Thunder Falls to Wizards, Winning Streak Ends at Eight Games
The Thunder’s eight-game winning streak came to a whimpering end on Tuesday night in D.C., as the John Wall-less Wizards took a 102-96 victory. Otto Porter Jr. went for 25 points on 8/13 shooting, Bradley Beal chipped-in 21 points of his own, and the Thunder shot just 37.8 percent from the field and turned the ball over 21 times.
Paul George led the way for the Thunder with 28 points on 8/14 from the field, but Russell Westbrook had one of his worst outings of the season. Westbrook finished his night with just 13 points on 5/18 shooting, also turning the ball over seven times. It was an ugly effort from the top down — starting with the reigning MVP.
Although it was ugly throughout, the game was actually tied 96-96 with 50 seconds remaining. OKC then turned it over, committed a bad foul, and later played some of the worst late-game offense imaginable. It was a fitting end, as it never really felt like the Thunder was going to win it anyway.
Full Highlights:
The loss drops Oklahoma City to 30-21 ahead of Thursday night’s game in Denver. Now for some notes on the streak-halting defeat.
Numbers
| TEAM | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKC | 25 | 29 | 22 | 20 | 96 |
| WAS | 30 | 23 | 22 | 27 | 102 |
37.5: The Thunder shot just 30/80 from the field, an abysmal 37.5 percent. The Wizards hit just 38.2 percent of their attempts.
28.1: The Thunder shot 9/32 (28.1 percent) from long range. Washington didn’t take advantage here, hitting just 7/25 (28 percent) of their three-point attempts.
52-43: The Thunder won 52-43 on the glass, including 14-7 on the offensive boards.
21: New season-high in turnovers. The Thunder coughed it up 21 times against the Wizards.
52: Another oddly-officiated game that featured happy whistles. The Wizards were called for 28 fouls, and the Thunder picked up 24.
16 & 13: There were 16 ties and 13 lead changes.
Curious Case of Paul George
Paul George was electric in stretches — but became mysteriously quiet after halftime. He shot 7/11 for 20 points in the first half, but took just three shots in the final two quarters. His final line:
George: 28 pts, 6 reb, 8/14 FG, 4/8 3P, -15
The 20 first half points had him looking like a man on a mission, but there just wasn’t anything there after the break. Part of this can be attributed to the poor play of Westbrook — it’s mostly on George to stay aggressive.
Bad Westbrook
Russell Westbrook has been sublime lately but was shockingly not tonight in Washington. His line:
Westbrook: 13 pts, 10 ast, 6 reb, 4 stl, 7 TO, 5/18 FG, 1/4 3P, -7
Although John Wall was absent, Westbrook was unable to take advantage of his match-up with Tomas Satoransky. He shot 3/10 in the first half, 2/8 in the second half, and never found any bit of rhythm. He was also called for his eleventh technical foul of the season (five away from suspension) and assessed a Flagrant One for a blow to Marcin Gortat’s head. Ugly night all around.
Highlights
Westbrook hits Paul George with a cross-court bounce pass for the open three:
Carmelo Anthony flashing a little bounce:
You wouldn’t know it by his second half performance, but there was once a point in the game that Paul George was feeling it this much:
Notes
Carmelo Anthony. Melo had 19 points and 6 rebounds, but struggled with his shot. He finished 7/21 from the field, 2/12 from downtown and went 3/5 from the free throw line. He was a -11 in 34 minutes.
Steven Adams. Steven Adams had 16 points and 12 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. He was 6/11 from the floor and wrapped up as a -6.
Replacing Roberson. Tonight was a great example of why the Thunder will likely need to make a play on the trade market. Terrance Ferguson got the start and 19 minutes (-11) but failed to score, finishing 0/1 from the floor. Josh Huestis got 21 minutes (+0), scored three points and had a critical turnover late in the game. Alex Abrines received 13 minutes (+9) and scored five points on 1/4 shooting.
The Other Guys. Five Wizards reached double-figures in scoring: Porter Jr. (25), Beal (21), Markieff Morris (18), Marcin Gortat (11), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (10).
One of Those Days. At the end of the day, it was a nice eight-game winning streak for the Thunder. Russell Westbrook has been good enough lately to expect him to bounce back quickly, and the schedule is favorable over the next three (Nuggets, Pelicans, Lakers). There are nights like these over the course of 82 games.
