Before the game, sitting at a podium in the depths of Chesapeake Energy Arena, Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks didn’t mince words. Monday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers was a do-or-die, must-win contest for his team. Behind one of the organization’s pillars, Russell Westbrook, the Thunder stood and delivered.
In the Thunder’s final home game of the regular season, a full-team effort helped generate a methodical 101-90 victory over the Blazers, keeping the Thunder’s playoff hopes alive for the final game of the season in Minnesota against the Timberwolves on Wednesday night. In order to advance to the playoffs, the Thunder must win and the New Orleans Pelicans must fall to the San Antonio Spurs.
"We knew how important this game was. We did what we needed to do," Westbrook said. "Everybody came out with a defensive mindset, got some stops and obviously scored the ball very well tonight."
First, however, the Thunder had to take care of business on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back. After jumping out to a 6-0 lead, the Thunder never allowed the Trail Blazers to take the lead, consistently growing its advantage and then repelling any Portland runs.
"We just had to be aggressive. We came out and knew what we were playing for. We wanted to leave everything on the floor," guard Dion Waiters said.
"It was the defense," center Enes Kanter said. "We came out ready tonight. The most important thing was rebounding ... It wasn't just the big guys, the small guys helped us too."
After halftime, however, things got a bit hairy for the Thunder as Portland cut the lead to five with 7:17 left in the third period. A quick 7-0 run was the Thunder’s response, and it started with a Westbrook to Enes Kanter jumper, continued with a Steven Adams hook shot in the lane and was capped by a Dion Waiters driving three-point play at the bucket in transition.
That burst helped the Thunder take control in the third quarter, when it did most of its damage in the paint. By repeatedly posting up Kanter and Westbrook on the block, the Thunder managed to outscore Portland 22-10 in the paint during that pivotal third quarter. Once the dust settled at the end of the night, the Thunder dominated the scoring in the paint to the tune of 52-36.
"Enes did a good job of fighting for position and he was really patient," Brooks said. "If they're going to play him one-on-one, we felt that was a better matchup for us. He made buckets down there."
"We were using our strength," Westbrook said. "We have to find the matchups that best suit us and those were the matchups."
Westbrook had another sensational night, a 36-point, 11-rebound, seven-assist, two-steal effort, while Dion Waiters added 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and Anthony Morrow scored 11 off the bench to go with eight rebounds. The key cog, however, was Kanter, who registered his 10th 20-point, 10-rebound game with 27 points on 13-for-20 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
"(My teammates) trust me and give me the ball down there and give me a lot of confidence down there to go score," Kanter explained. "If they double team, just pass the ball. That's what I tried to do tonight."
The Thunder’s lead stayed above eight until 5:34 remained in the fourth quarter, when an Allen Crabbe jumper cut it to six. On the next possession, however, Westbrook found Morrow for a 3-pointer to once again give the Thunder a comfortable cushion that would never dip back into treacherous territory again.
Defensive Tone Set from the Start
From the first three possessions of the game, the Thunder’s physicality on the defensive end and around the rim was an undeniable force. Adams patrolled the paint, blocking four shots to go with 10 rebounds, while Waiters’ three steals and the tenacity to fight through screens by Westbrook and Roberson made a major impact in how the Thunder was able to force Portland into difficult shots.
"Defensively we did a good job of bottling up all of (Damian Lillard's) pick-and-rolls," Brooks said. "That's hard to do."
"We did a great job of keeping our foot on the gas pedal," Westbrook said.
On the night, the Thunder forced Portland into 45.8 percent shooting while only putting the Trail Blazers on the free-throw line nine times. Thanks to a massive 58-35 rebounding edge, the Thunder simply limited the number of shots at the rim Portland was able to even attempt. For the game, the Thunder took 13 more field goals than the Trail Blazers, making up for the difference in shooting percentage.
Stats of the Night
20 & 10 – Enes Kanter recorded 27 points and 13 rebounds for his 10th game of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds since joining the Thunder
36 – Points for Russell Westbrook on the night, in addition to 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals
58-35 – Rebounding advantage for the Thunder on the night, as it used 18 offensive reboudns to score 20 second chance points
The Last Word
"It was a good win for us. We set the tone for the way we wanted to play in that first quarter on both ends of the floor. We did a good job of taking care of the basketball, crashing the boards and keeping them off the glass." - Head Coach Scott Brooks