A 4:30 a.m. arrival on Friday morning after a three-hour flight from Oakland could get just about anyone out of sync, let alone with an early 5:00 p.m. Saturday tip-off on the horizon. The Thunder didn’t let that faze it, kicking off a five-game home stand with a 122-92 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The energy was there in the first quarter when the Thunder built a nine point lead, thanks in large part to Russell Westbrook generating six of the Thunder’s nine assists. Towards the end of the period and into the second quarter, however, Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns started heating up, scoring 25 points on 10-for-14 shooting through the opening 24 minutes. The Thunder didn’t panic, however, as it held the rest of Minnesota’s players to just 11-for-32 (34.4 percent) shooting in the first half.
“We were aggressive from the jump executing our game plan. They have a lot of talented scorers and they can get hot at any moment,” guard Andre Roberson said. “We executed and fought together.”
The Thunder laid in wait, ready to make its move. Once Towns cooled down mid-way through the third quarter, the Thunder pounced, ripping off an 18-1 run.
“Steven did a terrific job in the second half once he started to figure out how (Towns) was playing,” Head Coach Billy Donovan said. “It was our defense that allowed us to get out on the break and get some transition points.”
The game was never close after that, allowing Donovan to rest most of his core rotation players the rest of the way. Still, the Thunder’s offense was consistently efficient, hitting on backdoor cuts, getting out in transition and finishing around the rim.
The Thunder finished with 70 points in the paint, 24 assists compared to just 12 turnovers, a 17-6 edge in fast break points and an impressive 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Westbrook led the Thunder with 28 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes, while Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, Semaj Christon, Andre Roberson and Joffrey Lauvergne pitched in a combined 53 points as the Thunder shot 52.3 percent from the field, including 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) from behind the three-point stripe.
“Russell did an incredible job getting everybody involved, spreading the ball around and creating shots for other guys,” Donovan said. “It was a good step in a positive direction for us to continue to build on.”
Enes Kanter also joined the party in the scoring column, cooking the Timberwovles’ second string defenders, scoring a season-high 20 points on a variety of post moves, up-and-unders and offensive put-backs. It was Kanter’s first 20-plus point game so far this season after registering 11 of them in 2015-16. When the Thunder’s offense stagnated at times in the second quarter and when the team was breaking away late in the fourth, Kanter repeatedly got to the rim and converted. On a number of occasions, Kanter slipped under his leaping defender and finished with his right hand on the left side of the rim.
“It just comes naturally,” Kanter said. “I always give the teammates credit. They’re doing an amazing job of finding me and I’m just making shots.”
The Big Burst
It was warming up in Chesapeake Energy Arena when Steven Adams slickly dumped off a pass to Andre Roberson on a backdoor cut, then Russell Westbrook knocked down a three-pointer a possession later to make it 68-60 Thunder. All was quiet for a couple minutes, but a Thunder fan named Tony Juarez from Oklahoma City helped ignite the engines by heaving the ball in the basket as part of the MidFirst Bank Half-Court shot contest, winning $20,000 and sending the rest of the crowd into a frenzy.
Out of the timeout, which came with 6:38 to go in the third quarter, the Thunder rode that energy and ripped off 13 straight points to extend its run to 18-1 in the middle stretch of the period. Steven Adams started it with two free throws, then after a jump ball situation, Victor Oladipo hit a three-pointer, part of a 12-point, 5-for-9 shooting night for the dynamic guard.
“It was a great team win. Everybody played well collectively and we defended at a high level,” Oladipo said. “We just turned it up a notch. We have to do that for four quarters. When we play like that defensively we give ourselves a great chance to win.”
Enes Kanter added a free throw, then Westbrook pulled up in transition for three before plucking the ball from Kris Dunn’s hands for a breakaway layup. That forced a Minnesota timeout, but the Thunder had one more highlight play to cap the burst – a Kanter rebound and outlet pass to a streaking Adams, who slammed home a monstrous dunk.
By the Numbers
5 – Players who scored in double figures for the Thunder, including Russell Westbrook who scored 28
23-9 – Edge in points off turnovers for the Thunder, who had just 12 giveaways compared to 24 assists
70-46 – Points in the paint advantage for the Thunder on the night, where it shot 35-for-59 and held Minnesota to 23-for-43
The Last Word
“We played our ball. Everybody played together. We got stops on defense and got out in transition. That’s what we like to do and pride ourselves on. We got it done tonight.” – guard Andre Roberson
