In a game that featured a season-high 21 lead changes, the Thunder eked out a tough win to finish out a road trip. Capping off a brutal 17-game month of January, OKC made the plays it needed to down the stretch during a 13-0 run to finish with a 12-5 record.
Game Flow
This one was in one sense a clunker and in another, one of the most thrilling contests of the entire Thunder season, even in a year that’s featured dozens of crunch-time battles. With the Phoenix Suns playing a mix-and-match of zone and man-to-man defense, sometimes alternating between styles in the middle of the same possession, the Thunder’s offense struggled out of the gates.
Unable to get into the teeth of the defense with dribble drives, Chris Paul and Dennis Schröder started the night a combined 0-for-10 shooting from the field. Steven Adams and Hamidou Diallo picked up offensive fouls, and for the game the Thunder shot just 43.3 percent overall. Yet, just as it has done since Thanksgiving, the Thunder found a way to manufacture enough stops and scores to come away with another gut-check road win.
Rookie two-way guard Lu Dort tried his best at corralling Phoenix’s Devin Booker, and in the fourth quarter he was aided by Schröder, who accepted the challenge on both ends of the floor. Danilo Gallinari got going down low, attacking on post ups, completing and-one three-point plays and knocking down both midrange jumpers and 8-of-9 free throws for a game-high-tying 27 points.
Gallinari also helped the Thunder on the glass, as OKC racked up 15 offensive rebounds for 17 second chance points. That hasn’t been a strong suit of the Thunder this season, but against loose, uncertain box outs in the Suns’ zone defense, OKC was able to get extra looks at the rim and on tap outs.
“They were playing zone, they were going man, they were just giving us all different looks,” said Paul. “We just tried to pick up the pace and not be stagnant.
Despite dramatic swings on the scoreboard, the game was played within an 18-point window. OKC held a 10-point lead in the third quarter, when it looked like it might blow the game open at 77-67 midway through the period. Phoenix had built an 8-point edge in the first half, but then thanks to 9-of-20 shooting on non-paint twos for the game and an 8-0 burst midway through the fourth quarter, the Suns regained a 99-92 edge with 4:22 remaining.
Decisive Moments
Despite the game pressure put on by the Suns, Paul came right back down and flowed into offense, driving baseline to find Adams for a dunk. It was Paul’s 10th assist to go along with his 20 points, six rebounds and three steals in the game, and it forced an immediate timeout by Phoenix. Out of the break, the Thunder anticipated the Suns trying to force feed Booker in the post against Schröder, who was fronting the lethal wing scorer. Despite giving up some height, Schröder battled long enough for Adams to sneak over and make a steal.
Phoenix’s defense stifled the Thunder’s first couple options offensively, but Schröder baited a switch, getting Suns center DeAndre Ayton matched up in front of him. With a blow-by drive and a crafty finish from under his chin, Schröder protected the ball and slipped it up off the glass and in.
Both teams then ground out a trio of tense defensive stops before the ball ended up in Schröder’s hands once more, lined up against Ayton, again. The German point guard, who is shooting over 45 percent from 3-point range on the road, a career-best 39 percent overall, buried a massive 3-pointer, one of three of his for the game, to tie it up at 99. Schröder finished the night with 24 points, leading a bench that outscored Phoenix 36-27.
Play of the Game
After Schröder hustled to get around a screen and contest a Booker jumper, the Thunder turned it over and gave it right back to the Suns. The ball bounced around on the floor under Phoenix forward Kelly Oubre’s legs. Paul jumped on the ground, wedged his body between the ball and Oubre and smartly got the rock out of his hands to avoid a jump ball situation.
The steal allowed the Thunder to push it up ahead, with Paul creating yet another isolation situation against Ayton – the shortest guy on the court squaring off against the tallest. Paul backed Ayton up behind the free throw line, got to his spot at the nail and dropped in a fadeaway jumper to give the Thunder a 101-99 edge with 1:03 to go and also give the game its 21st and final lead change.
From there on the Thunder got just barely enough stops and hit 10-straight free throws over the final 44.5 seconds to seal a 111-107 win.
“It was fun and competitive basketball. We have so many competitors, we find a way to win in the end,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who had 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a block.
Stat of the Night20
Number of assists and the number of turnovers for the Suns in the game, despite Phoenix coming into the night averaging 27.3 assists – second best in the league – and just 14.6 turnovers for the fifth best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league.
The Thunder’s defense blew up Phoenix’s offense, forcing them to go one on one, taking midrange jumpers and stagnate in the halfcourt. All those Suns turnovers resulted in a plus-21 field goal attempt advantage for the Thunder. More cracks at the rim resulted in just enough extra points for OKC to squeak out the win.
Quotes of the Night
“Our guys kept fighting and battling and competing and just trying to find a way to get two points here and a stop there, get to the free throw line, all of those things are really good. I give them a lot of credit for that because it wasn’t a smooth easy game.”–Head Coach Billy Donovan
Looking Ahead
For the first time since Christmas, the Thunder has two consecutive days without a game. In fact, it has four straight days off, an incredible chance to catch its breath, rest up and get ready for the final 32 games of the year. At the 50-game mark, the Thunder is 30-20, a season-best 10 games over .500 for the season. After a well-deserved break, the Thunder will be back in action on Wednesday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena against the Cleveland Cavaliers.