Throwing shade
The Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns in OKC, 115-87.
Corey Brewer gave a little hesitation, which is not his strong suit.
The Thunder’s newest acquisition seems to stay in go mode — and he brought boundless energy to his first start with Oklahoma City on Thursday against the Suns — but this once, he caught Russell Westbrook’s pass and paused.
It was enough to draw a foul before Brewer made a third-quarter bucket, part of a 115-87 Thunder rout of the Suns at Chesapeake Energy Arena, and it seemed to be the only moment Brewer came to a stop all night.
“He’s highly competitive, and he plays with an unbelievable motor,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “He gets out in transition. He’s disruptive on defense. He’s cutting. He’s in constant motion all the time.”
That’s part of the reason why Donovan opted to put Brewer in the starting lineup on Thursday.
Brewer replaced Josh Huestis not because of any Huestis shortcoming, Donovan said, but because the Thunder needed to see what Brewer’s energy and experience looked like in a lineup with Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Steven
Adams.
After a sloppy start, OKC played on Thursday with a jolt of energy it’s lacked of late, and though Brewer wasn’t the only reason — Westbrook, too, played with a full charge — his insertion into the starting lineup seemed to provide a spark.
He’s not here for his scoring, but Brewer poured in 17 points on Thursday. He ran in transition. He cut to the rim in the halfcourt. He pitched in on a strong Thunder defensive effort on Phoenix star Devin Booker and the Suns overall.
For an Oklahoma City team that against even some of the league’s worst teams has played with a staleness lately, he was a needed fresh breeze.
Meanwhile, Westbrook was a whirlwind.
Westbrook had 27 points, eight rebounds and nine assists despite resting the entire fourth quarter.
Brewer looked right at home playing off the starters, and keeping up with Westbrook in transition.
“I think it’s perfect for me,” Brewer said. “I love it. That’s what I do, so I’m running right with him, which makes it easy on both of us. I run with him and he runs, one of us is gonna get a layup.”
Westbrook was 11 for 14 from the floor without searching for his shot. He looked focused on pushing the pace off misses and makes, forcing the tempo but playing under control. In 29 minutes, he had two turnovers.
“He was great,” Donovan said. “He set the table for everybody tonight.”
And Westbrook’s teammates ate up what he laid out. Adams had 16 points and 12 rebounds, George 21 and four. Anthony pitched in 11 points and four boards. It was the sixth time this season all five Thunder starters scored in double figures.
Those numbers came against the lowly Suns. But Phoenix won a game this season against the Thunder and hung tough in another, and the Thunder hadn’t won a game by double digits since Feb. 11.
On Thursday, the Suns couldn’t keep pace with Westbrook.
And Brewer was part of the reason why.
The Thunder has been searching for a fifth starter since Andre Roberson suffered a season-ending patellar tendon rupture on Jan. 27. It’s tried Huestis and Terrance Ferguson and Alex Abrines and now Brewer, an experiment in progress but off to a speedy start.
“There’s a bounce to (Brewer) all the time. He brings energy,” Donovan said. “I’m not comparing him and Andre in any way, personality-wise or playerwise, but the one (way) I will compare them is they both have a pop and a bounce to them where they play the game (and) they find the ball. They find it and they’re able to make plays.”