Move over, Golden State. The Oklahoma City Thunder currently have the NBA's longest winning streak. It's not 24 in a row, but after a stellar second half from Kevin Durant -- not to mention a staunch defensive effort in overtime -- the Thunder beat the Utah Jazz 104-98 in overtime on Sunday to extend their streak to five in a row.
2015 NBA scores: Kevin Durant and the Thunder are streaking
Oklahoma City taking over the NBA’s longest winning streak, Dwyane Wade dominating down the stretch and everything else from Sunday in the NBA.
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Durant had 31 points (29 in the second half and overtime), six assists and five rebounds to lead Oklahoma City to another win. Durant isn't scoring the way he did in his MVP season two years ago, but he's shooting the ball at career-high levels. Even though the Thunder still rely on isolation basketball a tad too much, Durant's play is a big reason the Thunder are streaking. Not that Russell Westbrook hurts -- he had 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists against the Jazz.
Gordon Hayward had 22 points to lead the Jazz, who were almost able to pull off the upset without Rudy Gobert and Dante Exum.
The Jazz outplayed the Thunder in the first half, leading 51-38 at the break while holding Durant to only two points. That success was short lived, though.
Durant went off in the third. The Thunder turned a 13-point deficit into a seven-point lead in only seven minutes of play. The Jazz didn’t fold, however. They withstood a 17-point quarter from Durant and ended the quarter on a 14-2 run to lead by five heading into the fourth.
But the Jazz couldn't withstand Durant and the Thunder's streaky offense. Utah led by six with three minutes to play, but Durant took over. He made a jumper, then found Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka for buckets to tie the game -- Durant had three assists in the quarter.
Hawyard took the lead with a jump shot, but Durant wasn’t letting this one get away from the Thunder. He sent it to overtime with a dunk.
(via Anthony Slater)
The Thunder came out firing in overtime, scoring the first six points with some solid defense and missed Jazz shots. And Ibaka clinched it by blocking a Hayward fast break.
Watch and retweet! Huge block from Serge Ibaka in OT. #NBAVote pic.twitter.com/rF7VQZHpyh
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 14, 2015 From there, it was over.
Durant has been playing great basketball all season. In his 18 games, he’s shooting 53.1 percent from the field and 44.3 percent from deep. Those numbers would be career highs, and he’s hitting 90 percent from the free throw line. Durant is scoring 27.5 points, grabbing 7.9 rebounds and dishing out 4.2 assists per game.
The Thunder can’t afford to lose him for another long stretch. When he’s on the court, the Thunder’s offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) is 112.4. Their defensive rating (points given up per 100 possessions) is 98.8. Those numbers change dramatically when Durant is on the bench -- the offensive rating dips to 101.9 the defensive rating rises to 101.5. The Thunder’s net rating (offensive rating minus defensive rating) drops from 13.8 to 0.4 when Durant is on the bench.
(Losing Westbrook might be more troublesome for the Thunder. When he’s on the bench, the Thunder’s net rating drops from 13.5 to -7.6.)
2 other things we learned
Dwyane Wade isn't that old, yet.
The Memphis Grizzlies were up on the Miami Heat by 16 with four minutes to play in the third quarter. Then Miami went small, going with a lineup of Goran Dragic, Gerald Green, Justise Winslow, Luol Deng and Chris Bosh. That's when they went on a 12-3 run. The new small lineup got the Heat back into the game, but it was a tried and true method that ended up winning the game for Miami: Dwyane Wade down the stretch. Wade had only 14 points, but eight of them came in the fourth quarter as he led the Heat on an 11-0 run to win the game over the Grizzlies, 100-97. Even after struggling through the first three quarters, Wade was attacking the rim in the fourth quarter. He drove to the hoop for buckets and crashed the boards for tip-ins on fast breaks. It was a big win for the Heat, who had lost three in a row. If Wade can find the fountain of youth for stretches this season, the Heat are going to be one of the biggest threats to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East.
The Grizzlies, meanwhile, are in free fall again. After an 8-2 stretch to climb the ranks in the West, they've lost four of six and are searching for answers. Zach Randolph came off the bench and Tony Allen didn't play because of an injury against the Heat, but the changes didn't matter. The Grizzlies don't have much depth, and instead are looking like they're stuck in the mud.
Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight are one of the best offensive backcourts in the league.
The Phoenix Suns ran the Minnesota Timberwolves out of the gym in a 108-101 win thanks to the offensive prowess of their backcourt. Brandon Knight hit seven three-pointers on his way to 25 points and six assists and Eric Bledsoe had 23 points and nine assists -- a run-of-the-mill night for these two. Knight is averaging 20.5 points and 5.4 assists per game and Bledsoe is scoring 22.3 points and dishing out 6.3 assists per. They're not Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but the Suns' backcourt is playing at an extremely high level this season. The Suns aren't getting a ton of help from their bigs, but they're 11-14 and at least in the mix to make a run to the playoffs out West. That's because of a backcourt that is hitting shots and creating plays.
Play of the night
(h/t @talkhoops)
Good grief, Westbrook. There are so many amazing parts of this play. How does he make the pass so perfectly off Rodney Hood’s back? How does he catch and shoot so quickly? How does it go in?
And then, did he get an assist for it?
A fun thing
Scores
Suns 108, Timberwolves 101 (Bright Side of the Sun recap | Canis Hoopus recap)
Heat 100, Grizzlies 97 (Hot Hot Hoops recap | Grizzly Bear Blues recap)
Raptors 96, 76ers 76 (Raptors HQ recap | Liberty Ballers recap)
Thunder 104, Jazz 98 OT (Welcome to Loud City recap | SLC Dunk recap)
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