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Photos: Thunder at Celtics

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Photos: Thunder at Knicks

The Thunder continued to gain more control and momentum as each quarter passed, culminating in a ruthless run to start the fourth quarter in a blowout victory in Madison Square Garden.

The American flag was unfurled just before the Star-Spangled Banner was performed, and as the announcement of the color guard was made by the public address announcer inside Madison Square Garden, Thunder Chris Paul felt a wave of emotion come over him.

First responders from Oklahoma City and New York City who had been on the scene at both the 1995 Murrah Building bombing and the 9/11 attacks were joined together in a moment of solidarity and mutual respect. Paul and his teammates took off their warmup jerseys to reveal the team’s 2019-20 City Edition jerseys that honor the 25th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, marking the first occasion the Thunder has worn them on the road this season.

“When we heard that announcement, I think everybody on our team felt an even more emotional response,” said Paul. “Those jerseys mean a lot to us in Oklahoma City and to have first responders from Oklahoma along with those here from New York, I think that was pretty special.”

Once game-play began, the Thunder’s defense was tested in a completely different way than it is on most nights but that didn’t stop OKC from routing New York to the tune of 126-103. The Knicks went just 4-of-24 from the three-point line for the game, missing its first 9 threes before finally hitting its first triple midway through the third quarter. Instead, the Knicks were deadest on attacking the paint at every opportunity.

They routinely set their screens lower than most NBA offenses, down below the three-point line. That allowed Knicks guards like Elfrid Payton and rookie RJ Barrett to sneak their way into the lane, and big men like Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Taj Gibson to fill up space in the paint for layups or second chances. The Knicks hung close with the Thunder and scored 36 points in the paint in the first half.

That pushed the Thunder to be even better in its help side defense, to pull across at the right time when they trapped Randle or Bobby Portis on the wing. In the second half and particularly during a late third quarter stretch, the Thunder did that to great effect, putting together multiple stops in a row.

“We just felt like we had to show a crowd the best we could and we were going to live with trying to get out to contest threes. We did both fairly well,” Head Coach Billy Donovan said.

In the meantime, the Thunder’s offense just kept on humming along. In a span of 50 seconds, Chris Paul found Danilo Gallinari for a pair of three-pointers, one coming on a behind-the-back pass, that the Italian sharpshooter and former Knick drained with ease. The buckets put the Thunder up by 20, a welcome payoff after inching its lead up from 7 after one quarter to 13 at halftime.

“It’s something we’ve been doing since the beginning and something that in crucial moments we always go for,” said Gallinari. “I was just reading the defense.”

That connection between Paul and Gallinari has been there all season and tonight it boosted the Thunder’s stretch forward to a game-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting. For the season, Paul has assisted on 57 of Gallinari’s 163 total three-pointers (34.9 percent), good for the second-most of any duo in the NBA.

“Me and Gallo just talk about pace and setting screens,” said Paul. “When he sets screens and they switch, he takes it to the post. Or when two people guard me, you find him.”

“I get mad when Gallo misses,” Paul smirked. “I get really mad, because he’s not supposed to. When you throw it back to him and nobody’s there, you can just go the other way."

The Thunder had built a substantial lead, but NBA fans know that games are never truly out of reach if there’s still 12 minutes left to play. OKC ensured there’d be no chance at a comeback though with its emphatic start to the fourth quarter. What started as a 13-0 run right out of the gates resulted in a 22-5 surge over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, edging the Thunder’s lead up to 34 points.

The spurt was punctuated by a pair of ferocious dunks by Queens, NY native Hamidou Diallo, who stepped in to play 26 minutes and rack up a season-high-tying 12 points. Bursting into the rotation after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was nabbed for a couple early fouls, Diallo brought the energy in his hometown by attacking the glass, cutting hard and punishing the rim. He flushed one dunk on a pass from Adams then another from Paul for the point guard’s 12th assist, tying a season-high.br&gt;

“(Diallo) finding those spots, those slashes, those dives, those quick cuts to the basket, we need that from him,” said Donovan.

Paul’s passing set up the play of the game as well, which occurred in the second quarter on a beautiful sequence of backdoor cuts. Paul drove towards the right wing, bouncing a pass to Gilgeous-Alexander who darted down the baseline towards the hoop. As a help defender crashed over, rookie two-way guard Lu Dort sliced into the lane from the left wing for one of the easiest Thunder baskets of the night.

“When there’s pressure being placed at the rim or somebody driving, they’re going to pull over. You’ve gotta try to find areas on the weak side to make some cuts and create an open gap for the next guy to pass to,” said Donovan. “Our guys on the backside got into some open areas and gaps where we could make some plays.”

Due to New York’s aggressive help-side defense, the Thunder was able to punish some overzealousness by playing heads up, team basketball. Hitting cutters right on time and on target was the reason OKC notched 26 assists for the game.

While piling up the assists, the Thunder managed to have one of its very best nights protecting the ball in team history. With a total of just four turnovers, OKC tied a season-best from January 20 at San Antonio. The team’s lowest ever turnover figure was back on March 5, 2013, when the Thunder had just two against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Paul was in complete control of the offensive flow, which always helps keep turnovers down, but he also had help as Gilgeous-Alexander, Gallinari and others did a nice job of attacking while maintaining control and making the simple play when it was required.

