DAL 114 - OKC 117

The Thunder showed some grit after giving up a 10 point lead in a 20 point swing for Dallas, but came back and held on to win.

  • From the tip, the Thunder finally looked like a team again. Defense still a struggle, which is confusing, but it looks like they’re trying again.

  • Waiters lost the ability to hit a layup about two games ago. Don’t know where that went.

  • The rotation for this game may have been Donovan’s most reasonable to date. Instead of trying to get struggling guys going, this team needed to get going as a whole so Morrow and Collison saw meaningful minutes and helped the Thunder win.

  • Singler does try. Sometimes too hard, and control is a definite skill. Two fouls on the same possession is not helpful, and when he catches the ball on the perimeter it’s not going down. He tries, but he’s got to get better before giving him significant minutes makes sense.

  • Payne? Interesting, but good to see. Knocks down a midrange with confidence. Had some rookie mistakes and two mishaps with Ibaka on fast breaks, but I like the potential and the fact that he’s getting meaningful minutes here and there.

  • Speaking of confidence, Ibaka looking better. Throughout the game it came and went, and he still seems a step off on defense. His confidence looked better though. His block on Deron Williams to help seal the win was vintage Ibaka, but prior to that he was making some silly fouls. His one on one defense mostly held up, however, so hopefully Ibaka keeps trending in a positive direction.

  • Kanter commanded a double team, and instead of trying to power through he passed out to an open Morrow for an easy catch and shoot three. Great to see.

  • Deron Williams had a surprising amount of space throughout the game when guarded by Westbrook. He even blew by Westbrook on one drive. Westbrook locked in a lot more toward the end of the game and looked like he was trying throughout, but in the pick and roll Deron was getting easy looks.

  • Did Williams really trip himself and get awarded a clear path foul? Yeah, that just happened.

  • One thing the Thunder has to get over is the collapse that happens every game. In the 3rd quarter, after a 8-0 Dallas run, the Thunder were all of a sudden down 10 and having to dig themselves out of a hole.

  • The officials couldn’t make up their minds during the game. They went from calling everything, to calling nothing. I understand each game will be called differently, but having no consistency in what is getting called is ridiculous.

  • When the defense picks up the scoreboard goes in the right direction. By the end of the 3rd the Thunder had pulled out of their hole to have a 2 point lead heading into the 4th.

  • Morrow hitting nice floaters in the paint. Great to see him get going.

  • What is it with this team and not following plays down the court? Waiters chased down Wes Matthews, causing him to miss what would have been easy fast break points. The Mavs still got an easy two points though, because no other Thunder players followed the play. All four were still on the other side of the half court line.

  • The adjustment period for this team seems so slow. It took several straight losses for them to start hitting a stride originally. Then when Durant went down the wheels fell off the bus, and it took 5 more games for the Thunder to look like a team again. The defense still has to get better, but it’s a step in the right direction.

#Eyeball Test?

In sync. They still collapsed, but they came back and played some good defense late to seal a win against a surprisingly decent Dallas team.