Durant, Westbrook combine for 91 points in wild win over Magic
Just how crazy was the Thunder-Magic finish? We've got you covered.
We're four days into the NBA season and we've already had an insane night of basketball. The best game from the lot was the Thunder-Magic double overtime game, which saw the Thunder pull off a big comeback victory to move to 2-0 on the season. But just telling you it was a cool game isn't enough.
We should let you know how insane the finish to the game was.
The Magic jumped all over the Thunder. Scott Skiles' offense was clicking, which probably isn't something you've said since you watched him set the record for assists in a game with 30. Nikola Vucevic torched the Thunder interior whether Enes Kanter was in the game or not in the first half. He led the way with 18 points as the Magic scored 67 points in the first two quarters and shot 61.7 percent from the field.
OKC just didn't have an answer for Orlando and despite Kevin Durant's 20 points in the first half, the Thunder were lucky to be within 14. This isn't that insane though. Orlando being able to do this at home seems possible, even against OKC. Thunder couldn't crack the code in the third quarter and ended up entering the fourth quarter down 18 points.
Where does that rate out on the Thunder Insanity Meter?
Level of Thunder Insanity: We're somewhere between Kendrick Perkins and my theory that Steven Adams has been growing his hair out simply to not have to wear a wig when he dresses up like The Joker for Halloween.
Then the fourth quarter happened and the Thunder came roaring back. They dropped 42 points thanks to 13 from Russell Westbrook, 12 from Durant, and nine points from Kanter. With 3:11 left in the third, the Magic were still hanging onto a 10-point lead and looking to close.
The Thunder kept chipping away and extending the game by fouling. With about 16 seconds left, the Thunder needed a 3-point shot to tie the game. That's when the 2014 MVP shook free on a Steven Adams screen and put up the tying attempt.
Where does this rank on the Thunder Insanity Meter?
Level of Thunder Insanity: We've certainly seen this kind of thing from Durant, so we're really sitting somewhere between that weird facial expression Westbrook once had while passing the ball in warmups and the confidence Dion Waiters possesses at all times while clapping for the ball and celebrating made 3's. Durant being clutch isn't out of the norm but it's fun to see again after last season.
This is when things go nuts. Absolutely nuts. After Durant's tying 3 with about 13 seconds left, the Magic inbound the ball for Victor Oladipo to be the hero. A made shot near the end of the clock would pretty much sink the Thunder because they were out of timeouts. That's when Victor Oladipo makes a nasty pull-back crossover for the potential winning shot.
He just has to make sure he doesn't leave too much time on the clock when he hits it...
He left too much time on the clock. What a shot by Russ! Banks in the 40 footer with 0.7 seconds left to send this game into overtime. How insane was this sequence?
Level of Thunder Insanity: We're talking full-on Russell Westbrook celebrating a big shot experience. The crossover move and 3-pointer from Oladipo was a big enough highlight to end this game and leave everybody feeling very good about the return of NBA basketball. But that wasn't enough for Russ. He wanted to keep playing and we got quite the show.
In overtime, Westbrook scored all nine of the Thunder's points while taking six of the 11 shots. He had the Thunder in position to win. They were up three points with just under eight seconds left when Elfrid Payton started dribbling around the court while Oladipo flashed to the weak side corner. Andre Roberson fought through the Vucevic screen, recovered to the shooter, and was in position to challenge Oladipo's shot.
Except Victor pulled off another crossover to free himself for the shot and knocked it down cold to send it to a second overtime.
Another huge shot in such a small amount of time in this game. How crazy was this moment for the Thunder?
Level of Thunder Insanity: I'd say it was just below matching a four-year, $70 million offer sheet for Kanter in terms of potentially detrimental moments of insanity for the Thunder. Except this one was out of their control.
The second overtime saw more scoring from Westbrook and Durant. Westbrook had five points to bring his game total to 48 points on 17 of 36 from the field. Durant had four points to finish the night with 43 points on 15 of 30. They combined for 23 rebounds and Westbrook added eight assists. We even saw Steven Adams knock down two clutch free throws in double OT despite being a career 53 percent shooter.
Orlando would get stifled on a couple of tying attempts at the end of double OT and lost the game 139-136. But everybody who watched it won. It was crazy.
