Oklahoma City Thunder Reach 0.500, Rout Orlando Magic By 28 Points
The Oklahoma City Thunder reached the 0.500 mark for the first time this season and is beginning to re-discover its form at the expense of the Orlando Magic. Last year's Western Conference contenders used a 79-point first half to trounce the home team by a huge margin, 127-99.
The Thunder used a balanced attack from the offensive end with 7 different players scoring in double figures led by reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Kevin Durant who registered a near triple-double of 21 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in just 27 minutes of play. Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson and Dion waiters did their fair share of the scoring load by netting 17, 16, 16 and 13 points, respectively.
The win was a good start for the five-game road trip for the Thunder which will have its next stop at the Miami Heat's home floor, Tuesday. The team showed great balance and good effort in finding the open man, totaling 28 dimes to the Magic's 18. Durant exemplified the ball sharing and credited the team for continuously trying to find the open man.
"We started the game with a lot of energy, a lot of effort, the defense was good and we passed the ball really well tonight," Durant told ESPN. "Everybody touched the ball. ... We were aggressive attacking the rim and we found the open jump-shooters. We can't look too far down the road; we're always worried about today."
The Magic valiantly tried to match the effort of the perennial Western Conference contenders but were outmatched early on and never recovered. Youngsters Victor Oladipo ( 23 points) and Elfrid Payton (19 points, 8 assists) led the way for the rebuilding Magic who were starting to embrace the run and gun style after coming up with back-to-back 120-point games and encouraging wins over the Chicago Bulls and the Houston Rockets over the weekend. The Magic got the dose of their own medicine when the Thunder stared to run early and shoot the light out, which translated to the most points given up by the franchise in a half.
The Thunder are on the outside looking in the Western Conference with a 20-20 record and is just 2 games back in the loss column over eighth place Phoenix Suns. The team is slowly trying to climb the ladder after getting back its two superstars in Westbrook and Durant in the first two months of the season.