First Thoughts: Oklahoma City 97, Indiana 75
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
Let’s take a quick look at how the Indiana Pacers were routed 97-75 by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
WHY IT HAPPENED: Kevin Durant’s skill and Russell Westbrook’s extreme athleticism were a little too much for Indiana. The Pacers fell behind by 14 in the fourth quarter when the Thunder started the period on a 9-0 run and things got worse from there. Paul George had his worst game in some time. Durant had 34 points and nine rebounds. Westbrook added 24 points, nine assists and seven boards. Roy Hibbert led the way with 22 points and David West added 17 for the Pacers, who shot just 38 percent from the field. Oklahoma City, coming off a win Thursday against San Antonio, took control in the second half, thwarting Indiana’s outside shooting and pretty much anything else you could think of. Fans began leaving en masse with the Pacers down 92-74 and 3 minutes remaining. The Pacers (48-28) fell two games behind New York (49-26) in the loss column in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Indiana had won five straight and was perhaps due for an off night. The Thunder are the reigning Western Conference champions, so there’s no shame in this one. Oklahoma City (56-20) is gunning for the top seed in the playoffs.
WHAT WE LEARNED: Indiana came out of the gates poorly, trailing 8-0 just over two minutes into the game before Pacers coach Frank Vogel called time. The Pacers responded with an 8-2 run out of the timeout and trailed 26-23 after the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter, both coaches turned to five-man reserve units, and for the 3:09 that the benches were matched up, Indiana’s outscored the Thunder’s 7-4. That’s at least a positive takeaway heading into the playoffs. Indiana’s offense was very strong in the first half, although a dearth of 3-pointers and only seven made free throws kept the score down. Oklahoma City led 44-43 at the break. Durant appeared to injure his ankle at the end of the half but was fine — much to Indiana’s chagrin. Westbrook caused problems with his ability to attack the basket, and Durant scored in every way imaginable, including a highlight lob that caused jaws to drop. From a home perspective, if anything impressed, it was how the Pacers kept the Thunder out of transition. Oklahoma City had two fast-break points in the first half and six for the game. Limiting runouts would be critical in a playoff matchup with Miami.
KEY NUMBER: Hibbert scored at least 20 points for the fourth time in his last five games. That’s indicative of the huge strides the 7-foot-2 Georgetown product has made on the offensive end of the floor. In his NBA career, Hibbert has never been better than he is at this very moment.
TURNING POINT: Oklahoma City set the tone coming out of the locker room by scoring on nine of its first 11 possessions to start the second half. The Pacers came in outscoring opponents by an average of 2.1 points in the third quarter, their best of any period. But Oklahoma City won the third quarter Friday 28-24.
NEXT: The Pacers are back in action tomorrow night in the nation’s capital against John Wall and the Wizards. Washington is in the throes of another lost season at 28-47 and will play without rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal.
