Everything was stagnant for the Thunder as the midpoint of the third quarter rolled by. The team needed a spark and there’s one man for the Thunder who always seems to have an extra battery pack in reserve.
Thanks to the relentless energy of Russell Westbrook the Thunder rolled out on a 31-11 run spanning the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter to take control of the game. That burst helped the Thunder take a commanding lead, then it held on in the closing minutes to seal a 122-118 victory over the Boston Celtics.
"We did a great job in the second half," Brooks said. "We had a lot of good things. We still have to keep working on the things that are important to us, but we had a lot of good performances."
"We got after it," Brooks continued. "In the second quarter they got after us, then we changed our whole mindset. We were going to be aggressive, fight through screens and use our bodies to bump, and then we did."
The Celtics would ultimately close to within 108-103 with two-and-a-half minutes left, but Steven Adams made two free throws, the Thunder forced a travel in the secondary break then an air-balled three-pointer. On the other end, Westbrook stepped into a jumper and gave the Thunder a 112-103 lead with 1:13 left, a large enough cushion for the Thunder to seal the win.
The Thunder’s offense was again operating at an extremely high level, even if there are still areas to clean up defensively. The Thunder shot 48 percent from the field as a team, while Boston shot 52 percent, with the Thunder holding a seven-rebound advantage. As the team works through new lineups, rotations and strategies with Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka out of the lineup, it will be nights filled with teamwork and energy that fuel Thunder victories. In the second half, particularly on the defensive end, all of that showed.
"We picked our energy up defensively and it paid off for us," Westbrook said. "Coming out of halftime I was just trying to change the pace and bring energy on both sides of the basketball."
"We knew we had to be more aggressive on defense," guard Anthony Morrow said. "We wanted to make them make them play in the halfcourt. We had to come out and take care of business in the second half."
Westbrook was electric throughout the evening, but particularly in the third quarter when he scored 15 of his 36 points. He hustled to track down loose balls, jumped the passing lanes for steals and run-outs and repeatedly attacked the paint in the half court to create scoring chances for himself and teammates. When the night came to a close, he had filled up the stat sheet despite a poor shooting night, finishing with five rebounds, 10 assists and five steals to go with 19-for-22 shooting from the free throw line.
"He changed the game around with his defense and his passing," Brooks said. "That's what special players do. Every night, you're not going to make shots. You have to be able to pass and defend. He did a great job tonight."
It wasn’t just the Thunder point guard who was crucial to the victory tonight. Both of the Thunder’s starting front court players, Enes Kanter and Steven Adams, recorded a double-double. The duo combined for 36 points and 23 rebounds, including 13 on the offensive end. Kanter shot 10-for-13 for 22 points and used his nifty footwork and soft touch around the rim to be effective. Adams, by contrast, was brute force, bullying his way up to the rim and finding ways to put the ball in the basket in the pick-and-roll with Westbrook.
"We wore them down throughout the game," Adams explained. "Me and Enes bring a physical presence. We try to run down teams, beat them with our stamina."
The x-factor tonight, however, may have been Anthony Morrow and his sharpshooting prowess off the bench. The reserve wingman shot 7-for-11 from the field, including 4-for-7 from the three-point line on his way to 20 points. The way he spaced the floor, rotated and relocated to create passing lanes for the guards made for easy offensive decisions and open shots.
"He did a great job of knocking down shots as he always does," Westbrook said of Morrow. "He did a great job on the defensive end and helping us rebounding the basketball."
Stats of the Night
5 - Players who scored in double figures for the Thunder, including 20 for Anthony Morrow as a part of 40 bench points on the night
21-6 - The Thunder’s advantage in second chance points on the night thanks to 18 offensive rebounds
36 - Points for Russell Westbrook on the evening, in addition to 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals
The Last Word
"It's very important during this home stretch that we take advantage of it. We can't let anybody come in here and get wins on our floor." - point guard Russell Westbrook