Game Thread: Thunder @ Knicks

The massive winter storm that’s leveled New York City and much of the East Coast had placed Sunday afternoon’s game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Brooklyn Nets in question.

Brook Lopez totaled a season-high 31 points and 10 rebounds and the Brooklyn Nets never trailed in a 116-106 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Barclays Center.

On Friday, the Brooklyn Nets had one of their worst games of the season. The New York Knicks are averaging 99.1 points on 44 percent shooting and allowing 100.7 points on 43.9 percent shooting. “They did what they wanted to”, Durant said after the game. That was encouraging to see because on the road, you’re going to have to play together and stick together. Even without the practice, Brooklyn bounced back from a game, which featured its defense giving up 37 points in the third quarter and a night that saw Lopez get held to eight points. OKC fell to the moribund Nets, 116-106 in a game that was less fun to watch than my auto getting buried under 3 feet of snow. “It’s the same song and story as it’s been the last couple of games – we get off to good starts, we have good first halves, then in the second half the game just slips away from us”. They matched a season-high 60 points behind 14 points from Lopez and 24 points from the bench. “Like we’re playing OKC”. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook (0) drives past New York Knicks’ Robin Lopez (8) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, in New York.

As the team continues to solidify its identity, Head Coach Billy Donovan and his staff will be laser sharp on its coverages, its communication and its physicality.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook form the kind of superstar combination that the Minnesota Timberwolves believe they are in the process of developing.

– The Knicks kept Westbrook in check back in November (34 points on 29 shots, 7 boards and 7 dimes) and with elite rim protection in KP and RoLo and Russ in the midst of a cold streak from deep (3-18 from 3 his last five games), maybe we’ll be able to tame the beast once again. The last two were earlier this month because of a sprained right ankle, and coach Derek Fisher thought that may have changed Anthony’s mechanics and caused the discomfort in his left knee….

Oklahoma City faces the Warriors twice in February and the Spurs three more times beginning in March. “Especially if that’s what it’s going to take to get him going, for him to handle it a little more, and come off pick-and-rolls and make decisions, I think we’re going to stick to that”. “So I follow a lot of guys”, Durant said.