The Thunder have been hot as of late and they seem to have find the chemistry that everyone has been waiting for all season. Oklahoma City played the Atlanta Hawks who played without their best player Dennis Schroder tonight because he was out with a left ankle injury. The Atlanta Hawks played like they didn’t need him tonight. The Hawks were able to play smoothly without their very good point guard and make the best of the players that were on the court tonight. It was tough for the Thunder to slowdown Ersan IIyasova and Marco Belinelli as they both were hitting off balance shots and also making shots that were guarded very good. The both of them combined for 49 of the Hawks points and were able to keep the game close for them throughout the game. The Hawks showed a lot of fight tonight as they were down by 16 points and kept clawing back into the game. One of the reasons they were able to get back into the game was the fact that Billy Donovan had his starters on the bench and when they came in it took some time for them to ease back into the game. The Thunder were able to get any shot that they wanted tonight but just didn’t connect on them until the moments that mattered in the game.
Russell Westbrook led the charge for the Thunder as he was able to set the tone from the jump. Westbrook was able to take advantage of the mismatches against Malcolm Delaney & Isaiah Taylor. Westbrook finished the game with 30 points, 15 assists, and 7 rebounds tonight. When Russell plays like that and gets the whole team involved and also can attack at the same time this team is unbeatable. Paul George and Carmelo Anthony added a combined for 41 points on the night. The good thing about this team is the fact that Paul George started off with the hot hand and as the game played itself out the others joined along.
When George is in the zone like he was in the first half no one can guard him. George was able to get to the basket and get layups, shots, and get the team involved. Paul George has shown that he’s a playmaker and can get people the ball in big time moments and clutch moments. Carmelo Anthony went 7-12 from the 3 point line tonight and has been able to find his role on the team as the Atlanta Hawks didn’t know where he was on the court and made them pay. Melo has been able to flourish throughout the season but is now figuring out what the team needs him to be. Melo is going to be that catch and shot player and that’e what OKC needs him to be so that the ball can continue to move like it has the last two games.
Russell Westbrook was able to turn into Russell Clutchbrook as he had the ball with 11.1 seconds left and hit the game winner. Westbrook loves the big moments and embraces putting the team on his back. Everyone else looks at Westbrook as the leader and he responded by making sure they were able to get the win through all the ups and downs tonight.
The Thunder will head to Utah as they will be playing the Jazz again for the second time this week. The Thunder will need to continue this stretch of games where their chemistry has looked unbreakable.
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