The game was scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM Eastern Time so my mom dropped my dad and I off at 6:30 so we could walk to the arena and have enough time to buy food and find our seats before they introduced the starting lineups. Our seats weren't the best, but they were good enough so that we could still see the players' faces and had a good view of all the action. My first impression of the arena during the introduction of the starting lineups was that the home crowd was nowhere near as enthusiastic as the Thunder's fans back in OKC. Last year, my family went to Oklahoma City when the Thunder hosted the Atlanta Hawks, and I was able to watch it. The arena in OKC, the Chesapeake Energy Arena, is known for having one of the loudest and most excited fans in the entire league, so it was very exciting. Compared to the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd, the Bankers Life Fieldhouse was extremely quiet. The only time they ever really showed any volume was during the final minutes when the game was somewhat close. The Fieldhouse did however impress me when the mascot of the Pacers, Boomer, who, in my opinion, was probably the best part about the Pacers, basically descended from the ceiling on a huge Pacers Banner. After the starters were introduced, and I swear there was just about as much cheering for the Oklahoma City players as there was for the home team, the game began.
The first quarter started off slow for the Thunder, to my disappointment and the home fans' amusement, with Kevin Durant turning the ball over on the opening possession and the Pacers starting the game on an 8-0 run due to nice ball movement and three-point shooting. On the next possession OKC finally scored off a nice jumper from Russell Westbrook. Following Westbrook's basket was another score from the Pacers and after Westbrook missed a layup, the Pacers got the ball to their star Paul George who buried another three prompting Thunder head coach Billy Donovan to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Thunder stopped their sloppiness and got back into the game, and by the end of the first period, they trailed the Pacers by only one point 27-28.
The second quarter went much better for the Thunder who outscored the home team by 11 points to take a 64-54 lead into the halftime break. Surprisingly, this was in big part due to the Thunder's bench, who haven't always provided much help to the Thunder this season. During a rut, the only people on the team who really did anything was KD and Russell Westbrook and as good as the dynamic duo are, they won't be able to beat their rivals in the west such as the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors by themselves. They will need good numbers from their bench players, especially Enes Kanter, Dion Waiters, and recent addition to the team Randy Foye.
The first half of the third quarter was very entertaining for my father and I to watch. Kevin Durant and Paul George kept going at each other and seeing who could score over the other. Both of these players are incredibly talented so watching them trying to top each other was really fun to watch. However, midway through the quarter, head coach Billy Donovan sat Kevin Durant. Personally, I don't really agree with his coaching style. Lately, he has been sitting either Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook during most of the game. He says he is doing this because he wants at least one of them to be on the court at all time, but this also prevents them from playing together throughout most of the game. This is a bad thing because they bring out the best in each other and it gives the Thunder multiple scoring options which can help spread the floor and take at least a little pressure off of either KD or Russ. Due to this decision, the Thunder, without multiple scoring options, were outscored 24-33 in the third quarter, and their ten point lead was cut to just one point going into the final quarter on their opponents floor 88-87.
The final quarter was much more exciting than the rest of the game because the home fans finally got into it and the arena got loud. With their team actually having a chance to win and break their losing streak, the home crowd put a lot of pressure on the Thunder to maintain their lead. I was getting a little nervous this whole time because many times with the teams I watch, if they get a big lead and them let the opponent crawl back into the game, they usually end up losing. I got even more anxious two minutes into the quarter when Monta Ellis buried a three to give the Pacers their first lead in a long time 94-92. The Pacers increased their lead to four with a bucket by Lavoy Allen, but the Thunder fought back and regained the lead after a nice three-point jumper by KD. After taking back the lead, the Thunder went on a run and gained some breathing room. With just 3:57 left in the final period, the Thunder held a ten point 110-100 lead. At this point many fans decided to leave, but that only motivated the Pacers, and especially Paul George, to fight harder. George went on his own run ending with a four-point play, that I disagree with because I didn't really see any contact, and with exactly 1:00 left to play, the Pacers were only down by four points 108-112. With 35 seconds left, Kevin Durant made a potentially crucial error by turning the ball over and then fouling George Hill who would have a chance to cut the lead to just two points. This would leave enough time for the Pacers to get one defensive stop, even if the Thunder wasted all the shot clock, and still have five seconds which is more than enough time to take the ball down the court and either tie the game to send it into overtime with a two or win the game with a three. Fortunately for myself and all the other Thunder fans in the field house, Hill missed his first free throw so even if the Pacers got the ball back, they couldn't win it in one shot unless a foul was called on a three. With 14 seconds left, Durant missed a shot that would have sealed the game and the Pacers rebounded the ball and called a timeout. In what should've been their final play of the game, Paul George missed the potential game tying three with five seconds left and KD rebounded the ball and was fouled with just two seconds left. Durant stepped up to the line and knocked down two clutch free throws to put the Thunder up five and practically seal the game. The Pacers then had a nice inbounds play where they got a dunk and wasted practically no time off the clock. With one second left, Durant was fouled once again and made one of two free throws to put the Thunder up 115-111. His second free throw clanged off the rim and the time expired as the buzzer sounded.
