A barrage of three-pointers over the final two-and-a-half minutes of play did the Thunder in on Friday night, as it fell 101-98 to the Indiana Pacers.
After playing solid defense all night, holding Indiana to 5-for-18 shooting from behind the arc, the Pacers went 4-for-4 down the stretch from the three-point line to somehow wrestle away the game. Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club seemed to be in control late in the fourth quarter, up 93-86 with 2:47 to go.
Almost undetected, however, Indiana started to find itself with more room behind the three-point line, as George Hill knocked down a shot from the corner to start a 15-5 Pavers run to end the game. After a close miss at the rim, the Thunder went under a screen on Monta Ellis on Indiana’s next possession, and the veteran guard made it count.
“We gave up some costly, wide open threes to end the game. We’ll look at them and see what happened,” Westbrook said.
By that point, the clock had ticked down under two minutes, with the game hanging in the balance at 93-92 Thunder. After two Thunder turnovers, Kevin Durant and Steven Adams each blocked a shot, resulting in two Russell Westbrook free throws with 1:10 remaining.
Again, the Thunder seemed to have created some separation, but Pacers rookie Myles Turner, from the corner, hit his first-career three-pointer to tie the game at 95 with 55.4 seconds to go. After a Durant miss that at least ensured a two-for-one situation, Ellis hit an unbelievable off-the-dribble, fadeaway three-pointer with a hand in his face to give Indiana the lead for good.
“It’s tough. We guarded the three so well,” Adams said. “They just ran a couple plays, a pick and roll, and we over-helped on the pick-and-roll. The whole game, except for those (three) minutes, they struggled on threes. We did a good job of contesting them.”
“Those four threes broke our back,” Durant said. “Breakdowns gave up threes and they broke our back. That’s the game.”
After Westbrook missed a layup through contact, Paul George hit a free throw. Without hesitation, the Thunder executed a play after the made free throw, as Donovan drew up a slick in-bounds play in an earlier timeout. He opted to utilize the space provided by the length of the floor to set up a Westbrook-to-Durant three-pointer off an Adams down-screen at the top of the key with 5.9 seconds to go. It was too little, too late, however, as George iced the game with two free throws and Westbrook’s desperation heave came up just short.
“It was a game where I thought we made some progress defensively and we’ve been a good defensive team guarding the three-point line,” Donovan said. “This is a night, especially in the first half, where they weren’t shooting particularly well. I was concerned with the number of attempts that they got up and then obviously they shot it extremely well down the stretch.”
The Thunder was led on offense by Kevin Durant’s 31 points, while Serge Ibaka registered a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and Enes Kanter chipped in a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench. The team as a whole, however, didn’t shoot it as well as it normally does, going just 5-for-26 from the three-point line while only taking 10 free throw attemtps. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Westbrook’s Career Assist Night
Indiana dictated the style and tempo for most of the first quarter, building a 21-14 lead, but a 7-0 Thunder second quarter burst that was orchestrated entirely by Westbrook changed the tide of the game. First the All-Star point guard knocked down a three-pointer, then he found Kyle Singler for a transition layup before hitting a pull-up jumper, and in the process he helped grab hold of all of the momentum and allowed the Thunder to head into halftime up 51-44.
“We did a good job of starting the game off with a defensive mindset,” Westbrook said. They were shooting in the low 40’s (percentage) for most of the game.”
In a sensational first half, Westbrook racked up 11 points and tied a Thunder-era record with 12 assists. He’s scored 10 points and made 10 assists in the first half three times this year, and the rest of the NBA has only done it once. When the night was over, he had set his career-high with 18 assists to go with 23 points on 10-for-17 shooting. Oh by the way, he finished with only two turnovers for the game.
“He’s just being a point guard, doing his thing,” Adams said. “He knows its going to open up for him and open everything up.”
“They’re a high steal team, so part of my job is to make sure we get good shots and find ways to get guys open shots,” Westbrook explained. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
By the Numbers
14 – Double-doubles off the bench for Enes Kanter on the season, the most in the NBA by six.
28-13 – Assists to turnover numbers for the Thunder on the night, a point of emphasis heading into the game.
40 – Consecutive games for Kevin Durant where he’s scored 20-or-more points, as he finished with 31 on the night – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The Last Word
“The defensive lapses toward the end of the game, we can’t have those. It’s the second half of the season and close to playoff time. We have to put more pressure on ourselves to be better.” – point guard Russell Westbrook
