Enes Kanter was back after missing a month. Semaj Christon played backup point guard for the first time in nearly two months and two new players, Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott, were suddenly in the Thunder rotation after only arriving in Oklahoma City last night. At the last minute, Victor Oladipo was scratched from the starting lineup due to back spasms.
Much like Crash Davis and his teammates in the classic baseball comedy Bull Durham, Head Coach Billy Donovan and the Thunder were “dealing with a lot of stuff” at once, all out on the playing surface in real time.
Nevertheless the Thunder, behind its tactician Donovan and formidable on-court leader in Russell Westbrook dealt with all of the change and newness and simply rolled on forward, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 110-93 in the first game back from the All-Star Break.
“I was really encouraged tonight in a lot of different ways with our team,” Donovan said. “We were probably a little rusty in certain areas but overall I thought it was a great win for us. Coming off of what we had to deal with, I think this at least gives us a game under our belt that we can kind of build out from here.”
It was truly a team effort that won this one – all 10 guys that played and the three that didn’t rallied together to ensure that the newcomers had an easy assimilation, that the offense flowed nicely and the defense was stout.
For the most part, it all worked out. The Thunder shot 45.4 percent and racked up 28 assists as eight different players scored at least seven points. Defensively the Thunder held Los Angeles to just 39.6 percent shooting, with much of that suffocation coming in the halfcourt. The Lakers did manage 28 points off 17 Thunder turnovers and 22 fast break points, but outside of that the Thunder was sound across the board, even with all of the change.
The catalyst was, as is typical, Westbrook. He became just the third player since 1985-86 to record a 17-17-17 game, with 17 points, 18 rebounds and 17 assists in just 35 minutes, the fewest minutes needed to do the trick out of those three instances.
It was his 28th triple-double of his career, but more important was the way he enabled his teammates to thrive. Alex Abrines scored 19 points on 5-for-11 three-point shooting in his first career start, and Andre Roberson knocked down all three of his three-pointers en route to 19 points, rounding out a balanced scoring affair.
“I was really excited, a little bit nervous but really excited,” Abrines said of his first start. “This is my first year so to be in the starting five and hear my name called before the game, it’s something nobody is going to take away from me. I can tell my son one day, ‘I was in the starting five with Russell Westbrook and these guys.’”
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Gibson and McDermott Make their Debuts
Taj Gibson’s jump shot fell short, perhaps as a result of the shocking, sudden trade that brought him to Oklahoma City late last night, followed by a whirlwind first day as a member of the Thunder. All of the sudden, however, Gibson’s eye’s widened and legs turned back into springs, per usual.
Russell Westbrook had slithered under the rim and corralled the loose rebound. In a blink of an eye, Westbrook delivered a bounce pass to the cutting Gibson for a two-handed slam that sent the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd into a frenzy.
“I saw (Westbrook’s) eyes widen up,” Gibson chuckled. “The no-look came and I just attacked the basket. Sometimes instincts take over.”
That wasn’t the first ovation that Gibson, or his fellow former Chicago Bull, now Thunder teammate Doug McDermott got on the night. As each Gibson and McDermott checked into the game for the first time, the fans gave them an Oklahoma City welcome, a full standing ovation. Uplifted by them and their teammates, the incoming duo simply played off of instinct on defense and were aided by Donovan offense by putting them in dribble-hand-off situations together.
“That’s something we can always lean on. That’s what we did in Chicago together. We had a nice two-man game together,” McDermott explained. “Once we learn the offense better we’ll start to be more comfortable. (Donvoan) wanted to get us into some two-man action to get our feet wet and get our confidence going.”
“(Donovan) put me in a lot of dribble hand-off situations and screen-and roll up top situations. The guys on the team were open-minded with us,” Gibson said. “That’s a great thing for when you want to go deep in the playoffs or you want to try to win playoff series.”
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By the Numbers
8 – Combined three-pointers for Alex Abrines and Andre Roberson, who each had 19 points on the night
17 – Russell Westbrook registered just the third 17-17-17 game since 1984-85 as he racked up 17 points, 18 rebounds and 17 assists for his 28th triple-double of the season
20 – Combined points for Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott in their Thunder debuts- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Last Word
“All the guys welcomed us. We felt like we were on the team for a year already. It felt really comfortable We were really tired and fatigued, but how can you not get energy playing in front of that crowd. It’s easy to get up for that.” - guard Doug McDermott