SACRAMENTO – So much had gone right for the Thunder throughout the night. Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club had swatted away Kings run after Kings run, including 9-0 and 11-0 bursts in the second half. Sacramento had one more in them, and gave the Thunder quite the scare and plenty of teaching points even in a 122-118 road victory.
Up 114-102 with 1:23 to go, the Thunder let the foot off the gas for just a minute and it resulted in a Rudy Gay three-pointer off a steal, then another steal led to an easy layup for Darren Collison. When DeMarcus Cousins was fouled, made one free throw and Gay followed up the miss on the second free throw with a three-pointer, it was suddenly a 116-113 Thunder lead with just 26.5 seconds remaining. The Thunder knocked down its final four free throws, but fouled DeMarcus Cousins on a three-pointer to make it 118-116 with just 18.5 seconds to go.
“There are just so many things in that last 1:23 that will be incredible and invaluable teaching points to our guys,” Donovan said. “Fortunately enough, we won.”
“Give our guys credit. We stepped up and made free throws, which was really good,” Donovan continued. “But the offensive rebounding, the turnovers and fouling the shooters were things you can’t do closing out games.”
Alex Abrines and Victor Oladipo were the two Thunder players who closed out the win with free throws, coming through when the pressure was on. Russell Westbrook, who finished with a 36-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, sealed the win with a steal and layup with 3.8 seconds left.
Down the stretch in the fourth quarter the Thunder had youth all over the floor, including Domas Sabonis and Cameron Payne, and still managed to earn a road win through adversity. The kids stood in there and delivered.
“I try not to think about it in the moment. If you think about it, you’ll miss it,” Abrines shrugged, a sheepish smile showing through his scruffy beard. “I just cleared my mind and shot.”
Abrines scored 13 points off the bench for the Thunder, knocking down three of his four three-point attempts. One of those big triples came early in the fourth quarter, after the Kings had pulled to within five. A few possessions earlier, the Thunder’s leading three-point shooter Jerami Grant knocked down a three and Abrines followed it up. The Spanish sharpshooter attributed his looks from behind the arc to the big men in the middle who caught the ball in the interior and found the open man on the perimeter.
“Thanks to Domas, he gave me a couple threes,” Abrines noted. “They were really trying to find me with my feet set. I just say thank you to my teammates.”
It seemed that the Thunder had a different weapon for each part of the fight on Sunday night, and in the second quarter it was the downhill attacking of Oladipo that did the trick. The powerful guard scored 14 of his 23 points in that period, repeatedly getting into the lane and going after the rim through contact. Oladipo put one defender in the spin cycle on a drive to the bucket, finished on a floater plus the foul and managed to knock down 7-of-8 free throw attempts as well.
“Tonight he was aggressive trying to get to the front of the rim and trying to generate and create some shots for others. He played well," said Donovan. "Russell in the second half was phenomenal. He did a great job and was efficient and productive both scoring and passing."
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Kanter Stepped Up When Called Upon
With 10:15 to go in the third quarter, Steven Adams fell to the ground and his head hit the floor, causing him to leave the game to be evaluated for concussion-like symptoms. Already having scored 12 points in the second quarter alone, it was time for Enes Kanter to step up to an even higher degree.
The Thunder reserve center was a menace in the paint once again, racking up a season-best 29 points to go with 12 rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes of action. Kanter was a bully down low with his post-up play, ability to knock down a righty hook shot and knack for drawing fouls around the rim. He snagged seven offensive rebounds and made 9-of-11 free throws.
“(Kanter) is the best guy in the league coming off the bench and I appreciate and believe that because he does so many different things at a high level: rebound the basketball, scoring, defending well. He’s been doing that since I’ve been here and all season long,” Westbrook said, repeating his belief that Kanter should be the NBA’ sixth-man of the year.
“He was great tonight. He did a really good job defensively. Cousins is a hard guy to defend when he’s coming at you like that and with his ability to shoot the ball,” Donovan added. “He played an exceptional game on both ends of the floor. I was pleased with the way he stepped up.”
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By the Numbers
20 – Triple-doubles for Russell Westbrook this season, giving him 57 for his career, just two shy of Larry Bird for fifth most all-time
25-9 – The Thunder’s advantage in fast break scoring on the night, aided by 23 points off 22 Kings turnovers
29 – Points for Enes Kanter on the night, a season-high and four shy of a career-high, to go with 12 rebounds in 32 minutes
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The Last Word
“There were some great contributions from a lot of new guys and young guys who have never been in those situations before. I’m just happy we were able to hang on and teach something to some of these younger guys.” – Head Coach Billy Donovan