“I keep telling the guys we only have basically 20 more auditions before the playoffs. We gotta start building the right habits and making sure we’re getting ready for the stretch run.” –Chris Paul

“We put together some stops and were kind of able build on the lead. Guys did a nice job of closing the third and starting the fourth. We played well on both ends..” –Billy Donovan

The Thunder will aim to sweep this three-game east coast road swing with the final contest coming against the Celtics in Boston on Sunday evening. The Thunder will have a chance to hit 40 wins on the season and go to 16 games above .500, which would be the high-water mark for OKC this season.

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Game Recap: Thunder 126, Knicks 103

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Photos: Thunder at Pistons

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Photos: Thunder at Bucks

The Thunder struggled from the beginning to find rhythm offensively and defensively. A tough shooting night coupled with an impressive scoring night for the Bucks resulted in a rare road loss for the Thunder in Fiserv Forum.

The Thunder’s offense never quite found a rhythm. However, in the first 12 minutes of the game, both squads fought to muster any semblance of momentum as neither team shot an exceptionally high clip from the field initially.

Even after a pair of threes from Mike Muscala who entered into the first quarter and injected some much-needed life into the Thunder offense, the Bucks immediately answered with a bucket of their own to maintain a lead. By the end of the first quarter, the Thunder trailed by a manageable six points.

The momentum began to roll for the Bucks in the second quarter as they strung together multiple possessions of made baskets, particularly from behind the line. As the Thunder looked to protect the paint, the Bucks capitalized from the 3-point line. A pair of back-to-back triples from Wesley Matthews ignited a massive second quarter run for the Bucks and also foreshadowed the type of shooting night the Thunder was up against.

Reigning NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo was major role player in the Milwaukee run scoring 15 points in the second quarter en route to a 25-point half. With no Danilo Gallinari (ankle soreness) the Thunder rotated between Hamidou Diallo and Deonte Burton on Antetokounmpo. The Bucks looked to attack the size advantage and give its power forward several looks alone on the block.

“They posted us a lot more. We had some size disadvantages where we tried to get the ball out of the post as fast as we could,” said Thunder head coach Billy Donovan. “We didn’t have a lot of size at the power forward spot. They probably posted us more than they normally posted most teams.”

On the other end of the floor, the Thunder’s offense continued to sputter. Looks that typically drop on any given night, were off target. The Thunder’s quick hitters early in the shot clock played into the hands of the Bucks defense who then capitalized on the other end. Going into the half, the Thunder trailed 70-47.

“We had really good looks, I got some open threes,” said Chris Paul who finished with a team-high 18 points. “Dennis [Schröder] and I got to where we get any other night. So, we took those same shots, but we just didn’t make them.”

The Bucks continued to shoot at a high level from behind the arc in the third quarter maintaining an efficient 44 percent clip from downtown. With the higher volume of 3-pointers, the Thunder also was in a fight for long rebounds. The Bucks wrangled in 14 offensive rebounds on the night and converted them into 11 second chance points.

After back-to-back quarters with 39 and 37 points from the Bucks, the Thunder’s deficit grew out of reach heading into the final frame.

“We didn’t do the things necessary to put ourselves in a position to win the game and to be close,” said Donovan. “We need to continue to get better and continue to improve.”

Despite a lackluster shooting percentage, the Thunder remained within a one possession margin deep into the second quarter. A bucket from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander brought the game to within three points with five minutes remaining in the quarter.

However, it was the closing minutes of the second quarter proved to be pivotal for the Thunder who were outscored 24-4 in the final five minutes as the Bucks caught fire from behind the line and Antetokounmpo continued to soar in scoring.

“That last three four minutes of the second quarter kind of got away from us and that was a combination of our offense and our defense,” said Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.

“Scoring every play. Just getting whatever they want, getting the ball wherever they want,” said Steven Adams. “Basketball-wise, they were getting to their positions before the play perfectly. We didn’t extend their catches or pressure them enough.”

In the beginning of the second quarter, Steven Adams and Abdel Nader executed a textbook two-man game. After a contested pick-and-roll attempt, Nader passed the ball to Adams at the free throw line.

After a brief second to get his defender to rela, Nader sprinted toward the rim. Without hesitation, Adams rifled the ball into the lane for Nader who had left his man beyond the arc and elevated for an uncontested two-handed slam.

The Bucks caught fire from behind the arc knocking down 21 out of its 45 attempts for a 46.7 percent clip from deep. Ball movement from the Bucks forced scrambled rotations for the Thunder defense.

Milwaukee’s drives to the rim put pressure on the rim and forced Thunder defenders to pack the paint in order to prevent easy looks at the basket. As a result, the Bucks sent the ball out to open shooters spotted up on the perimeter with a too-little-too-late contest from OKC.

“When you’re playing that packed like that, you’re going to be late to the three-point line,” said Donovan.
“We try to minimize the volume [of 3-pointers] as much as possible, but they were hitting all of them as well,” said Adams. “Obviously, we were doing a lot of things wrong.”

“We missed [shots]. I think that we got a lot of really good looks, but our defense and our rebounding wasn’t much tonight. It’s just an old-fashioned butt-whooping. So, keep on moving.”–Chris Paul

“These guys have been really competitive. I thought we competed today just didn't really have it at the level we needed to tonight, and we need to learn whatever we need to learn from this and then we need to flush it and be able to move on to the next one.”–Coach Donovan

The Thunder will look to put this one behind them as they move forward into March with three days before its next game. On Tuesday, the Thunder will take on the Clippers for the first half of another road-home back-to-back.

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Game Recap: Thunder 86, Bucks 133

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Photos: Thunder at Bulls

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Photos: Thunder at Pelicans

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