Oklahoma City pulls away in the third quarter, upset Golden
State 107-100
OKLAHOMA CITY
Scott Brooks figured his Oklahoma City Thunder team had been in enough close games in the fourth quarter to eventually win one. Their time came Wednesday night.
The Thunder pulled away in the third quarter and held on for a 107-100 victory over the Golden State Warriors. It was only the fourth win of the season for Oklahoma City, which snapped a five-game losing streak.
“We’ve had a lot of fourth-quarter games. When you’re put in that situation constantly, you get better,” Brooks said. “You find a rhythm. You find a little bit of anger inside your soul and say you’re going to keep fighting, we’re going to break through. And we’ve done that.”
Jeff Green scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half. Oklahoma City turned 20 Golden State turnovers into 24 points, many coming off of steals. Green pointed to the team’s intensity in the second half as the difference in the game.
“We came out with a lot of energy,” Green said. “We had a lot of second-chance points and we scrapped hard inside. It feels good to close one out, get over the hump and get the win.”
Kevin Durant posted his fifth double-double of the season with 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and reserve Chris Wilcox had 23 points and nine boards.
“It’s all about hustle. When we play with that kind of energy on both ends of the court, we’re fun to coach,” Brooks said. “We have active hands, defensive hands, defensive thoughts and that’s what we need to continue to build on.
“It’s obviously a big win for all of us, fans included. They’re sticking with us, which is incredible. I’ve been around 17, 18 years in the league and you don’t see that. Players feel good about that and we all appreciate that.”
Golden State has now lost 17 of its league-high 21 road games and will be on the road for three of the next four contests, but coach Don Nelson wasn’t blaming the schedule for his team’s effort against the Thunder.
“I am not crying about the schedule and I don’t talk that much about it,” Nelson said. “There are probably reasons why players don’t have the pop some nights and have it other nights. Bottom line is, we had too many guys that didn’t have the pop tonight.”
Kelenna Azubuike had all of his season-high 24 points in the second half to lead the Warriors. Stephen Jackson had 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting and the Warriors were beaten on the boards 45-35.
Notes:
Newly signed Nenad Krstic was on the bench in street clothes for the Thunder. The former New Jersey Nets center, who most recently played in Russia, is not expected to be eligible for competition until next week. Krstic is currently waiting on his green card Ron Adams joined the Thunder as an assistant coach Wednesday night after serving this season as a scout for the Chicago Bulls. Adams fills the spot vacated by the dismissal of Paul Westhead, who was fired along with former head coach P.J. Carlesimo. … Thunder F Nick Collison did not dress after aggravating a broken left thumb in Monday’s loss to Phoenix. Joe Smith was also inactive for the second straight game due to a knee problem.
