Bazley leads Thunder to 108-99 win on the road over Magic

The Oklahoma City Thunder snapped their three-game losing streak by defeating the Orlando Magic 108-99 on the road.

The Magic would come out strong, in particular Terrance Ross, who scored 15 points off the bench in the first half. But after allowing 33 first-quarter points, the Thunder would clamp down defensively in the second quarter.

By holding the Magic to just 18 second-quarter points, Oklahoma City would have a 52-51 lead at the half.

The second half of this game was more back and forth. Oklahoma City was up by just one point with under nine minutes remaining. However, a 4th quarter scoring run would propel the Thunder to snap their three-game losing streak.

Balanced scoring was one of the reasons for the win, as Oklahoma City had six players in double figures.

Biggest Takeaways

Thunder Defense

Oklahoma City was very active defensively tonight. Aside from Ross and Nikola Vucevic who combined for 56 points, the Thunder kept the Magic in check.

The Thunder were able to hold the Magic who rank ninth in points per game below 100 points tonight.

Although the Thunder didn’t force many turnovers they forced bad shots for the Magic. Orlando shot under 40% from the field and under 30% from three.

Darius Bazley

Even with great balanced scoring, Darius Bazley stood out tonight. Bazley led the Thunder in scoring tonight with a season-high 19 points. In addition, Bazley added 12 rebounds giving him his second double-double of the season.

Bazley’s performance helped combat what Vucevic was doing on the other side. Vucevic led Orlando with 30 points and 13 rebounds.

“Just playing hard with my team, when we bring that kind of energy and effort its easy to play and fun to play,” Bazley said.

Next game: Thunder travel down to Miami to take on the 2-3 Heat at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.