Andre Roberson tracked the ball on its flight up from the referee’s hand, then instinctively darted into the backcourt. The ball squirted away towards the sideline in between two Heat players, but Roberson dove headfirst onto the floor to grab the ball and force another jump ball. The Thunder won the jump ball, then went on to win the game.
“It started on the first possession, Andre is diving on the floor for a loose basketball,” Head Coach Billy Donovan said. “That was great.”
In a 99-74 home victory over the Heat on Sunday night, the Thunder’s energy, intensity and defensive focus was evident from the very outset. Even after falling behind by six points early in the first quarter, the Thunder didn’t falter, running off a 15-2 burst to take control of the game.
Donovan’s club didn’t relinquish the lead after that, although Miami kept it close throughout the entirety of the first half and into the early stages of the third quarter. The tenacious defense was marked by the Thunder forcing 21 turnovers that led to 20 Thunder points, which helped lead to advantages of 46-28 in points in the paint and 14-4 in fast break points.
“For 48 minutes, it was probably the most complete game we’ve played defensively,” Donovan said. “We did a lot of good things. We guarded them very well. We didn’t give up a lot of threes. We used our length and size and from a sustainability standpoint, we sustained for a long period of time, which was great to see.”
In fact, the Thunder’s defense was so stifling that the Heat scored the fewest opposing points of the season, as the Thunder managed to attempt 16 more field goal attempts than Miami. A combination of length, quickness, physicality and a commitment to clearing the defensive glass ensured that Miami got few, if any, easy baskets around the rim.
“In the second half, we did a much better job with our positioning,” Donovan said. “We took a lot of deep paint drives and deep paint catches. Over the 24 minutes of the second half, we did a nice job of protecting the paint and that was a big factor for us having a good defensive night.”
The offense didn’t flow easily early, but the sharpshooting of Serge Ibaka around the elbows (19 points on 9-for-15) helped open things up for Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who each impacted the game in a variety of ways. Durant scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, made three assists and three steals in 31 minutes, while Westbrook chipped in 13 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists in 34 minutes of action for his fifth triple-double of the season.
Off the bench, Dion Waiters was the aggressor throughout the night, chipping in 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, most of which were drives to the rim through contact. For the night, the Thunder racked up 24 assists on 40 made baskets, shooting 45.5 percent from the floor.
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Third Quarter Eruption
The Heat put some pressure on the Thunder, but a burst in the third quarter completely changed the complexion of the game. It looked like this one would come down to the wire, but quickly flipped into one that the Thunder dominated in an emphatic way, sparked by a 17-2 run. It started with the Thunder ahead just 49-48, when Westbrook hit Ibaka for a 19-footer, then Steven Adams dropped the ball into Andre Roberson’s hands for a floater.
After a herky-jerky sequence for both teams, Donovan called a timeout to settle his troops. There was a sharpness to the Thunder after that break, as Westbrook immediately hit Roberson for a well-executed back-door cut alley-oop in the half court, then found him again for a fast break layup after a Durant steal.
“(Roberson) opened it up when he got that lob and got that fast break dunk,” Durant said. “That started it for us. He’s athletic, so when he’s out in space he’s pretty good.”
“A lot of times when Steven is rolling to the rim, sometimes they pull off of Andre’s man,” Donovan said, explaining the play he drew up. “Andre had the awareness to back cut and Russell had the awareness to recognize where the help was coming from. It gave us some momentum. That play kind of started it.”
Donovan’s group used that fuel to turn on the jets after a Chris Bosh make, rattling off the next nine points on three consecutive three-pointers – one apiece from Durant, Ibaka and Westbrook.
“We closed our paint up tonight,” Durant explained. “We got stops, coach called some good plays and we made three threes in a row, that’s what busted it open.”
After that, the game was never close, and the Thunder cruised to victory.
Watch Highlights:
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By the Numbers
4-for-14 - Three-point shooting numbers the Thunder held the Heat to on the night
7 - Offensive rebounds the Thunder allowed for the game, leading to a 16 field goal attempt advantage
31-8 - Advantage in bench points for the Thunder in the contest, led by Dion Waiters’ 18- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Last Word
“We did a good job of creating a tempo defensively. That led to some good offensive possessions for us, we got out in transition and it gave us an opportunity to get some points.” – point guard Russell Westbrook