Andre Roberson’s emotions got to him a bit leading up to the game against the Boston Celtics on Friday. Even in the postgame press conference on Zoom, he seemed to have some remaining excited energy.
After the 102-97 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday in which Roberson hit the go-ahead and game-winning 3-pointers, he said he felt more relaxed.
“I felt really comfortable today. I kind of got it all out of my system the first day, even two nights before the game,” Roberson said.
Those emotions Roberson said he got out of his system: “anxious, happy, overly ecstatic.”
On Sunday, it was more of the usual basketball energy the Thunder were accustomed to from the wing.
Roberson used that energy around the court, whether rebounding, picking up full court coverage, and using his general basketball IQ to rack up a game-high plus-29 despite not making his first basket until there were only 50 seconds left in the game.
“Today I felt a little more relaxed, a little more settled in, and back to the old days, I guess you could say, in a sense.” he said.
Andre Roberson puts the @okcthunder ahead and extends the lead with back-to-back treys late! 👌👏#ThunderUp #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/djog8AZY96
— NBA (@NBA) July 26, 2020
That bench unit he played with brought the same sort of energy Roberson did to embark on the 24-point comeback.
Even though it’s an almost entirely different group than the one Roberson played with in January 2018, they seem to be meshing well with their combined strengths.
“When I started off picking up 94 feet, the guys were right there behind me. That just added a little boost of fuel to rally and keep going,” Roberson said. “We didn’t give in, we didn’t cave in … We were talking all third quarter-ish, and got the thing going.”
Roberson will get his third scrimmage game on Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Then, once the real games start, Oklahoma City can see him in real game action.
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