Thunder Rolling with Toughest Test Ahead and Other Wednesday NBA Takeaways
It wasn't pretty, and it didn't come without a handful of anxious moments, but the Oklahoma City Thunder are officially rolling after a thrilling 105-103 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday evening.
Oklahoma City (22-20) has now rattled off four straight wins, triumphed in five of its last six and thwarted any demons that could have cropped up on the second night of a back-to-back.
Kevin Durant was brilliant in the extra session of his homecoming and finished with a game-high 34 points (10-of-23 shooting, 4-of-10 from three), five of which came in epic fashion down the stretch.
First, he sucked the gravity out of Verizon Center with a ferocious slam over Marcin Gortat.
Then there was an improbable off-balance triple to give the Thunder a two-point lead with 35 seconds remaining in overtime.
However, it was co-star Russell Westbrook (32 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) who had the final say, capitalizing on the overpursuit of Washington's defense en route to rolling home an open lefty layup with 0.8 seconds to go.
It was the sort of my-turn, your-turn approach that's come to define Oklahoma City in crunch time.
And as Durant explained, according to ESPN.com's Royce Young, Westbrook did well to slice through a discombobulated Washington defense and improvise with the game on the line:
"I was going to try and end the game myself, but coach drew a great play. Russ ran to the halfcourt line and they threw two at him and he was able to get free. We said whoever catches it be aggressive. So it wasn't just a play for me. It was a team play. And Russell made a phenomenal, phenomenal move and Steven [Adams] cleared the lane for him as well.
"
In the end, the Thunder parlayed that frenzied sequence into another momentum-building victory with their biggest test of the season looming on Friday.
Although Oklahoma City has stabilized over its last last six games, sustaining across-the-board improvement against the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks will represent the most daunting of challenges.
| Since Jan. 9 | 105.8 | 100.0 | 100.4 |
| Season Averages | 101.9 | 100.8 | 97.1 |
Not only will the Thunder seek to snap Atlanta's league-leading 14-game winning streak, but they can use the clash as a barometer to asses the strength of an offense that ranks 20th in efficiency, according to NBA.com.
Solving Atlanta's fourth-ranked defense is only part of the equation, though.
Oklahoma City can also embrace Friday's tilt as a measuring stick of sorts to gauge its continuity in relation to the league's foremost authority on selfless matters.
Remember that my-turn, your-turn model? Well, it's produced some sub-optimal distributive figures in what's evolved into a fascinating juxtaposition of stylistic preferences between Oklahoma City and Atlanta.
While the Thunder rank 28th in assist percentage (number of teammate field goals a team assists on) with a mark of 53.6, Atlanta occupies the No. 1 spot by a solid 3 percent over the Golden State Warriors at 68.7 percent, according to NBA.com.
Matching the Hawks' masterful execution will require levels of discipline the Thunder may not yet be familiar with. But if they can find a way to accomplish what no team has since Dec. 26, questioning whether Oklahoma City can break into the postseason picture will be a thing of the past.
It will then simply be a matter of debating who its first-round opponent is.
Around the Association
Brandon Jennings Goes Full Barbara Walters
Brandon Jennings' post-Josh Smith renaissance went next-level as he totaled 24 points (10-of-21 shooting) and a career-high 21 assists to help the Detroit Pistons score a season-high 128 points and vanquish the Orlando Magic by 10. Seventy of Detroit's points came in the paint.
Jennings is the first player since Steve Nash in 2009 to record at least 20 points and 20 assists in a single game, according to Basketball-Reference.com. Jalen Rose and Ramon Sessions are the only other players to accomplish that feat over the past 15 years. Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press noted Jennings' accomplishment:
All five Pistons starters finished in double figures, with Greg Monroe (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Andre Drummond (26 points, 17 rebounds) recording impressive double-doubles.
Nikola Vucevic tied Drummond with a game-high 26 points while pulling down 15 rebounds, but the Orlando center was a team-worst minus-22 during his 34 minutes on the floor.
