Coming into tonights game the Thunder needed a win in the worst way possible. The Thunder held a private players only meeting to work on things and try to gain that understanding/chemistry. The meeting defintely had to work because the Thunder came out looking like a team that  desperately needed a win and badly. OKC came out clicking on all cylinders and the Big 3 were able to be very aggressive on the perimeter with Patrick Beverley and Danilo Gallinari out. Paul George was on another level tonight as he was able to get into ryhtym very early in the game and looked extremely comfotable. This is the Paul George that everyone had been waiting for in Oklahoma City. When Paul George is attacking and hitting his jumper the other team is defintely in trouble.

This is the first time all season the Thunder had a player reach 40 points or more and PG put the team on his back defensively and offensively. You can tell that PG was feeling it and all of the Big 3 know if one person is on fire to keep feeding him. This Thunder team has gone through some growing pains and they seemed to be patched up pretty quick against the Clippers. In order for this Thunder team to flourish the way everyone knows they can they will have to continue to play at this elite level on both ends. OKC’s Big 3 combined for 78 points on the night and they were able to get others involved off of their momentum.

Dakari Johnson started in place of Steven Adams and played one hell of a game. The rookie went up against DeAndre Jordan in his first career start and didn’t back down at all. Johnson had 9 points, 2 assists, and 1 rebound in the win. It was good to see Dakari being aggressive and taking care of the paint on both ends. Late in the game Dakari hit a couple of clutch free throws and a dagger like jumper from Russell Westbrooks smooth pass. Overall the team was able to maintain the momentum in the game even when it felt like it was getting close in the late stages of the game.

OKC was able to contain everyone else on the Clippers and they forced Lou Williams to try and beat them. Lou had 35 points for the Clippers but no one else on their team was able to help or add in more than 20 points. The Thunder did a great job of defending Blake Griffin as they held him to 17 points and didn’t let him bully them in the paint. Carmelo Anthony was guarding Blake on the evening and was making everything tough for him. What did come easy was the Thunder knowing that Alex Abrines had his game rolling tonight as they fed him the ball in his spot as he added 14 points. If the Thunder bench can compete with other teams benches they should be in the driver seat for every single game that they play. The Big 3 can score and defend with the best of them and will try to keep that going as they have the Dallas Mavericks coming into town on Sunday.

The Boston Celtics came into this game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on a six game winning streak. The Thunder were coming off beating the Milwaukee Bucks with impressive defense. Everyone thought the Thunder found their chemistry in the last two games and were going to be able to continue that success against the Celtics. OKC came out looking unstoppable as they were able to connect on anything that they did early. Russell Westbrook was able to get his teammates involved and was able to find Adams,George, and Anthony in their sweet spots. The biggest difference in this OKC team that was shown in the last couple of games is the defensive end. OKC has stepped the defense up to another level and they also were able to stop Kyrie Irving in the first half. Both teams came into the matchup the number 1 & 2 defenses in the NBA and it was on full display as it was a tale of two halves as Billy Donovan said after the game.

Oklahoma City’s Big 3 finished the game with 54 points and majority of it came in the 1st half against Boston. For the first time Carmelo Anthony struggled with his shot in a Thunder uniform. Melo finished the game with 10 points on 3-17 shots from the field. One thing about Melo is he’s a true professional and knows how to bounce back. Melo didn’t have it going but that didn’t mean that Westbrook and George couldn’t help pick up the offense to help Melo. The best thing about George and Westbrook as a back court is the fact that they turn defense into offense and they did just that in the 1st half. OKC had their biggest lead of 18 points on the night and were able to kind of take the foot off the gas. The Thunder were able to get the bench involved in that first half as well as Grant and Patterson stepped up in big moments during the game when the Thunder needed it. If the Thunder can defend the way they did in the first half against everyone they would be unstoppable. The team is still trying to find that identity and it was defeintely noticable going into the seond half against the Celtics after going up large into the half.

The Celtics were down but felt like they were never out in the game going into the 3rd. Kyrie Irving was missing everything in the 1st half and couldn’t doing anything to get his shot or drives to the basket to fall. All that did was motivate Irving as he was just waiting on his moment in the game and they it clicked automatically. Kyrie Irving was able to get into mismatch situations where he was being guarded by Steven Adams and other bigs on switches. Kyrie was able to will the Celtics back into the game as he was able to hit everything starting around the 8 minute mark in the 3rd. There was a point in the game when Kyrie had 15 points and scored more than OKC in the quarter. Overall it was a scrappy effort for Kyrie to get his young team back into this game. Kyrie is the best finisher in the game and wanted to make an impact against OKC and he did just that. Al Horford also stepped up in the 4th and was hitting some incredible shots that went down when left open by the Thunder. The Thunder defense was not switching in time and they didn’t get to the shooters and paid for it. Horford and Irving combined for 45 points and were in their zone in that 4th quarter. Momentum was on the Celtics side and they continued to play defense and get stops to turn it into offense.

The Thunder have so much potenial and they have what it takes to be a champion. OKC plays great on both ends of the floor and have showed that anything is possible as long as they remain together as a team in those tough times. Kyrie is the best finisher in the game and loves the pressure moment and showcased that tonight. The Thunder will be able to get back on track when they play the TrailBlazers on Sunday.

Photo: AP/Sue Ogrocki