Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

Atlanta Hawks

Quarter by Quarter observations

First Quarter

 Westbrook is struggling early he has missed both shots and can't get into the lane. He also picked up two quick fouls and so only got pulled early in the first. Krstic missed both of his shots as well but played solid defense on Horford. Krstic already has 3 rebounds so he is well on the way to a good rebounding night. Fortunately Durant has warmed up to go 4-6 for 10 with 4 rebounds. Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford, and Joe Johnson were the only Hawks to make more than one shot.

Score to end the Quarter 22-22 Tied

Second Quarter

The Thunder lead by as many as 5 and looked like they might be able to take control but back to back bad possessions put that dream to bed and the Hawks caught back up and tied it going into halftime. The Thunder need Sefolosha to step up the defense, never thought I would have to say that, Joe Johnson is only 4-8 but he also has gotten to the line 6 times so he has 14 points. Josh Smith is also having a great game he is 4-4 with 11 points. Fortunately for the Thunder James Harden and Serge Ibaka have shown up tonight. Harden is 2-3 but thanks to free throws he has put up 9 points. Ibaka has come through with two great offensive rebounds both of which led to points and hit a nice jumper from the elbow. Durant is having another All-star night he is 4-9 but has 20 points.

Score to finish the half 49-49 Tied

Half

All the Thunder need to do to win this game is continue to play this good. Green is a good enough defender that some of those Josh Smith shots are going to miss same goes for Sefolosha and Joe Johnson. We could use a little help from Krstic and Westbrook but if they keep playing this way they may not need it. Green also was doing a great job of getting shots but several times they wrapped around the rim and lipped out, those shots are going to start falling if he can continue to get them.

Third Quarter

 The Thunder looked in control at several times during this game but in the end the Hawks wound up closing to make it a 7 point game. The Thunder offense has looked much better this game than against the Warriors. The ball is flowing much better and the Thunder are getting good shots while still staying aggressive. Krstic showed up and put up some clutch shots and picked up some offensive rebounds. He finished the quarter going 4-5 and grabbing 3 more rebounds all on the offensive side of the court. Sefolosha also got into the act on offense he went 2-5 and got to the line 4 times for 7 points. The Thunder didn't really find an answer for Johnson but Smith went 1-3.

Score to finish the Quarter 79-72 Thunder

Fourth Quarter

Westbrook took over the fourth, he was all over the court grabbing rebounds and making passes that led to easy buckets. Westbrook came into the fourth quarter with 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. He finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Westbrook had 4 assists in the fourth alone but the team had 8 assists total on 11 made basket. That many assisted baskets tells you a lot about how the Thunder got their points in the fourth. Not very many isolation plays mostly just moving the ball and making good passes. Nick Collison took control down low and made two easy buckets while Jeff Green, KD, and Westbrook worked on the outside.

Score to finish the Game 106-99 Thunder

The Good and The Bad individually

The Good

Russell Westbrook

Westbrook took control of the game in the fourth quarter. He was making good passes and grabbing rebounds. It just seemed like he was everywhere all the time. Westbrook started slow, he was the first starter off the court due to foul trouble, however turning it on in the fourth was key to sparking the Thunder run that would eventually close the game out.

Jeff Green

Pretty much all season long the Thunder have looked for someone to step up and score opposite KD. In the past couple of game Green has stepped up to fill that secondary scoring role. Green had 19 points on 15 shots including going 3-4 from 3.

Kevin Durant

33 points on 18 shots KD continues to be a monster. If the Thunder continue to play this way KD will get some real MVP consideration.

The Bad

Not a whole lot of bad tonight, a solid effort against one of the top 4 teams in the East. The Hawks could be considered as high as 2^nd or as low as 4^th.Eric Maynor struggled tonight he went 1-5 from the field and had 2 assists and only 1 turnover. Harden also struggled with his shot but did get to the line to contribute to the win.

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