Russell Westbrook said it at shootaround on Thursday morning – if the Thunder plays its brand of basketball, it is a tough squad to beat, regardless of the situation.
On Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks, Westbrook and his teammates proved those words true by coming out and playing stout defense and cohesively on the offensive end. In a 104-89 victory at Chesapeake Energy Arena, the Thunder’s defensive intensity was there from the get-go and even though it turned the ball over more than it would have liked, the offense flowed with each player making the right basketball decision to help their teammate get an open shot.
Head Coach Scott Brooks’ club held Dallas to just 36.3 percent shooting while also turning 18 Mavericks turnovers into 20 points. On the glass, the Thunder dominated to the tune of 63-39, while leaders like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook got teammates in position to succeed on offense, racking up a combined 15 assists and 46 points.
“For the most part I thought we did a great job of playing the way we’re supposed to play and coming out with a win,” Westbrook said.
“We scrambled,” Durant said. “We touched them up and got physical with them. We contested shots… For the most part we played physical.”
The Thunder gradually built its lead through the first half, eventually taking a 53-36 edge into halftime after its defense kept Dallas to 29 percent shooting over the first 24 minutes of action. A major factor in the second quarter was guard Anthony Morrow, who scored 14 of his 16 points off the bench during his 11:21 of action in the period. He shot 6-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-3 from the three-point line during the stretch, finding his seams in the defense to knock down some momentum-boosting jumpers.
“Today everything was there,” Morrow said. “My rhythm was there and my legs were there. The floor was spaced. Teammates were finding me and setting great screens. I was reading the defense and how they were playing me.”
Bursting out of the halftime locker room, the Thunder used a 6-0 run to set the tone, keeping its lead above 16 the rest of the quarter. To start the fourth, however, Dallas gave the Thunder a scare, rattling off an 8-0 run to cut the lead to just ten with 10;13 remaining.
From there, the two squads traded baskets and stops for an eight minute span, with the momentum finally shifting when Westbrook found Nick Collison for a layup, then got to the rim himself for two easy buckets on the next pair of possessions. In the meantime, the Thunder got defensive stops and pushed the lead back out to 16 with 1:57 left, which was enough to keep Dallas at bay for the rest of the evening.
“I was just trying to find my spots, find a way to be aggressive at all times and stay in attack mode to keep putting pressure on the defense,” Westbrook, who scored 34 points and dished out 10 assists, explained. “That’s my job.”
Ibaka’s 20/20 Night
The Thunder’s power forward became the first player in the Thunder era to record at least 20 points and 20 rebounds on the same night. His activity around the rim was game-altering, as the veteran big man snagged a career-high 22 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
“Serge was just phenomenal on the boards,” Brooks said. “With 22 rebounds, offensive rebounds, he really gave us a great game… He was attacking on both ends. A lot of times the ball comes to you, but he was going to get some.”
He was also efficient as a scorer, both knocking down mid-range jumpers and scoring on shot fakes then drives to the rim or from the free throw line. Ibaka scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting, including a 5-for-6 mark from the free throw line. Most importantly, however, was Ibaka’s defense on players at every position on the floor. With the way the Thunder likes to switch on the perimeter and be aggressive on pick-and-rolls, Ibaka is often challenged with guarding a variety of types of players and tonight, he defended them all expertly.
“He really set the tone with it in the first half,” Morrow said. “He did a good job defensively. He had to guard Parsons, two and three guards. He had to guard Dirk tonight and five-men. He was everywhere. We followed his lead.”
“He was huge,” Durant said. “We needed him to play big tonight… He came out tonight and played extremely well. He’s definitely grown and did everything coach needed him to do.”
Stats of the Night
16 – Points for Anthony Morrow on the night off the bench on 7-for-13 shooting, with 14 of those points coming in the second quarter
22 - Rebounds for Serge Ibaka, breaking a career-high, including seven on the defensive end, to go with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting
62-39 – Rebounding advantage for the Thunder on the night, thanks to 21 combined from Andre Roberson and Nick Collison
The Final Word
“We came out of the break and played a good game and had some stretches that were really good. We had good ball movement and good defensive execution.” – Head Coach Scott Brooks