Oklahoma City Thunder

at

Phoenix Suns

Quarter by Quarter observations

First Quarter

 The Thunder came out with some different looks on offense to start the game. The Nuggets came out shooting well they are at 52% for the quarter. Nene is 3-3 and Krstic has struggled again to contain him, the Thunder will need to find a way to force him out of his comfort zone. Ibaka might be the answer there, I imagine Collison will make him work but probably lacks the height to really force Nene into some poor shots. The Thunder probably should have a bigger lead but they have had several shot clock violations and other unforced turnovers. The Thunder made a good adjustment late in the first quarter on JR Smith. You have to challenge on JR Smith or at least be ready to challenge at all times, he will take a shot from anywhere and make them unless you challenge. Harden was giving Smith a big cushion and Smith drilled 2 three pointers in a row. Harden then started playing much closer to Smith and forced him into his first miss.

Score to end the Quarter 27-26 Thunder

Second Quarter

Here I am talking about how the Thunder made a good adjustment playing closer to JR Smith and what happens they stop. JR Smith went 3 of 5 from three in the second quarter care to guess how many shots the Thunder were playing close and challenged effectively. If you guessed two you would be correct, both times the Thunder challenged Smith missed. Now I know normally its not so cut and dry players missed unchallenged shots and hit challenged ones but tonight so far if the Thunder challenge Smith misses. The Thunder did make another adjustment collapsing on Nene whenever he picks up his dribble. Nene went 3-3 in the first quarter 0-3 in the second.

.

Score to finish the half 51-45 Thunder

Third Quarter

 The Thunder came out ready to play, they were crisp on rotations and stayed close on defense. The Nuggets never tried to get the ball down low to Nene probably due to the effectiveness of the Thunder's adjustment in the second quarter. The best part of the third quarter defense was they played solid physical defense without fouling. In the first match the Nuggets had 40 free throws so far through 3 quarters they only have 14. Thabo Sefolosha was singlehandedly responsible for breaking this game open. With the Thunder up 5 Sefolosha got into the lane and tipped in a Westbrook miss, he then followed it up with back to back steals that seemed to just deflated the Nuggets. The Thunder did a much better job of sticking to Smith and he went 1-5 for the quarter. Sefolosha also forced Billups into poor decisions and multiple turnovers in addition to limiting his shots.

Score to finish the Quarter 79-60 Thunder

Fourth Quarter

The Thunder appear to be just holding the lead, there is no real sense of urgentcy right now and the Nuggets almost seem resigned to the loss. The Thunder are sharing the ball and getting good shots, gone are the shot clock violations that plagued the first half. Everyone on the Thunder that played significant minutes had at least 1 assist. Westbrook outplayed Billups tonight in my opinion. Westbrook went 5-11 for 12 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, and only 2 turnovers. Billups finished 4-8 for 19 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 turnovers. Green outplayed Martin as well. Green went 7-11 for 15 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a turnover. Martin went 5-10 for 13, 9 rebounds, an assist, and 4 turnovers.

Score to finish the Game 101-84 Thunder

The Good and The Bad individually

The Good

Russell Westbrook

Tonight was another appearance from the good Westbrook. Westbrook had 8 assists and only 2 turnovers and played some great defense on JR Smith and Chauncey Billups. His 5-11 shooting percentage is also nice he had several pull up jumpers as well as getting into the lane.

Jeff Green

Jeff Green spent the game making steady and heady plays. He finished the night 7-11 for 15 points and continues to look good as the season goes on. He finished the night with only 5 rebounds but several times he was robbed by Sefolosha or Durant.

Kevin Durant

KD is an all star now and he sure looked the part tonight. KD went 12-19 for 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, a block, and only 2 turnovers. The only 2 turnovers part is key in my mind. After several games where KD seemed to have difficulty holding on to the ball he only had 2 turnovers tonight and that's great.

The Bad

Krstic went 3-10 for 8 and added 4 rebounds. Eric Maynor went 1-5 but to be honest I don't remember a single shot he took.

Comments (1)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment