After a 43 minutes of the ball simply not going through the hoop, the Thunder’s chances at victory were slim. With hustle and heart, Russell Westbrook, Nick Collison and their teammates injected some chaos into the affair, and gave the Thunder a chance.
In the end, diving on the floor, swiping at the ball and pushing the tempo to get three-pointers got the Thunder within striking distance but not quite over the hump, as Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club fell to the New York Knicks 93-90 on Friday night. Despite shooting just 38.0 percent from the field and 3-for-29 from the three-point line, the Thunder still managed to give itself a chance at victory.
“In this game our guys really competed. It would have been easy for our guys to get frustrated,” Donovan said. “We had a hard time making shots, a hard time scoring and putting the ball in the basket at times… I give our guys a lot of credit for hanging in there.”
“I thought we fought and played hard, we just weren’t able to pull the victory out,” Westbrook said.
The Thunder was down 87-76 with 3:03 left when Westbrook stepped to the free throw line and knocked down two shots, igniting a 14-6 run to close out the game. After two stops, Dion Waiters sprinted ahead in transition and finished through contact, making the and-one free throw. Carmelo Anthony hit a step-back jumper, then Westbrook stopped and popped to pull the Thunder to within 89-83 with 1:26 remaining.
“It was crunch time,” Waiters said. “Russ was out there making plays, doing what he does, and we were feeding on that.”
Enes Kanter forced Robin Lopez into a travel, then Westbrook then made a steal on the next defensive stand, as Collison dove on the floor for a loose ball to get possession. On the ensuing run-out, Westbrook was fouled and hit two free throws, then Anthony missed two free throws, giving the Thunder the ball with 32.2 seconds left, down 89-85.
Head Coach Billy Donovan drew up a beautiful play out of the timeout, freeing up Serge Ibaka for a corner three-pointer, which was halfway down before it rimmed out.
“I was just penetrating, and coach drew up a good play,” said Westbrook, who finished with 34 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. “It was the shot we wanted. It was a good shot.”
“We did a really good job of back-screening for Serge. I have a lot of confidence in Serge, he’s always been a good corner three-point shooter,” Donovan said. “That’s what you want to try to do in that situation, get a good, clean look off.”
Lopez grabbed the defensive board and buried two free throws, seemingly ending the Thunder’s chances at a comeback.
After a Westbrook driving layup, Anthony hit two free throws, but Westbrook sped down and nailed a tough, contested three-pointer to cut it to 93-90. Out of a timeout, Westbrook missed a three, then Dion Waiters snagged the loose rebound, stepping into a game-tying three-point attempt that hit both sides of the rim before bouncing out.
“It felt great. It was just one of those nights from the three-point line,” Waiters said. “In and out.”
It was a furious comeback attempt, but ultimately it was all for naught in the landscape of this game.
“They weren’t getting as good of shots as they were getting most of the game,” Collison said. “We defended better. Until we get our overall level of play closer to that for longer stretches, we’re going to have a tough time. That’s something we can focus on - being more consistent and being able to maintain that higher level throughout the game.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Turning Point
The Knicks broke away in this one in the first quarter with an 11-2 run, on the back of three three-pointers – two by Arron Afflalo and one by Langston Galloway. The three-point line was a menace for the Thunder to guard all night long, as the Knicks knocked down exactly 6-of-10 attempts from behind the arc in both the first and the second halves. In addition, the Knicks hit 13-of-29 attempts on two-pointers outside of the paint.
“You want to try to force teams into non-paint twos,” Donovan said. “They made a lot of those tough two’s, but what piled onto that was the three’s”
Despite holding the Knicks to just 16 points in the paint, the Thunder allowed New York perimeter players get loose and according to Donovan, that was a game-changer.
“They got hot from three and that’s what hurt us,” Collison said. “You have to give them some credit for making them… The three-point line is important in the game now. You have to be able to defend those.”
“They got into the lane, broke the defense down and were able to find guys on the perimeter,” Waiters explained. “They made shots. The three hurt us tonight.”
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By the Numbers
13 – Rebounds for Enes Kanter, who also scored 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting for his double-double
49-36 – The Thunder’s rebounding advantage on the night, including 21 offensive rebounds that led to 25 second chance points
52-16 – The Thunder’s advantage in points in the paint on the night, where it held New York to 8-for-23 shooting- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Last Word
“I thought our effort was good, but we made too many mistakes to win. So we’ll have to watch film and try to get better… The only thing you can do is control your effort and your concentration, and try to avoid any other things that come in and distract you from doing that.” – forward Nick Collison