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The Knicks jumped out to a decent lead early on in the first, leading the Thunder 13-7. Oklahoma City would proceed to ignite themselves into a 16-0 run, led by Russell Westbrook, to take a 13-23 lead mid way through the first. The Thunder were feelin' it from deep early on, nailing three of their five three point field goals, while holding the Knicks to just 2-8 from long range.
Kevin Durant continued his shooting struggles in the first quarter, going just 1-5 from the field, his only made field goal being a three pointer. When Kevin Durant can't get going, Westbrook can. Russ had another amazing opening quarter, scoring fifteen points on 5-9 shooting, attacking the basket unrelentlessly as he managed to get to the line and nail four free throws.
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Oklahoma City shot 61% in the second quarter, but that wasn't enough as they allowed the Knicks to shoot 63% themselves. J.R. Smith was unguardable in the second quarter, going off for eighteen points and nailing seven of his twelve shots from the field. The Knicks showed why they are one of the best three point shooting teams in the league, going 4-5 from beyond the arc to help them out score OKC 30-24 in the quarter.
The Thunder struggled with turn overs in the second quarter, turning the ball over six times and allowing the Knicks to convert five points off of them. The Knicks took six more shots than the Thunder because of it, and the Thunder were not able to defend the parameter well enough to stop the Knicks' offensive barrage.
JR Smith found his shot, again - this time in the third. He went off for another thirteen points on 5-6 shooting, and no one could stop him - he was nailing three's in double teams' faces. Smith was had all three of the Knicks' three pointers in the third, just lighting it up from everywhere on the floor. No matter who the Thunder put on him, they couldn't stop him from nailing his shots.
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New York ended the third quarter on a 13-6 run, to take a six point lead going into the fourth. Kevin Durant started to heat up a little bit offensively in the third, scoring nine of the Thunder's sixteen points on 3-5 shooting. The Honey-Badger had a shooting slump himself in the quarter - taking contested jumpers rather than shooting, he finished on just 1-6 from the field.
Oklahoma City held on in the final minutes of the fourth quarter behind Kevin Durant's twelve points. Despite nine lead changes, the Thunder were able take a 95-94 lead with just seconds left in the game. The final shot came down to a contested JR Smith 13 footer that would've won the Knicks the game, but with good defense from Russell Westbrook, he missed and the Thunder held on to win it.
Thunder Essentials:
Limit the role players - F
A night where this was most important, the Thunder failed to control the Knicks bench - who scored fifty nine points total. Sixth man JR Smith had one of his best, if not the best, game of the season, scoring thirty six points in the game. He missed the most important shot of the night though, a shot that would've won the Knicks the game at the buzzer. Oklahoma City needs to be more consistent defensively, especially with their second unit.
Defend the three ball - B
The Thunder did a pretty good job at defending the three pointer. The Knicks were 10-31 from deep, six of which belonged to JR Smith. So besides the fact that they gave up six three pointers to one person, Oklahoma City did a pretty good job at contesting every shot.
Attack the offensive glass - B
Seven is the number of offensive rebounds Oklahoma City managed to pull down tonight. Twelve is the number they gave up. Still, the Thunder were able to grab offensive rebounds and score off of them in crucial moments of the game. They finished tonight with ten second chance points, a pretty fair number for facing a front court of the Knicks' caliber.
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