heroics would have been possible without three factors: rebounding, pushing the pace in transition and three-point shooting. Those three facets of the game coalesced, as the Thunder finished off defensive stops with rebounds, Westbrook charged ahead in transition and found open three-point shooters like Doug McDermott, Alex Abrines and Jerami Grant, who combined to go 8-for-11 from three on the night. The Thunder out-rebounded Utah 42-33 and outscored the Jazz 22-6 in transition on the night while raining down 15 made threes.
“It was awesome. When he runs, we run. He set the tone early. He was really aggressive.” Gibson said. “It was fun to see.”
In fact, the Thunder started the game 12-for-12 from three-point range, the first team since 1998 to start a game that way while also breaking the Thunder record for most three-pointers in a half and knocking down the most consecutive three-pointers by any NBA team since the 2002-03 season. It was an outrageous flurry to start the game, leaving Thunder fans giddy with each launch from behind the arc that dropped through the net.
“We just moved the ball very well, we played very unselfishly and I was able to hit a couple corner threes to get going,” McDermott said. “I felt comfortable out there.”
Highlights: Thunder vs. Jazz - Feb. 28, 2017 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By the Numbers
12 – Consecutive three-pointers made by the Thunder to start the game, the most in a first half in OKC history and the most consecutive threes made in a game by any NBA team since 2002-03
22-6 – The Thunder’s advantage in fast break points on the night, aided by a 42-33 rebounding edge
48-33 – The Thunder’s advantage in bench points, led by Doug McDermott’s 16 and Enes Kanter’s 15 points on a combined 13-for-23 shooting
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The Last Word
“Pace was a big thing for us, especially against this team. We did a great job of keeping the pace high and keeping the basketball moving at a high pace.” - point guard Russell Westbrook