This was a great game to watch because for the most part, everyone who I came to see played well. Paul George finished the night with an incredible 45 points. Russell Westbrook also had another triple double with 14 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds. Kevin Durant almost had a triple double, which would have been incredible to see both KD and Russ put up triple doubles in a game I attended, with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists, but I know it was smart of him to not go for the triple double because the Thunder needed him to score to win the game. Overall, it was an incredible game to be at and I really hope the Thunder go far this season.
The first half of the third quarter was very entertaining for my father and I to watch. Kevin Durant and Paul George kept going at each other and seeing who could score over the other. Both of these players are incredibly talented so watching them trying to top each other was really fun to watch. However, midway through the quarter, head coach Billy Donovan sat Kevin Durant. Personally, I don't really agree with his coaching style. Lately, he has been sitting either Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook during most of the game. He says he is doing this because he wants at least one of them to be on the court at all time, but this also prevents them from playing together throughout most of the game. This is a bad thing because they bring out the best in each other and it gives the Thunder multiple scoring options which can help spread the floor and take at least a little pressure off of either KD or Russ. Due to this decision, the Thunder, without multiple scoring options, were outscored 24-33 in the third quarter, and their ten point lead was cut to just one point going into the final quarter on their opponents floor 88-87.
The final quarter was much more exciting than the rest of the game because the home fans finally got into it and the arena got loud. With their team actually having a chance to win and break their losing streak, the home crowd put a lot of pressure on the Thunder to maintain their lead. I was getting a little nervous this whole time because many times with the teams I watch, if they get a big lead and them let the opponent crawl back into the game, they usually end up losing. I got even more anxious two minutes into the quarter when Monta Ellis buried a three to give the Pacers their first lead in a long time 94-92. The Pacers increased their lead to four with a bucket by Lavoy Allen, but the Thunder fought back and regained the lead after a nice three-point jumper by KD. After taking back the lead, the Thunder went on a run and gained some breathing room. With just 3:57 left in the final period, the Thunder held a ten point 110-100 lead. At this point many fans decided to leave, but that only motivated the Pacers, and especially Paul George, to fight harder. George went on his own run ending with a four-point play, that I disagree with because I didn't really see any contact, and with exactly 1:00 left to play, the Pacers were only down by four points 108-112. With 35 seconds left, Kevin Durant made a potentially crucial error by turning the ball over and then fouling George Hill who would have a chance to cut the lead to just two points. This would leave enough time for the Pacers to get one defensive stop, even if the Thunder wasted all the shot clock, and still have five seconds which is more than enough time to take the ball down the court and either tie the game to send it into overtime with a two or win the game with a three. Fortunately for myself and all the other Thunder fans in the field house, Hill missed his first free throw so even if the Pacers got the ball back, they couldn't win it in one shot unless a foul was called on a three. With 14 seconds left, Durant missed a shot that would have sealed the game and the Pacers rebounded the ball and called a timeout. In what should've been their final play of the game, Paul George missed the potential game tying three with five seconds left and KD rebounded the ball and was fouled with just two seconds left. Durant stepped up to the line and knocked down two clutch free throws to put the Thunder up five and practically seal the game. The Pacers then had a nice inbounds play where they got a dunk and wasted practically no time off the clock. With one second left, Durant was fouled once again and made one of two free throws to put the Thunder up 115-111. His second free throw clanged off the rim and the time expired as the buzzer sounded.
This was a great game to watch because for the most part, everyone who I came to see played well. Paul George finished the night with an incredible 45 points. Russell Westbrook also had another triple double with 14 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds. Kevin Durant almost had a triple double, which would have been incredible to see both KD and Russ put up triple doubles in a game I attended, with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists, but I know it was smart of him to not go for the triple double because the Thunder needed him to score to win the game. Overall, it was an incredible game to be at and I really hope the Thunder go far this season.
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