TORONTO — On the wing, before the main on-ball action even began, Paul George and Russell Westbrook were digging into their assignments. Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard darted up toward the top of the key. Westbrook called out to George for the switch, then busted around a screen to stay in front of the Toronto superstar, allowing Thunder center Steven Adams to get back to his man. Leonard drove middle, but Westbrook’s feet kept moving. The only play for Leonard to make was to plant his forearm squarely in the scrappy Thunder point guard’s chest.
“Just locking down when you need to,” Westbrook said. “Just trying to make winning basketball plays on the defensive end.”
The call from the referee was a charge, one of four offensive fouls that the relentless, sacrificing Thunder defense drew in the final 15 minutes of action on Friday night. Coming with 1:02 left in regulation, Westbrook’s hustle play helped seal a much-needed 116-109 road victory to snap a four-game skid and move to 43-30 on the season.
“We were just fired up,” said George. “We can’t just get too high, we gotta stay pretty even-keeled. We can’t just get emotionally too high, peak out and then next game come and we were just content with this win. We have to continue on with just building.”
In the rematch of this home and home set with the Raptors, the game looked destined for a similar result from Wednesday, when the Thunder got down big early only to use a fourth quarter run to send it to overtime where the gas ran out. In this one the Raptors did get off to a hot shooting start again, going 7-for-9 from three including 4-for-4 by Danny Green, all on catch and shoot looks. Meanwhile the Thunder struggled to get out into the open floor, scoring zero fast break points and shooting just 6-for-19 (31 percent) in the paint over the first two quarters. The Raptors lead continued to swell despite repeated Thunder charges, and after a 9-0 burst right before halftime, Toronto led 58-48 at the break.
Instead of waiting until the fourth like on Wednesday, the Thunder made its charge in the third, using a 20-3 burst to end the quarter to win the period 35-22, flipping the momentum completely. It all started on the defensive end, where the Thunder did a much better job of getting around screens to be in position for middle drives by Leonard and Pascal Siakam. Whether it was Westbrook, George, Jerami Grant, Dennis Schröder or Terrance Ferguson, Thunder players met drivers near the free throw line instead of forcing help defenders to charge over, which in the first half opened up the floor for Toronto’s catch and shoot threes, but those opportunities weren’t there as the game went on.
“It was just being more physical. Using our size, our length,” said Westbrook. “Being the aggressors and putting them on their heels a little bit.”
“Just being active, going for steals, going for blocks,” added Schröder. “Everybody did a great job of being locked in, helping each other.”
With the defense more intact and having to do less scrambling, the Thunder was not only able to force more turnovers (22 on the night) but also grab rebounds and get out into transition. Spearheaded by Westbrook and Schröder, who combined for 20 assists, the Thunder scored 16 fast break points in the second half by pushing the tempo after those defensive stands. On one sequence, Steven Adams swatted a Kawhi Leonard shot right at the rim which led to a Schröder to George layup in the open court to make it 106-97 Thunder with 4:16 to go.
“Off their turnovers, off stops, we got out on the break,” said Westbrook.
Schröder was instrumental to the Thunder second half surge, scoring 15 of his 26 points and dishing out 6 of his 7 assists in the game after halftime. Open because of a sagging Toronto defense that tried to protect the rim, Schröder knocked down 4-of-7 three-pointers and also found ways to keep putting pressure on the Raptors’ defense as the Thunder scored 68 points after halftime.
“It felt amazing. We got back to our swag, kinda, how we play,” said Schröder. “We got some stops, got out in transition, sharing the ball. Everyone, from the first person to the last person, did a great job.”
Despite being double-teamed every time he touched the ball within the remote vicinity of a pick-and-roll, Paul George was still incredibly efficient and productive on the floor tonight. Along with his perpetually tough defense, George scored 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including a 5-for-10 mark from three. His running mate Westbrook was the maestro, racking up his 132nd career triple-double and 28th of the season with an 18-point, 13-assist, 12-rebound effort that helped the Thunder make the most of its opportunities from behind the arc, where the team shot 20-of-43 (46.5 percent).
Throughout the entire game, but particularly in the second half, Westbrook was at once a calming influence and the source of the frenetic energy his team needed. That was personified by not only the way he found George and Schröder for jump shots in the fourth quarter to spark and 8-0 run and keep Toronto at bay, but his crucial charge against Leonard, wrapping up a classic Thunder defense-to-offense victory.
“Our effort was there. Our stamina defensively was there. Our defense, over time, just got better and better,” George said.
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