The Thunder’s first home game of 2020 was nothing short of electric. The return of Russell Westbrook, the Thunder sporting its City Edition uniforms for the first time honoring the 25th anniversary of the OKC bombing and of course, a convincing 21-point win holding the highest scoring offense in the NBA to a season-low 92 points.
Game Flow
Chesapeake Energy Arena buzzed with verve. A deafening round of applause for the return of former longtime Thunder player Russell Westbrook shook the stands. The Thunder faithful showed its appreciation for the legacy its former point guard left on the city before tip-off. However, when the ball was tipped and the clock started ticking, the energy in the arena shifted in support of the players in charcoal grey jerseys and the Thunder fed off of it.
Threes were flowing early for the Thunder sparked by Danilo Gallinari who knocked down two on back to back possessions in the first five minutes of play. This momentum continued to build as the defensive intensity caught fire for OKC early on. Diligent high-hands and feet glued to the floor forced highly contested looks from Houston that even James Harden struggled to finish. By the end of the quarter, the Thunder reached a season high 37 points.
The stifling Thunder defense held the Rockets to only 3-for-11 from the 3-point line and 8-21 from the field. In an exhibition of defensive discipline, Harden, who averages 38 points per game was only allowed four points in the first 12 minutes. Terrance Ferguson, Thunder defensive specialist, held the assignment of guarding Harden out of the gates. Despite a couple of early fouls, the third year forward made the adjustment and held Harden’s looks to a minimum for the remainder of the game.
“My mindset was not to foul but that didn’t work early, I had happy hands,” Ferguson admitted. “Later in the game I kept my hands back, made him shoot over me, made him shoot tough shots, bring him to the backside help with Steve-O (Steven Adams), which is hard to finish over. Just bring him to the paint and guard his step back.”
It was Westbrook keeping the Rockets afloat early on with nine first quarter points and finishing the contest with a game-high 34 points, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep up with the constant offensive production of the Thunder. Gallinari found ways to continue to be productive at all three levels: posted up on the block, in the midrange and behind the arc. He finished with a team-high 23 points by taking advantage of mismatches due to Rockets switches.
“I was just trying to read the defense,” said Gallinari. “They were playing small most of the time. They were switching a lot, so we were just trying to exploit those mismatches.”
Dennis Schröder entered into the game and with him came an extra zap of energy on the defensive end. The German sixth man picked up full court, knees bent at a 90-degree angle, feet shuffling in rhythm with the ball handler, both hands outstretched to deter easy passes, nothing was getting past him, not easily at least.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Dennis defensively guarding anybody in the backcourt, because I know he’s going to give his all, and he’s going to fight, and he’s going to really make it hard. It starts with the way he picks up full court and pressures the ball,” said Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.
Even a surge of six straight points from Houston out of the half was offset by seven straight from the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander found crafty buckets, Ferguson knocked down a pair of triples and the Thunder didn’t allow a single free throw attempt for Houston. The offense was humming at a high level and by the midpoint of the third quarter, five Thunder players had reached double figures and the Thunder was shooting a handsome 52% from three and 54% from the field.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Thunder held onto a 22-point lead despite a 12-point burst from Westbrook in the third. Ball movement, pace and high defensive intensity propelled the Thunder to an insurmountable margin and the ability to run away with the win in its first home game of the new decade.
“I thought our guys did a great job on both ends of the floor. We really guarded well,” said Donovan. “I thought our defense in the first half was really good, our defense in the second half was great, and offensively we shared the ball. I thought overall on both ends, the guys played well tonight.”
Decisive Moments
The Thunder’s scorching start gave them a lead which they never lost. Behind two 3-pointers from both Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari, the Thunder put up 37 points in the quarter. It was the beginning of a highly efficient 48 minutes of offense filled with ball movement and production in all areas of the floor. No matter what defensive scheme the Rockets threw in the Thunder’s direction, OKC had an answer.
“When we move the ball and play with pace, it’s really tough to guard us. We just have to keep improving on that. Just get stops and from there on just play with pace on the offensive end, move the ball,” said Schröder. “We’ve got so many weapons, it’s really hard to guard.”
Play of the Game
With a commanding lead in the fourth quarter, the Thunder looked for a punctuating opportunity to put this one way. Playing in transition after a Houston missed shot, Chris Paul advanced the ball up the floor with a slight advantage in numbers. In the midst of the transition shuffle, Rockets center, Isaiah Hartenstein found himself checking Paul at the 3-point line. Paul paused for one second before dropping the ball between the seven-footer’s legs getting a clear path to the rim. The nine-time All-Star floated it up and in to send the Thunder past the century mark and call off any chance of a Rockets comeback.
Echoing through the head of the 13-year veteran after he makes the highlight worthy move – make the shot.
“I was going into the lane and I really don’t like to go in there like that, I would rather stop at the elbow,” Paul admitted post game. “I know when they switch, they’re taught to switch up and I could tell Isaiah [Hartenstein] was about to switch up high on me so I’m just glad I didn’t turn it over.”
Stat of the Night92
The Rockets average a league-leading 119 points per contest. On Thursday, the Thunder held the highest-scoring offense in the league to only 92 points, a new season-low. Driving lanes were clogged, passing lanes were stifled and the Thunder snatched away any opportunity for the Rockets to find an offensive rhythm. This included holding the league’s leading scorer in Harden to a relatively meager 17 points.
Paul explained the defensive mentality that his team adopted going into Thursday’s game:
“Try to contest James not let him get to the free throw line too much. We wanted to try to slow Russ down as much as possible but that’s tough to do. Rebound, we wanted to rebound. We played a pretty good game. We knew that they were capable of making runs and getting hot, but we didn’t really let them do that tonight.”
Quotes of the Night
“When we get rolling it’s hard to stop pushing. With Gallo [Gallinari] at the three, [Chris Paul] always on his thing and Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] is unbelievable so when those three guys are rolling it’s pretty hard to stop missing.”–Terrance Ferguson
“All five have to be locked in. [Ferguson] did a great job starting the game on James Harden, made it difficult. Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] tried everything on Russ [Westbrook], and we just followed the game plan for 48 minutes.” –Dennis Schröder
Looking Ahead
The Thunder will have one day of practice on Friday before facing the Lakers Saturday in Chesapeake Energy Arena. The game will return to normal tip-off time of 7 p.m. CT and will air on FOX Sports Oklahoma.
A Memorable Night for the City
The Thunder sported new threads to kick off the 2020 season at home. For the first time this season, the Thunder wore its City Edition Jerseys created in partnership with Nike and the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum to recognize and honor all those affected by the OKC bombing nearly 25 years ago. Each feature of the charcoal grey jersey from the representation of the Gates of Time to the symbolic Survivor Tree was carefully vetted and crafted to represent various aspects of the Memorial and pay tribute to those killed, those who survived and those changed forever.
“It was special for us. We all mentioned it before we got out there, ‘we’ve got to make everybody proud’,” said Schröder. “It’s historic and we just tried to make the best game possible, go out there and compete for the people who were here when it happened. It was good for the city.”
Each Thunder player understood the weight and significance that the jersey held. As part of the Thunder’s longstanding partnership with the Memorial, each Thunder player tours the site upon their introduction to the city gaining the knowledge of the event that shaped OKC’s history on April 19th, 1995.
“It means a lot and the guys on the team were excited to wear them,” said Paul. “Steve-O in the locker room was like ‘when are we wearing them again?’ Sam did a great job of explaining to everybody the designs. The tree on the shorts, the gates on the side of the jersey. It’s a huge significance and if you play here you understand that you’re not just playing for yourself or the team, you’re playing for everybody in the city.”