Even ahead by three possessions, there was game pressure on the Thunder. For seemingly the entirety of the final 18 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks, Head Coach Billy Donovan’s club was staving off runs. At long last, the Thunder’s relentlessness to protect its lead proved to be too much for Atlanta, resulting in a 107-94 victory for the home team at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Thunder got behind by four early, but after an 11-0 it never relinquished the lead again. A 14-5 burst in the second quarter broke the game open, highlighted by an acrobatic bucket in transition by Kevin Durant where he caught it facing the wrong direction and still managed to flip it in.