OKLAHOMA CITY — Truth be told, Torrey Craig might have been the better matchup anyway.
When Craig was firmly a part of the rotation earlier in the season, it was his job to harass Kevin Durant when Golden State came to town. On Saturday, because of an ankle injury that sidelined Gary Harris, Craig’s task was Durant’s old running-mate, Russell Westbrook.
Without Craig forcing the former MVP into a 6 for 23 night while simultaneously leading the team with 10 rebounds, the Nuggets don’t earn the 105-98 win or extend their winning streak to three.
Craig had played in just four of the eight prior games coming into Saturday, but he never surpassed 10 minutes in any of them. That didn’t mean he wasn’t uniquely ready to trail Westbrook’s never-ending motor.
“It’s tiring, I know that,” Craig said. “He plays 100 miles an hour. You can’t relax on him at any second or he’ll just go on by you. He’s going to be ultra aggressive.”
Craig more or less played Westbrook to a draw in the first half, which was part of the reason the Nuggets held a commanding 21-point lead after two quarters. After shooting just 2 for 7 in the first half and with the Thunder desperately needing an offensive spurt to have any chance, Westbrook scored nine points on 10 shots in the third quarter to cut it to 13.
“Nobody can guard him by themselves,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I don’t know if there is a book (on stopping him). That guy, it’s funny, 16 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. Triple double, hey we did a great job on him. … If you give Russell Westbrook an angle, he’s gone. He’s one of the more explosive players in the NBA, and I think Torrey used his size, his length and his body positioning really, really well tonight.”
Though there’s no stopping Westbrook completely – it was his second triple-double in three games – Craig was integral in getting him to shoot 1 for 12 from the 3-point line as the Thunder tried to climb back into the game in the second half. A night after Westbrook dropped 30 on Charlotte, Craig did as good a job as one can reasonably expect. The Thunder shot just 35 percent from the field while their offensive firecracker fizzled.
“Just knowing his tendencies, knowing he likes his little pull-up, back down in the post, he likes to go left, he’s going to always stay in attack mode,” Craig said. “Just knowing little things like that and just trying to guess his game, basically.”
Craig guessed right for the most part and even looked like he got under Westbrook’s skin in the first half.
“I’m just a physical player, a physical defensive player by nature,” he said. “It’s a physical league. You gotta be physical with those guys or they’ll just score at will.”
Craig’s biggest play of the night came on an offensive putback with the Thunder threatening. The Thunder had cut the lead to five with just over a minute left, and Craig chased down an errant floater and scored for his sixth offensive rebound of the game. What made Craig’s second-chance points even more impressive was the fact that he basically risked a Westbrook transition opportunity each time he followed one of his teammates’ shots. He said he was well aware of the downside and chose his spots accordingly.
“It’s the NBA,” Craig said. “Being up 20 is like being up 10. At halftime, we came out, we knew they would make a run, we just didn’t know when.”
His offensive rebounds led directly to eight second-chance points for the Nuggets, and they helped short circuit the Thunder’s expected charge.
“There was one time he ran 90 feet and stripped Westbrook in the first half,” center Mason Plumlee said. “He plays hard, man. That’s something that we appreciate. He gave us a huge lift. We don’t win the game without him tonight.”