NOTES & QUOTES
Heat Starting Five: Antonio Snow, Josh Richardson, Justice Winslow, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Hassan Whiteside
Summary: Oklahoma City has been running the show in the Western Conference as they came into this game on a four game winning streak to place them at the top of their conference. They finally got a chance to get the Miami Heat on their turf and the outcome was surprising, but sort of expected. Oklahoma City held the Heat to only 11 points in the second quarter and outscored them 40-27 in the fourth quarter to take a dominating win.
Russell Westbrook was the man to beat tonight, dropping 41 points on the Heat. Three-point scoring was OKC’s bread and butter tonight as they sank 13 shots from deep, 10 of those shots came between Westbrook and Paul George. Westbrook and company looked unstoppable tonight, a far cry from the team that Miami dismantled in the NBA Finals last year. There may be a potential repeat at the end of this season.
Antonio Snow on the blowout loss: It feels different to be on this side of it, you know? We blow teams out every once in a while and it’s fun while you’re on the winning end of it, but you never want to be on the receiving end.
Billy Donovan on the team’s progress: It’s coming together. And I think the guys can see that now. It’s still early, but we’re sitting first in the West after a bit of a bumpy start this season. We just have to remember what we did well tonight over a team like this and let that carry us forward and build on that.
Antonio Snow on what could have gone better tonight: We could have scored more, would be the first thing. I think me and Hassan were the only guys in double-figures tonight. That won’t help. They beat us on the glass, so not many second chance shots. But also, they were just on fire. I don’t think PG missed a three point shot tonight. It’s hard to stop him once he gets going.
Top Performers
Miami Heat
Antonio Snow – 26 PTS, 8 AST, 2 STL
Hassan Whiteside – 26 PTS, 7 REB
Terrence Ross – 8 PTS, 3 REB
Oklahoma City Thunder
Russell Westbrook – 41 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST
Paul George – 26 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST
Will Barton –21 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST
