OKC Thunder: Player Grades in OT Win against Phoenix

Somehow, some way, the OKC Thunder pulled out a win Friday night against the Suns. Who performed well? Who played poorly?

Oct 28, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo (5) drives to the basket against Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley (3) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Woahhhhhhhhhhhhhh my heart is still racing. I have a feeling that’s going to be a normal sensation with this team. But a win is a win is a win, and the OKC Thunder played well.

Russell Westbrook put stats up not seen since Kareem and Kyle Singler played almost the entire overtime. Crazy world. Let’s get to the player grades from tonight’s WIN.

Steven Adams

Center, OKC Thunder

B-Adams was not the offensive force we have grown accustomed to the last three games (including the preseason). A large majority of that is because the guards dominated the ball most of the night, and the Big Kiwi only ended up with eight shots. However his six offensive rebounds played a huge part in the Thunder’s second chance opportunities. A big cause for concern are his six turnovers; Adams has to be stronger with the ball when he is fed in the post. For the second night in a row, the 23-year old finished with 0 blocks. Yeah Adams does a great job of altering opponents’ attempts, but it would be nice to see him convert some into blocks. On a side note, the pick & roll with Russell Westbrook could be deadly, but Billy Donovan needs to figure out the best position on the court to utilize the play.

Semaj Christon

Point Guard, OKC Thunder

BDon’t listen to what the numbers tell you on this one. Christon was little bundle of energy off the bench in his 11 minutes of play. Yeah he shot 1-4 from the field. Yeah he missed both of his free throw. But Semaj came into a game where the Thunder were down double digits in the first quarter and played with actual intensity. The Thunder came out desperately flat tonight, and Christon’s energy off the bench was a big reason why OKC woke up. Listed at 6’3 (yeah right) the guard had two rebounds and a block. Again, the statistics don’t tell you how his attitude helped turn this team around. I’m very proud of my fellow Cincinnatian tonight.

Ersan Ilyasova

Power Forward, OKC Thunder

C+Ilyasova was limited in his play time tonight because of a smaller, more athletic Phoenix team. However when he was Ilyasova played his role perfectly. In 16 minutes Ersan finished with 5 rebounds and 5 points, including one of the Thunder’s five threes on the night. Ilyasova provided a deep threat that the Thunder desperately needed all night; the spacing for Russ and Oladipo to penetrate is exponential when he is on the floor. On the defensive end Ilyasova did a good job of staying vertical at the rim; refs were looking to call fouls all night down low. It would have been nice to see Ilyasova on the court in crunch time over Singler because the Suns respected Ersan’s perimeter game much more.

Enes Kanter

Center, OKC Thunder

D+Much like the Golden State series, this just was not the right game for Kanter. Honestly I thought Enes did a fine job while he was in, but the offense wasn’t giving him the touches in the post. At one point Kanter was switched onto Devin Booker on the perimeter, and he actually forced Booker into a contested three. The strides he’s made on defense from last season are extraordinary. On the offensive end Kanter finished with 4 points on 1-4 shooting, including 2-4 from the free throw line. The turnovers were the problem. Kanter had 3 turnovers in only 12 minutes of play; the pesky Suns were just too quick in their double teams for Kanter to pass out of them.

Joffrey Lauvergne

Center, OKC Thunder

C+King Joffrey did exactly what Billy Donovan needed from him tonight; go in play hard. Lauvergne did just that, grabbing two offensive rebounds and hacking two Suns’ bigs for fouls. Lauvergne took Kanter’s minutes in the second half, and it made sense. He’s more athletic than Kanter so he was able to keep up with Suns rookie Marqueese Chriss. Lauvergne looked comfortable in his Thunder debut, especially playing with the first unit. Look for Donovan to turn to Lauvergne against LA on Sunday, especially if the Big Slouch Timofey Mozgov is playing and Billy wants to take him away from the paint.

