The Thunder showed little to no signs of a back-to-back hangover to start, instead bringing superb effort on the defensive end of the floor. Unlike last night’s first half, the Thunder rotated without breakdown and closed up the paint. Westbrook’s rock-the-baby over former UCLA teammate Darren Collison capped a 14-3 Thunder run in the closing minutes of the quarter. After missing last night’s game due to neck soreness, Markieff Morris checked in and immediately poured on five straight points on consecutive possessions. OKC led 29-22 after one.
It didn’t take long for Paul George to reintroduce himself to the folks of Indiana in this one.