Thunder pick up where they left off, win fourth straight over Mavericks
The moving parts before Thursday afternoon's trade deadline were extensive.
The Thunder got four players and sent off four players. They received draft picks and they gave up draft picks. They shipped off a malcontent in Reggie Jackson and a fan favorite in Kendrick Perkins.
But Thursday, while the rest of the league was conjecturing on what might become of the Thunder and their season, Oklahoma City was back from the All-Star Break and playing its best basketball of the year.
With some old faces. Like it was old times.
Lots of talk before the game, plenty after, too, as general manager Sam Presti addressed the media, said a heartfelt goodbye to Perkins and also closed the door behind Jackson. Presti talked about how Enes Kanter was going to be a "matchup problem" for other teams and how Kyle Singler is best described as a "winner."
But you know what? When Russell Westbrook comes to play the Thunder win ball games. When Serge Ibaka dominates the middle, gets a career-high 22 rebounds and doesn't stray from the Ibaka Thunder fans have known and loved over the years, the Thunder win ballgames.
That's what happened Thursday.
Another win - that's four in a row - this one a 104-89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night in Oklahoma City. The Thunder had just 10 active players. Kanter, Singler, D.J. Augustin and Steve Novak won't join the team until at least Saturday in Charlotte, but no matter who puts on a blue and white Thunder jersey or who has turned one in, OKC's play of late has been so good, it's hard to think any additions or subtractions will make as big of an impact this second half of the season than anything Westbrook, Ibaka or Durant provide.
"Teams will make excuses and say they were rusty and not play," Westbrook said of coming back off the All-Star break. "Tonight, I think everyone took it personal, had a chip on their shoulder and we got a win."
Seems Westbrook takes everything a bit more personal this season. Especially since the Thunder were so bad without him, getting off to a 3-12 start. Since, he's played angry. The rest of the team is doing the same. It's working.
Convincing and effective, the Thunder out-rebounded Dallas 62-39. Oklahoma City had 22 turnovers and still won by 15. Dallas shot just 36 percent, and if Ibaka hadn't played, the Thunder would have still had more rebounds than the Mavs.
"For the most part we did a great job of playing the way you're supposed to play," said Westbrook, who had 34 points, 10 assists and five rebounds as well as making all 14 of his free throws.
Sure is fun to speculate and let the trade machine spin, but Oklahoma City doesn't need any of that to be successful. Pieces and complementary parts matter, but not as much as the talk and the rumors and the chatter would lead you to believe. The best part of the Thunder has always been here. They didn't trade for it or pick it up in the offseason. The best part of the Thunder has been injured for a good part of the season and is now just getting back into form.
The Thunder thoroughly undid the Mavs, leading by as much as 22 and never trailing. Oklahoma City got virtually nothing from Kevin Durant, who limped through much of the fourth quarter and is still dealing with an injury to his foot. Durant says it's sore and he will get some more evaluation on it Friday, but even with all that, the Thunder are climbing the standings.
Durant spoke freely about the departed Jackson, saying what we all knew - that Jackson didn't want to be around. The distraction of losing Perkins shouldn't be diminished, either. The additions of Singler, Augustin, Novak and Kanter will soothe some of the sting from losing the loved Perkins and deflect away some of the anger from the way Jackson left. There will continue to be talks about how the new players will affect chemistry and how the former players would have helped or hurt the team.
Then again, this team seems so focused and driven right now, the trade deadline day seemed like background noise.
"Tough losing Perk and the other guys, but they brought in some great players," Durant said. "I like the pick-up of those guys, and me as a leader, I need to make sure they feel comfortable as soon as they walk in the door."
That's thoughtful of Durant. Probably necessary, to an extent, but what the Thunder need isn't going to be found in a 22 year-old center shipped here from Utah.
The Thunder need more of what they already have.
Follow Andrew Gilman on Twitter: @andrewgilmanOK
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