With the Washington Wizards pressing in on the Thunder’s lead in the third quarter, veteran playmakers Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each had a quick play ready in their bag of tricks to get their teammates wide open dunks.
First it was Durant slipping a bounce pass to a rolling Serge Ibaka, and the Congolese forward finished the play with a two-handed slam. Two minutes later, Westbrook drove left and found a rolling Steven Adams for a monster alley-oop dunk, which kept the Wizards at bay as the Thunder cruised to a 114-98 home victory.
All season long, the Thunder has worked day by day to evolve on the offensive end and grow its repertoire. Not just to include others besides Durant and Westbrook more in the scoring column, but to open up the floor for its two dynamic scorers to be more efficient.
“Pet plays” like the ones Durant and Westbrook can run for teammates to get them open, high percentage looks serve to force opponents like the Wizards to spend valuable time and energy worrying about every man on the floor, not just Durant and Westbrook.
As the Thunder cradled a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter, its defense wasn’t always perfect, but Donovan’s team continued to generate high percentage shots and second chances. The energy drain that opponents suffer when playing the Thunder often shows up in other areas of the game related to hustle – and tonight that was on the glass.
Behind monster efforts from Westbrook (13), Ibaka (10) and Durant (nine), the Thunder out-rebounded the Wizards 53-26, including a 14-2 edge in offensive rebounds. Nine different players grabbed an offensive board for the Thunder and it resulted in an 18-2 advantage in second chance points for Donovan’s group on the night.
Energy from the Start
An explosion mid-way through the first quarter pretty much solidified the Thunder’s control of the contest in a game where Washington never led. Just 4:21 had gone off the clock in this game when the Thunder burst out on a 15-2 run that made it 28-14 with 3:29 to go in the quarter.
The run started with a Westbrook post-up, banked-in turnaround jumper from the left block, then Durant hit a pull-up. Dion Waiters made a steal on the next possession, grabbed his own miss and kicked to Ibaka in the corner, who drained a three. Adams added a hook shot, Waiters drove with ease to the rim and Ibaka scored twice on layups, bringing the Chesapeake Energy Arena faithful to its feet.
The Thunder’s edge hovered just above and just below double digits for most of the rest of the game, but swelled to as many as 18 in the fourth quarter, giving Donovan’s club enough cushion to ride out its fourth straight win, and 11th in its past 12 games.
By the Numbers
7 – Number of triple-doubles on the season for Russell Westbrook, thanks to a 17-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist effort
18-2 – Advantage in second chance points for the Thunder, as nine different players grabbed an offensive rebound
53-27 – The Thunder’s rebounding edge, where it limited Washington to just two offensive boards and two second chance points