Victor Oladipo

Shooting Guard, OKC Thunder

C“But Tony he was the only other OKC player that could get anything going offensively?!?!?!?” Well yeah, because whenever Oladipo touched the ball it ended with him doing something offensively. Victor ended the night with 21 points, but it took him 17 shots to do that. The thing is those 21 points easily could be 28 points on 14 shots. Oladipo has fallen in love with one-on-one offense; that’s not his game and that’s not the Thunder’s game. I took a lottttttttt of heat on Twitter for my takes on Victor, but there’s a reason he ended the game with a -12 +/- (the worst on the team). When a big sets a screen Victor’s only objective is to score. He missed an open Adams and Kanter a few times, and he forced too many fadeaway jumpers/layups. BUT when Oladipo cut from the baseline (a la Andre Roberson) it was BEAUTIFUL basketball. Russ laid a perfect pass every time and Oladipo was able to convert every time. Those type of plays will be the reason why the Thunder’s offense can be deadly, but he has to make that consistent. 4 turnovers and 2 assists just isn’t what you want to see out of your de facto point guard. @ me if you disagree, and I’ll write a full post for ya.

Andre Roberson

Small Forward, OKC Thunder

A+++++++++++No amount of “+” can fully explain how great Roberson was tonight. Need a clutch three? Andre’s got it. Need to block Devin Booker with five seconds left in OT? Andre’s got it. Roberson finished the night with 9 points on 4 shots. He had 11 rebounds and 5 steals while only adding one turnover in 40 minutes of play. I don’t care how much Sam Presti has to pay Roberson this offseason; without him the Thunder would be lost right now. Roberson got a clutch rebound over Eric Bledsoe with less than a minute left in OT, setting up Steven Adams’ and-one floater to give OKC the lead. But if you haven’t seen it, please go watch Roberson’s block on Booker to seal the win. Andre comes out of NOWHERE to crush the Suns dreams, lifting OKC fans up after watching a truly dreadful game. Much love Andre, tell Coach I think you deserve practice off on Saturday.

Domantas Sabonis

Power Forward, OKC Thunder

BSabonis gets a boost for his words to OKC fans before the game started. He talked about how he wants to help build the community and have a great season; Sam Presti really knows how to pick good people for this organization. On the basketball court, Sabonis played really well for OKC tonight. Like Kanter his minutes were limited by a more athletic Suns team, but Sabonis wasn’t nearly as affected. The rookie finished with 8 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes of play. Even still, Sabonis could be more aggressive. He seems timid to shoot the three ball unlike the preseason; let it fly big fella because you can make that shot! I was wrong after the first game, I hope Billy sticks with the rook in the starting lineup to boost his confidence.

Kyle Singler

Small Forward, OKC Thunder

C+I have no clue if Kyle Singler has some weird voodoo magic or if the Suns were just completely incompetent with Singler on the court. Coach Donovan trusted this guy in overtime, despite the fact that he shot 2-6 from the field and 0-4 from the three-point line. If he was supposed to be the “three-point threat” on the court, Phoenix obviously wasn’t afraid. Singler had two WIDE OPEN threes in OT and clunked them both; he’s now 1-9 on the season. The preseason is starting to look like a mirage, but we have to hope that Kyle isn’t spiraling back to oblivion. Even still, the Thunder outscored the Suns by 21 with him on the court, so obviously he was doing something right. In 33 minutes he recorded 3 rebounds. Who knows, maybe the Suns were just utterly confused about playing 4 on 5 for those 33 minutes. Singler still deserves a better than average grade because of that crazy +21 plus/minus. Or maybe he doesn’t. I don’t know anymore, let’s move on to a really good basketball player.

Russell Westbrook

Point Guard, OKC Thunder

A-When you put up a stat line not replicated since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar you deserve an A. But when it takes you 44 shots to get there you get the worst form of an A. This performance was exactly what the NBA world expected out of Russ when [REDACTED] made his decision to leave for Golden State. Russ did a great job tonight of finding backcutters (when someone would cut) but his eyes were on the basket most of the night. Unlike the season opener, Russ took a few errant shots, including 10 threes. That’s not when Russ is at his best. When he took over in the fourth quarter, it’s because he drove right at the Suns bigs. Once he established that dominance, THAN the mid-range jumpers started opening up. Personally I like season opener Russ more than home opener RUss. The stats might not be as grandiose but it’s more important for him to get his teammates incorporated in the offense. Still. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Russ, you are an absolute animal and I love you for it.