Thunder use big 4th quarter run to overtake Hawks, grab huge win
Friday was not an especially good day for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who announced that reigning MVP Kevin Durant has ceased basketball activities and could miss the remainder of the season due to persistent soreness in his right foot. While OKC has done well in relying on do-everything point guard Russell Westbrook in midst of a tight race for the West’s final playoff spot, they have been seen as the favorite for that berth and as a potential nightmare first-round matchup in part because of the presumed return of Durant. With Durant and Serge Ibaka now both out for the foreseeable future, the Thunder are facing a difficult task no matter the quality of their opponents.
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As if the challenge were not enough, the Thunder welcomed the East-leading Atlanta Hawks to Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday night. For three quarters and change, the Hawks looked like the superior team, bouncing back from Wednesday’s blowout loss at the hands of the NBA-best Golden State Warriors to build a 103-96 lead with 8:45 on the clock. Up just one game on the ninth-place New Orleans Pelicans entering the night, the Thunder were facing the possibility of dropping back into the lottery via a lost tiebreaker.
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Luckily for them, they wrested away control of the game on their path to a huge victory. An Anthony Morrow three-pointer with 7:54 left started a 19-2 run over nearly four minutes that featured three more Morrow triples, a three by Westbrook, and a run-closing dunk by Dion Waiters. Take a look at OKC’s clutch scoring here:
The Thunder maintained the advantage and finished with a 123-115 win. Combined with the Pelicans’ 112-96 loss at the Warriors, the 39-30 Thunder now hold a more comfortable two-game lead. A quick glance at the schedule indicates they have an easier road to the playoffs, as well, although that could depend on which teams rest key players down the stretch.
The circumstances of Friday’s win will not assuage concerns over OKC’s ceiling without Durant and Ibaka, but it will convince some people that the team can survive in their absence. As usual, MVP candidate Westbrook was dominant, putting up his now-expected triple-double with 36 points (8-of-24 FG, 17-of-17 FT), 14 assists, and 10 rebounds in 44 minutes. Yet the more crucial aspect of the game was the secondary scoring, both during Morrow’s fourth-quarter outburst (he finished with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting from behind the arc) and via the performance of Dion Waiters, who had his best game as a Thunder player with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting. With Westbrook shooting relatively poorly from the field, it was nice to see that the Thunder could still perform well as a team with 51.2 percent shooting from the floor and a 13-of-30 mark from deep.
Given the team’s constraints, continued quality play from Morrow and especially Waiters would go a long way towards allowing the as-yet indefatigable Westbrook not to take on so many responsibilities. It’s tough to ask too much of them — no one is going to replace Durant or Ibaka’s production by himself — but even occasional help would go a long way towards cementing the Thunder’s spot in the playoffs.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
