ORLANDO – The ball, after being swatted by the outstretched palm of Kevin Durant, slammed into the seats in the first row of the Amway Center, just feet from the Thunder bench.
Looking immediately up at the clock, Thunder players rejoiced their leader’s defensive stand. Only 0.1 seconds remained, and the Thunder’s improbable come-from behind effort would be rewarded with a 139-136 double-overtime victory over the Orlando Magic.
Staring down an 18-point deficit to start the fourth quarter, the Thunder rallied as a group, got stops and converted on offense to gradually chip away at the margin. Still, with 3:11 left, the Thunder trailed by 10 and it seemed that its comeback attempts would end up perpetually falling just short of causing a lead change.
Russell Westbrook led a 9-0 run with a layup and out of a timeout, D.J. Augustin followed suit. Westbrook drove again to the paint, finishing with his left hand, then followed that up with two free throws after an Enes Kanter blocked shot. After an Elfrid Payton layup, Durant dished to Augustin in the corner for a 3-pointer, cutting Orlando’s lead to 110-109 with 1:09 remaining.
With 17.3 seconds left, the Thunder stared down a 114-111 disadvantage, but Head Coach Billy Donovan called a play for Kevin Durant at the top of the key, where he buried a 3-pointer. Victor Oladipo responded with a three of his own with 3.9 seconds left before Westbrook took the air out of the entire building with a running 38-foot, banked-in 3-pointer as time expired to send the game to overtime.
“I would tell you I practice those shots every day, but I don’t,” Westbrook said with a smile. “I’m lucky it went in and happy that it went in and to be able to close the game out.”
The Thunder nearly closed out the Magic in the first overtime, but for an unbelievable 3-pointer from Oladipo with a hand in his face as time expired. In the second extra period the Thunder once again stayed in control throughout, but this time put the clamps on defensively to wrestle away the win.
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Free Basketball
Loyal Thunder fans in the arena and around the world were treated to an extra 10 minutes of incredible basketball tonight, with the Thunder’s dynamic duo fueling an eventual well-earned victory. Throughout the fourth quarter and both overtime periods, Westbrook was the dominant force, driving north-south to the rim for repeated attacks. In fact, the Thunder’s floor general scored 39 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished four assists after halftime alone.
“My job as a point guard is to read the game, see what works and see how I can impact the game to help us win. I tried to stay in attack mode all night,” Westbrook explained.
Westbrook scored 14 of the Thunder’s 22 combined points in the overtime periods, but it was two clutch foul shots by Steven Adams with 9.3 seconds remaining in the second extra five minutes that proved most critical. Although he wasn’t the first option, Adams was rewarded for his dedication to improving at the line and coolly buried both shots to help seal the victory.
“I give Steven credit,” Donovan said. “He’s really put the time in to try to get better as a free throw shooter. Hopefully this helps his confidence from the line.”- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Resilience and Maturity
While the exclamation points came from Westbrook, Durant was the constant, steady factor all night long, racking up 43 points on 15-for-30 shooting to go with 12 rebounds, two assists, a steal and two game-saving blocks. Durant was seen helping teammates stay composed during trying moments, and he and Westbrook were the personification of the entire team’s maturity and togetherness.
“To be down 18 in the fourth and come back and win a basketball game, that shows a lot of guts on our end,” Durant said. “We tried to come through for the group and make huge plays. They needed us tonight and we were able to come through.”
Despite the excitement of the incredible victory, there’s still an understanding amongst the Thunder players and coaches that this game will be one it needs to learn from moving forward.
Leaning on Durant and Westbrook for a heavy offensive load is never a bad strategy, but the Thunder wants to be able to generate other ways of producing points efficiently in case one of their superstars has an off night.
On the defensive end, the focus will be keeping teams out of the paint and getting into position on time to prevent opponents from getting advantage situations.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Donovan explained. “We need to keep getting better and improving. The biggest thing I’m looking for is if how we’re playing is sustainable.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Going with Quickness
Coach Donovan received credit from players after the game for his in-game adjustment to put Durant at the power forward spot, surrounding him with Westbrook, Augustin, Dion Waiters and a mix of Enes Kanter and Steven Adams for the majority of the fourth quarter and overtime. With three guards on the floor plus Durant, the Thunder was able to stay in front of the ball better on defense and space the floor better on offense to breed higher percentage shots.
“Our defense was much better in the second half,” Donovan said. “I give D.J. and Dion a lot of credit because we just tried to get a little bit more quickness on the floor to match up against them defensively.”
“Coach switched the lineup up and we went small,” Durant explained. “We were able to spread them out and get whatever we wanted. He called some great plays late in the game for us to get some buckets.”
During an NBA season each game and matchup will be different and will dictate different circumstances, and Donovan and his staff will have to find ways, like tonight, to solve each puzzle.
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By the Numbers
3 – The number of times Kevin Durant (43 points) and Russell Westbrook (48 points) have scored 40 points apiece in the same game.
42-20 – The Thunder’s advantage in points in the paint after halftime, for a 64-58 edge on the night
62-49 – The Thunder’s rebounding edge for the game, including 22 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second chance points - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Last Word
“We came in and we stuck to it. We did a great job of fighting through adversity for the first time tonight. We had an opportunity to break and we didn’t break. It showed in the fourth quarter.” – point guard Russell Westbrook