Thunder vs. Knicks halftime stats: Al Horford scores 15 of OKC’s 42 points
It took until the final minute of the first half for the Oklahoma City Thunder to pass the 40-point mark.
Fortunately for OKC, the New York Knicks didn’t do any better offensively. The score was tied at 42 at halftime after an official review added a point in the Thunder’s favor after the break began.
Al Horford led the charge by scoring more than a third of Oklahoma City’s total points. His 15 was the most for either team.
R.J. Barrett led the Knicks with 11 points.
Oklahoma City shot 35.6% from the field and 33.3% from 3. New York shot 34.7% from the field and 30.8 from deep.
Defining moment
It took until the final 3:26 of the half for either team to really start putting the ball in the hoop. Over the next 1:05, the two teams traded baskets, going 5-for-5 with three 3s to propel the score all the way into the upper 30s. Horford and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored all the Thunder's points over the final three and a half minutes of the half. Horford had eight points in a row while the third-year guard hit a pair of 3-pointers. That run between the two of them pushed the Thunder not only to the 30-point mark but into the 40s, saving what had been a disastrous half.
Telling stat
Up until those final three and a half minutes, the Thunder were 11-for-39 from the field, a clip of just 28.2%, and had made only three of their 17 attempts from 3 -- that's a rate of 17.6%. The Knicks, entering that same time, were 14-for-42 from the field (33%) and 2-for-12 from 3 (16.7%). So yeah, you can say that scoring was a real difficulty for both teams. Looking at it in that light, it's a wonder both teams managed to shoot about 35% from the field and above 30% from deep.
Thunder highlight
It was a quiet night offensively and we haven't touched upon the defensive end of the court, so we can go over there for the highlight of the first half. Thunder rookie forward Aleksej Pokusevski returned to the floor after missing the last two games while in concussion protocol. His head collided with a teammate's knee when he fell during practice on Sunday. Pokusevski had two points and five rebounds in the first half of his return to the court against the Knicks on Friday. He also had a block, reading the floor well to play help defense as New York guard Elfrid Payton drove. https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1347715524772433924 Unfortunately, that highlight was ruined by a Pokusevski turnover on that next possession. We'll give Kenrich Williams an honorable mention for his drive against Mitchell Robinson. https://twitter.com/ThunderFilmRoom/status/1347714350858043396
