Thunder Stay Undefeated At Home With 97-85 Win Over Miami

Russell Westbrook tallied 14 points and dished 11 assists as the Thunder improved to 6-1 on the season with a 97-85 win over the Miami Heat.

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Oklahoma City is now 4-0 at home with the win and will be back in action on Wednesday when the Raptors come to town.

Much of the talk heading into the game centered around the return of former Thunder wing Dion Waiters, but OKC’s hot start from the field and suffocating defense in the second half made it a forgettable homecoming for Waiters.

Westbrook set the tone of the game early on by sharing the ball and pushing in transition, and after a couple tough finishes at the rim by Andre Roberson and a few knock down jumpers from rookie Domantas Sabonis, the Thunder led by 11 after one quarter and took a 55-47 lead into halftime.

While the Thunder struggled a bit to close out the first half, OKC made up for it with a stellar showing following intermission.

Westbrook confidently knocked down his first three jumpers of the third quarter, then zipped a pass to Sabonis for a corner three-pointer that put the Thunder up 66-51. It was a tremendous start to the half, but Westbrook wasn’t done dealing.

OKC’s electric point guard found a wide-open Victor Oladipo for an open elbow jumper, then Westbrook found Oladipo yet again, this time with an ally-oop pass in transition that Oladipo finished with a smooth layup to put OKC up 75-51 with just over five minutes left in the third.

In all, the Thunder ripped off a 20-to-0 run in the third quarter and Westbrook either scored or assisted on all 20 points.

With OKC leading the Heat by 24 points after three quarters, Westbrook was able to rest down the final stretch for the second straight game.

Led by three tenacious defenders in Roberson, Adams and Oladipo, the Thunder limited the Heat to only 36.9 percent shooting from the field while Miami’s Hassan Whiteside only scored five points (2-for-8) in 31 minutes of action.

Led by Westbrook, the Thunder had three players record double-doubles. Enes Kanter was a force off the bench, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Sabonis scored a career-high 15 points to go with 10 boards.

Oladipo was second on the team in scoring with 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting and Adams scored six points and grabbed six rebounds despite suffering a minor injury to his hand in the first quarter.