Thunder falls short in Portland
TRAIL BLAZERS 120, THUNDER 115
Enes Kanter and the Thunder took on the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Billy Donovan sapped the star power from Wednesday night’s matchup in Portland, announcing pregame he’d sit Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson.
Still in a fight for seeding, the Blazers responded accordingly, beating the Thunder’s B team 120-115 in a win that, strangely, may have benefited both sides. With it, Portland pulled into a tie with Memphis for the fifth seed, boosting the chances the Blazers and Thunder avoid each other in the first round.
For 48 minutes, OKC’s leftovers, suddenly with a lot more ballhandling and scoring responsibilities, used the Moda Center as a glorified summer league game, working on things they often can’t in packed NBA arenas.
Enes Kanter was the focal point. On the night’s first possession, Donovan called for the Thunder to clear a side of the floor for a Kanter post-up. He executed a nifty spin and hook for his first two points.
Donovan kept going to him. And the big man kept delivering. All season, Kanter has put up mega numbers with high efficiency in limited minutes. On Wednesday night, as the minutes went up, the efficiency stayed the same.
Kanter finished with a career-high 33 points and 20 rebounds in 34 minutes, the first 30-20 game in Thunder history.
In the first quarter, he was featured primarily in the post. After a couple power moves, he went to the mid-range jumper, hitting two straight as the resting Durant and Westbrook jumped up from the bench to cheer on the production. He finished with 11 points and six rebounds in the first quarter.
But OKC was trailing 33-26. Because while the Thunder’s B team compiled an encouraging offensive performance, its defense was shredded all night.
To start, the twin tower mustached combo of Kanter and Steven Adams struggled to contain Portland’s smaller frontline, particularly Al-Farouq Aminu. He went by Adams easily on a first quarter drive, then hit a 3 while both were caught over-helping, en route to a 27-point night.
Anthony Morrow, who scored 19 in his 31 minutes, had trouble sticking in front of Portland’s quick guards. Cameron Payne, who had 10 points and six assists in 31 minutes off the bench, made a few rookie mistakes. Twice he reached softly on a drive, slapping a Blazer on the arm as he powered through for an and-1 layup.
Then later, Payne crashed the offensive glass on a 3-pointer, Russell Westbrook style, but it left OKC’s transition defense scrambling. Without its point guard back, Allen Crabbe was left free for one of his four 3s.
Billy Donovan screamed at the rookie for the overaggressive mistake from the sideline.
But despite the constant defensive lapses, the Thunder’s ability to stick in this one against a tough team had to be encouraging.
Particularly the second half performance from seldom-used rookie Josh Huestis.
This is only the third game Huestis has appeared in this season. But for the third time, he had an impact. In his 42 career minutes, Huestis has made all four of his 3s.
Down the stretch on Wednesday, though, he had a silly turnover, throwing the ball away after his sixth rebound. But he recovered. After the giveaway, Huestis rose up and emphatically blocked Mo Harkless’ dunk attempt.
It drew a lively thumbsdown celebration from Ibaka, Durant and Westbrook from the sideline.
But on this night, cheerleading was the most those three would provide. And because of it, the Thunder fell in Portland.