Oklahoma City Thunder dominate Charlotte Bobcats to secure 114-69 victory – NBA Recap
The Charlotte Bobcats have started the season rather well, considering their performance last season and have done well to secure 7 wins already, but met a strong opponent in the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night and were convincingly
beaten by the charging Thunder 114-69. The Bobcats were held to only 24 points in the first half by the Thunder, and avoided a historic record breaking loss by managing to score 26 points in the final period and finish with 69 for the game. Kevin Durant finished
with 18 points and 6 rebounds for the Thunder, where as Russell Westbrook had 12 points and 11 assists for the night. Jeff Taylor was the only Bobcats player in double digits, finishing with 10 points on the night.
The Bobcats started the game relatively well, taking an early 6-4 lead through two free throws by rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. However, the Thunder soon launched their assault on the weak Bobcats defence, starting with back to
back three pointers by Thabo Sefolosha to put them up 12-8. A jump shot by Durant followed by a layup by Westbrook had the Thunder up 18-10, and the Bobcats only managed to score two more points in the final four minutes of the period as the Thunder went on
a 10-0 run to close the period and took a 28-12 lead.
Ben Gordon scored a three for the Bobcats to open their scoring for the third period, but Eric Maynor and Kevin Martin replied with back to back three pointers for the Thunder and put them up 36-15. The Bobcats once again could
only manage 12 points in the period as they shot poorly from the field and were unable to get the offence going. Oklahoma continued their offensive onslaught and closed the first half on a 17-1 run to completely dominate the visiting team and lead 64-24 at
halftime.
The Bobcats were once again unable to get any offence going in the early part of the third period, going scoreless till the 9:35 mark as the Thunder once again opened the third period on a 15-1 run and led 79-25. The game was decided
for all purposes at that point and the Thunder benched their key players. The Bobcats then got a move on and managed to score a total of 19 points in the third period and trail the Thunder 43-88 at the end of the third period.
Reggie Jackson was hot for the Thunder from three point range in the final period and Hasheem Thabeet also enjoyed extended minutes as the Thunder finished off the Bobcats with a comfortable 114-69 victory, with the Bobcats doing
some face saving by scoring 26 points in the final period.
Thabo Sefolosha finished with 14 points for the Thunder, where as Thabeet came off the bench to score 13 points and 10 rebounds and Jackson finished with 11 points. The Thunder shot 51.3 percent from the field and 48.1 percent
from the distance. The Bobcats were 29.1 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from the distance. Oklahoma City also outscored the Bobcats 54-37 in rebounds and 31-12 is assists.
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