The Pistons are now 12-3 since waiving Josh Smith on Dec. 22.
Houston Doesn't Want to See Golden State in the Playoffs
For the second time in five days, the Golden State Warriors took care of the Houston Rockets.
Thanks to a 126-113 shellacking, the Warriors swept the season series and dispelled James Harden's notion that "they ain't even that good." Over the course of their four regular-season meetings, the Warriors boasted a 15.2-point average margin of victory.
Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney commented on Harden's "perception" of the Warriors:
The Warriors (34-6) also set a franchise record with their 17th straight home win, which thrust the team into distinguished territory, according to Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver:
Although Harden led all scorers with 33 points on 8-of-18 shooting (14-of-16 from the line), the Rockets shot just 42.5 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three, numbers that were bolstered by a 35-point fourth quarter. The Warriors were largely steady throughout, shooting 50 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from distance.
ESPN Stats & Info noted the relationship between the Rockets' win-loss record and Harden's scoring, noting a couple of losses to the Warriors:
Klay Thompson made another All-Star-caliber statement, totaling a team-high 27 points, five assists and four steals in 31 minutes. Stephen Curry chipped in 22 points and 10 assists as all but one member of the starting five (Harrison Barnes) finished with a plus/minus rating better than plus-20.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Rusty Simmons, David Lee (nine points, 10 rebounds) reached a historic milestone in just 20 minutes:
Here Comes Cleveland
The Cleveland Cavaliers made it four straight wins with a 106-92 triumph over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, running their record with LeBron James in the lineup to a healthy 22-12.
All five of Cleveland's starters tallied at least 15 points, led by James' 26 on 8-of-16 shooting.
The Cavs' recent surge has been marked by improved chemistry—particularly on the offensive end. New additions Timofey Mozgov and J.R. Smith have worked themselves into their respective roles, and Cleveland's star trio—James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving—have looked increasingly functional on the floor together.
Just about all of them got involved on this end-switching highlight from the third quarter:
Other issues remain for the Cavs; they gave up 121 points in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers last week and still occupy a bottom-five position in the league's defensive rankings, per NBA.com.
And if we're nitpicking, James is going to have to straighten out his free-throw stroke.
Still, there are increasingly positive signs in Cleveland. With four of the team's next five games at home, there's a chance to build some real momentum for the second half.
Contributed by Grant Hughes
Will the Hawks Ever Lose Again?
The Hawks have now won 14 consecutive games and 28 of their last 30 overall after thumping the Indiana Pacers 110-91 to secure Mike Budenholzer's spot as the Eastern Conference All-Star coach.
As has been commonplace throughout their wondrous season, the Hawks shared the ball at an absurd clip. All told, Atlanta assisted on 30 of its 39 converted buckets.
The Brooklyn Game's Devin Kharpertian commented on Atlanta's amazing run:
Once again, balanced scoring reigned supreme in the A, with all five starters and six players total finishing with at least 10 points. Jeff Teague and DeMarre Carroll led the way with 17 points apiece, while Teague topped all distributors with 11 assists. Al Horford was steady across the board, per usual, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and five dimes.
If it wasn't already clear the Hawks were invincible, Kyle Korver also dunked for the first time all season. For shame, Indiana.
Said dunk was also the focal point of a friendly wager between Korver and Elton Brand, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore:
Knicks Win But Lose Ground in Tank War
We did it, guys. We survived the great tank-off of 2015.
When all was said and done, the New York Knicks defeated the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers 98-91 to capture their second straight win and move within 1.5 games of Brett Brown's squad.
Put simply, it was a night marked by oddities.
First, there was this heinous Philadelphia sequence of repeated misses from point-blank range:
Then there were some absurd final statistical tallies, courtesy of Sixers.com's Max Rappaport:
Sans Nerlens Noel (illness), the Sixers set a single-game season high with 13 blocks. However, they were still outscored 38-34 in the paint, and Carmelo Anthony tied Michael Carter-Williams with a game-high 27 points to go with 11 rebounds.
