Another win
OKC beat the Wizards decisively, 143-111, on the second night of a back-toback on the road.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Russell Westbrook was momentarily stunned as he dribbled at the top of the 3-point line at the Capital One Center.
As Jerami Grant ran out to set a screen, two incomprehensibly lost Wizards defenders went with Grant. Westbrook — the man who’s jumper is still getting calibrated — suddenly had an open path to the rim.
Westbrook rarely ever walks on offense, but he could have strolled instead of sprinted on this particular drive in the Thunder’s 134-111 blowout of the Wizards.
Westbrook finished with 23 points and 12 assists to lead the Thunder, who tied a franchise record for points in a half (79). The most work he had to do in the fourth quarter was give his shoes away into the gaggle of pro-Thunder fans behind its bench.
Seeing shots go in can do wonders for tired legs. Steven Adams spent a good chunk of the first quarter sitting on a stationary bike outside the Thunder’s tunnel while getting treatment for calf tightness, but he hopped off and returned to the bench in the midst of the Thunder’s second-quarter flurry.
The Thunder, Westbrook in particular, were rarely challenged in a benchmark offensive night fueled by defense.
“It’s not a challenge when you know what you have,” Westbrook said of the Thunder sticking to its philosophy of moving the ball even through an 0-4 start. The Thunder racked up a season-high in assists (34) and 3-pointers made (15).
“What you have in this room, this locker room, the confidence I have in my guys to come out and compete. Like I told you many times, I never worried and I meant it.”
Aside from the first nine minutes of the game, the Thunder had little reason to worry Friday.
The Thunder’s fourth consecutive win was a confluence of elements. The Wizards’ non-existent defense was a major culprit, but the Thunder’s pressing defense after a thrilling initial nine minutes of offense from both sides ultimately buried Washington into a league-worst 1-7 hole.
From a timeout at 2:42 in the first quarter, the Thunder outscored the listless Wizards 49-20 in 15 minutes.
“If you’re getting stops and you’re making threes and the other team’s not scoring, that’s when you’re going to see a huge point difference there,” coach Billy Donovan said. “It just happened to be in that second quarter.”
At that timeout, the two teams were tied 30-30, combining to make 26 of 37 shots. The difference was the Thunder has established defensive principles across eight games.
Out of the Wizards’ timeout, Donovan sent Alex Abrines, Dennis Schroder and Patrick Patterson in and OKC forced four fruitless Wizards possessions.
From that timeout, the Thunder’s second unit flanking Paul George ripped off a 14-2 run without the All-Star even scoring.
“There’s a lot of talent,” said Jerami Grant, who scored 22 points. “We’ve got a lot of different weapons we can use, and it’s definitely showing for us right now.”
It was even showing for Grant and Terrance Ferguson, who combined to hit their first four 3-point attempts.
As Ferguson flashed to the corner for a 3-pointer, he was so open that a member of press row exclaimed “Oh my God” a couple of seconds before a Wizards’ defender moved in.
The Wizards looked like the team on the second night of back-toback games. The Thunder, the actual team on the back-to-back after a 19-point rally in Charlotte the night before, looked like the team it’s trying to become.