Atlanta Hawks vs Oklahoma City Thunder Match Player Stats On Dec 22, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 22, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Early in the second quarter, Russell Westbrook yelled from the bench.

"Wake up," he implored his team.

Oklahoma City listened, if only for a moment, to the NBA's reigning MVP by responding with a strong second quarter in the 120-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

But after a dismal third quarter and inconsistent fourth, the Thunder won the game on a deep triple from Westbrook (30 points, 15 assists) to break a 117-117 tie with 1.4 seconds left.

Before the second quarter, Oklahoma City (17-15) had been playing Atlanta evenly, finishing the first quarter tied 28-28. The Thunder were shooting 50 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from beyond the arc.

With the Thunder going against the team with the NBA's worst record, their effort wasn't nearly good enough.

Spurred by Westbrook's words and a renewed sense of urgency, the Thunder turned it around in the second quarter thanks to the hot shooting of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony finished with 24 points and George scored 17.

Atlanta, meanwhile, struggled after the first quarter, when it also shot 50 percent (11 of 22) from the floor.

But the Thunder's third-quarter troubles resurfaced after halftime, and Atlanta (7-25) whittled Oklahoma City’s once-15-point lead to six in less than two minutes.

Atlanta's Marco Belinelli was a big reason for keeping the game close as he scored 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Ersan Llyasova added 22 points and Malcolm Delaney had 20.

With the Thunder's field goal drought in the final 4:16 of the third quarter and two buckets from rookie John Collins, Oklahoma City entered the fourth clinging to a one-point lead.

The Hawks continued their momentum in the fourth quarter and took a four-point lead on back-to-back breakaway dunks by Bazemore.

Westbrook re-entered the game with 8:40 to go and promptly took control of the game with a three-point play and an assist to Jerami Grant to regain the lead.

The teams traded buckets for the next three minutes, but Anthony hit his sixth 3-pointer of the night with 5:26 to go to give the Thunder a seven-point lead.

That didn't seal the win, however, as triples from Belinelli and Bazemore kept the game within a possession.

NOTES: Atlanta G Dennis Schroder did not play after suffering a left ankle injury against Indiana, leaving the Hawks without two starters. C Dewayne Dedmon missed yet another game with a left tibia stress fracture diagnosed in late November. ... Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer took issue with the officials after Thunder PG Russell Westbrook knocked Kent Bazemore in the head in the follow-through of a breakaway dunk. Budenholzer and Westbrook engaged in a brief shouting match afterward, but officials declined to review the play for a flagrant foul. ... Westbrook was called for an unsportsmanlike technical foul for shoving Malcolm Delaney after a play was over in the second quarter.