The first 48 minutes were exhilarating and the extra five minutes of overtime, do-or-die basketball. On Sunday night, the Thunder refused to die.
In a 104-98 victory over the Utah Jazz, Head Coach Billy Donovan’s squad had to rally from a 16-point deficit in the first half to force overtime. In the extra session, its defense was beyond stifling, holding Utah scoreless until there were 9.6 seconds remaining.
The 8-0 run the Thunder used to start overtime was predicated on the defensive end, as it forced Utah into nine straight missed shots, aided by two blocks from Serge Ibaka. Both sent the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd into a frenzy, as Ibaka raced from behind to swat a Gordon Hayward fast break dunk attempt, and then he denied a Derrick Favors dunk attempt on the very next possession.
“Our bigs did a good job of making them shoot tough shots, protecting the paint, and rebounding the basketball,” point guard Russell Westbrook said. “It gave us an opportunity to push the paint, get out on the break and score a few buckets.”
“We got stops and we boxed out. That was the thing,” forward Kevin Durant echoed. “I was looking around and everybody had a man boxed out and we grabbed rebounds. We made them shoot tough shots.”
Meanwhile, on the offensive end the Thunder scored in a variety of ways, all of which were very comfortable for their playmakers to produce. Westbrook got the scoring started with a 15-foot jumper after Steven Adams won the jump ball, then after a stop the speedster raced from end to end for a fast break layup.
Next, it was Durant’s turn to knock down his final shot of the night, a 15-footer that gave him 31 points on the night, and 29 after halftime. Hanging onto a six point lead for nearly two minutes, the Thunder needed an insurance basket, and it looked to Dion Waiters, who attacked from the top of the key and got all the way to the rim, scooping in a layup going right to left to make it 104-96 with 43 seconds to go. Waiters gave double fist pumps as his teammates surrounded him, and it was clear the Thunder’s win was sealed.
Third Quarter Start Changed the Game
The Thunder was in a big hole. Down 15 points with 0.7 seconds left in the first half was not where Donovan’s club expected to be, and there were going to have to be major adjustments – on the court and in Thunder minds – in order to make a second half comeback. The juice that the team needed came to start the third quarter, but the spark happened just before halftime, as Westbrook in-bounded the ball off of Rodney Hood’s back, caught it and fired a jumper all before those seven-tenths of a second expired.
“That was unreal,” Durant said, shaking his head. “Only Russ would make a play like that.”
Carrying over the good feelings from that neighborhood-style basketball play, the Thunder came to play to start the third quarter. A 25-7 run to start the period was more than what Donovan and the coaching staff could have asked for in the first five minutes of the second half. By the six-and-a-half-minute mark, the Thunder had turned a 13-point deficit into a five-point lead.
“To start that third quarter, we were a different team than we were to start the game,” Donovan said. “We expended a lot of energy. Emotionally we played at a really high level.”
“We played a little bit more physical and we were aggressive,” Durant explained. “Early on in the game we were passing the ball around the perimeter too many times instead of attacking and then passing. We were the aggressors in the start of the third quarter. We were able to get them on their heels and we kept fighting and made plays down the stretch.”
Much of that burst had to do with the aggressiveness of Durant, who scored 12 points over the Thunder’s first eight possessions of the half in a complete reversal of a first half when he only attempted two shots. Durant’s aggressiveness caused Utah’s defense to overcommit, leaving teammates open later in the half.
Getting to Overtime
Despite the big burst to start the second half, there was still work left for the Thunder to do against this relentless Jazz team. In fact, Utah clawed back and took a nine-point lead, and even led by six points with just 3:09 left in regulation. Durant hit a leaner off the glass, then after one Jazz free throw he found a rolling Adams for a layup.
On the ensuing possession, Durant created perhaps the play of the game, as he posted up on the right side, recognized the double team and fired the ball to Ibaka in the left corner. Trevor Booker flew out to contest the shot, but Ibaka pump-faked, took a rhythm dribble and then splashed the three-pointer to tie the game at 94 with 49.8 seconds to go.
“The play that stood out to me was the trust level for Serge in a crucial situation where they brought help and he skipped it across to Serge and got him a pretty good look from three,” Donovan said.
“He made a big time play,” Durant said of Ibaka’s corner three. “I see him working on it every day, the pump-fake, fly-by, three. He made a huge shot. We believe in him. We trust in him and his confidence is growing every day.”
The teams traded baskets over the final 45 seconds, including a Durant driving dunk after getting isolated on Favors, which set up the remarkable overtime period.
By the Numbers
1-for-10 – The shooting numbers the Thunder defense forced Utah into during the overtime period
25-9 – The Thunder’s advantage in fast break points on the night, thanks to 13 forced turnovers that led to 21 points
29 – Points scored by Kevin Durant after halftime after scoring just two points in the first half, as he shot 10-for-17 from the floor and made six assists and five rebounds
The Last Word
“We closed the game out well. We got stops when we needed to and Kevin made some incredible plays.” – Head Coach Billy Donovan
