They're not the Golden State Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs, but the Oklahoma City Thunder keep winning ball games. They held off the Denver Nuggets 110-104 on the road Tuesday to move to 31-12, and they did it by out-hustling the Nuggets. The intensity of Russell Westbrook is spilling over to the rest of the Thunder lineup, and they're a dangerous team because of it.
NBA scores 2016: The Thunder are surging with the intensity of a Russell Westbrook dunk
Russell Westbrook’s relentless play has the Thunder rolling, plus the not-dead-yet Bucks and everything else from NBA Tuesday.
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Westbrook had 27 points and 12 assists and Kevin Durant added 30 points and 12 rebounds, but it was the intensity of the entire roster that carried them past Denver. Enes Kanter came off the bench to score 25 points and grab eight rebounds, four of which came on the offensive glass. As a team the Thunder grabbed 16 offensive rebounds. They had a nose for the ball on every possession -- just like Westbrook would hope.
As usual, Westbrook was the catalyst. The Nuggets jumped out to a 12-point lead in the second quarter, but the Thunder were just getting warmed up. They erased the deficit with ease and went into the half with a four-point lead. Kanter was a jolt off the bench, hustling for rebounds and sprinting ahead of the Nuggets transition defense for easy fast break points. Meanwhile, Westbrook put on his own personal dunk contest.
The Thunder let the Nuggets stick around because that intensity can lead to trouble, too. They want to attack at all times, which sometimes means rushing the offense and taking bad shots. And on a night when they made only 6-of-28 from deep like they did against the Nuggets, they might be missing better looks at the hoop. The Thunder often make the extra pass that finds a cutting player down by the bucket, but on more than one occasion against the Nuggets they grabbed an offensive rebound only to fire up another quick shot that didn’t drop. It’s the reason the Nuggets stayed close around despite the daggers Westbrook kept slamming home.
Other problems can arise, too. The Thunder average 15.4 turnovers per game, which is fifth-worst in the league. It’s not that they push the pace too much -- the Thunder have the 10th-fastest pace in the league per NBA.com -- but they play frantically with the ability to go from zero to 60 in an instant, which can cause turnovers due to hurried play.
But there is a silver lining: The Thunder are not easy to defend.
The Thunder don’t have the beautiful, sprinting offense of the Warriors, but rather a halted, unruly attack. Westbrook and Durant feed the hot hand as they attempt to take the heart out of their opponents. They were able to against the Nuggets and have been successful against the rest of the league, too. At 20-4 in their last 24 games, the Thunder are playing as well as anyone.
They’ll continue to give any team fits as long as they keep playing with a Westbrook-like intensity.
2 other things we learned
Don't count out the Milwaukee Bucks yet.
The Bucks had their way against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, picking up a 91-79 win. Their defense shut down the Heat and they got help from multiple weapons on the offensive end of the court. Khris Middleton led the way with 22 points, seven assists and seven rebounds while Greg Monroe added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 14. The Bucks have won five of seven games to move to 19-25, and it's not out of the question that they climb into that final playoff spot in the East. They are four games out of the eighth spot out with a lot of season left. And they're peaking -- their last three wins came against East teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. After a slow start, the Bucks look capable of making some noise in the East.
Anthony Davis would like to remind everyone that he's one of the best players in the NBA.
It's not that Anthony Davis isn't still really, really good at basketball, it's just that last year he was an unstoppable force, who appeared poised to take control of the league. But this year he hasn't lived up to the hype. Davis' scoring numbers are down and the Pelicans are at the bottom of the Western Conference rankings. He's still ready and able to put up a monster stat line like he did Tuesday, when the Pelicans took care of the Minnesota Timberwolves with a big second half. Davis had 35 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. It wasn't the near quadruple-double stat line he's thrown up before, but Davis took over for the Pelicans when they needed him most, keeping them close in the first quarter and making big shots down the stretch. At 14-27, the Pelicans aren't completely out of the playoff race. At four games back of the eighth spot, it's feasible they can make a move. They'll need Davis to keep taking over.
Play of the night
Westbrook was throwing down contemptuous dunks all night, so it was hard to chose just one. This alley-oop from Durant helped seal the win, so it takes the top spot.
3 fun things
Scores
Bucks 91, Heat 79 (Brew Hoop recap | Hot Hot Hoops recap)
Pelicans 114, Timberwolves 99 (The Bird Writes recap | Canis Hoopus recap)
Thunder 110, Nuggets 104 (Welcome to Loud City recap | Denver Stiffs recap)
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