By Kyle Soppe
As much as basketball purists like a defensive struggle with blocked shots and tremendous rotations, I’m still a fan of the occasional shoot out, which is exactly what we saw in Golden State on Tuesday night. The Thunder prevailed, despite being down as much as 12 points, with a 119-116 victory. Here’s a closer look, courtesy of Kurt Soppe’s request.
There were three times in this game in which a team eclipsed the 31 point total for a single quarter. That only happened two other times in all of the games last night.
If your starting five is producing, there is no reason to make a change. Both coaches seemed to abide by this train of thought, as five players logged at least 40 minutes.
The teams missed a total of four free throws, while Timberwolves starting forward Derrick Williams missed five by himself last night. Williams attempted 36 fewer free throws.
The Thunder’s “big three” of James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook simply dominated every aspect of this game. The trio attempted 73% of the teams shots and 70% of the teams points. When one of them wasn’t shooting, he was setting up one of the others, as they combined for 88% of OKC’s assists.
Westbrook had more turnovers than assists, a stat that always bothers me from a starting point guard. While Westbrook is great player, he does this once every three games.
The PG was one of only three Thunder players to turn the ball over.
Daequan Cook made more three pointers (5) than two pointers (1) for an NBA high 18th consecutive game.
Serge Ibaka, the NBA leader in blocked shots, didn’t record a single swat on Tuesday. He has 0 total blocked shots in two games against Golden State this year, and has blocked at least one shot in every other game.
Monta Ellis tied an NBA season high with 48 points. He combined with Steph Curry and David Lee to make 77.3% of the Warriors baskets.
Both teams recorded more turnovers than fast break points, a shocking stat given the 235 total points.
Last, but not least (and actually my favorite stat of the night), the Thunder/Warriors match up great production from low jersey numbers. The 116 points scored from players wearing #10 or lower was the second highest such total of the season. The Warriors were involved in the highest such game when they lost to the Heat on January 10th.
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