Thunder lost composure at worst time
And 3 more takeaways by The Oklahoman on Wednesday’s defeat
Thunder vs. Warriors Round 2 on Wednesday had plenty of what you want from a basketball game. In the Thunder’s 121-100 loss, however, OKC’s play has been the least talked about topic.
Here are four takeaways from the game:
The Thunder can compete with composure
The Thunder led by five in the first half. Enes Kanter tried to throw a cross court pass through a forest of arms. The turnover led to a Kevin Durant 3-pointer.
Coach Billy Donovan immediately called a timeout. It was a good one in a mostly composed first half for the Thunder. When then Thunder lost its head, the Warriors made them pay with points.
The biggest composure move came at the end of the second quarter. Westbrook was fouled hard by Zaza Pachulia, who then looked like he struck Westbrook in the face.
Social media and the world at large appear to be in consensus that the Thunder players on the floor should have done more when Pachulia stood over Westbrook. Kendrick Perkins wouldn’t have put up with that. The Thunder players not coming to Westbrook’s aid quicker says something.
When did the difference between sprinting over to put hands on Pachulia and jogging over a few milliseconds late become an indictment of how Thunder players feel about Westbrook?
Thunder players didn’t ignore making their way over to help him. It seemed like they didn’t see what happened.
“I didn’t see it, I just saw Russell on the ground,” Victor Oladipo said. “Kind of ran over there, I don’t know why Zaza was standing over him. So I kind of went over there for that reason but I’m not sure what’s going on.”
Even Westbrook didn’t get up in Pachulia’s face after the play. He instead ran to the other end of the court and saved his frustration for postgame. Westbrook made no indication he’s angry with his teammates, only with Pachulia. (Note: Westbrook is one of the main proponents of being quick to help up teammates when they fall to the floor).
In the first meeting Nov. 3, the Thunder’s pregame theatrics (Westbrook’s orange photographer’s vest), posturing (Jerami Grant’s dunk staredown on Kevin Durant) and trash talk (Enes Kanter from the bench) superseded the game … and the Thunder trailed by 25 points at halftime. On Wednesday, OKC kept away from the noise for the first half, and without Steven Adams was even 56-56.
Forget one sequence. The entire first half was a statement that the Thunder wasn’t backing down and was riding with Westbrook.
The third quarter …
The Thunder didn’t carry over its composure after halftime, strangely chucking 3-pointers — three in the first 63 seconds.
The Thunder gathered itself and tied it again at 63-63. Then the wheels came off with turnovers and questionable shots which could be considered just as detrimental:
•Play: Westbrook traveled. Six steps on an inbounds. Result: Klay Thompson fast break jumper.
•Play: Bad pass from Westbrook. Result: Thompson fast break 3-pointer.
Even after Westbrook’s power dunk brought the Thunder back to within five, Kevin Durant erased it with a fast break 3-pointer. The Warriors’ lead went from five to 12 points in 62 seconds. In that span, Westbrook tried to draw a foul on a 3-point attempt and shot an airball, then missed a 28-footer.
“It was big,” Westbrook said of the thirdquarter turnovers. “They scored off of pretty much all of them. That’s what they do, especially here at home.”
Kanter can
His defense will always be a question against the Warriors, but after playing just 29 minutes combined in the previous four games against Golden State, Kanter logged his most points ever against Golden State (22) in 30 minutes on Wednesday.
Kanter terrorized second-unit center JaVale McGee offensively, and held up on defense. On a Thompson drive in the second quarter, Kanter shuffled his feet and combined with Oladipo to force a turnover with the Warriors clinging to a 1-point lead.
“I thought Enes Kanter coming off the bench gave us a nice boost,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said at the end of the first quarter.
Kanter wasn’t perfect. The Warriors still targeted him in pick-androll, twice in the first half forcing him to step up and defend the ballhandler, only to get a pass whizzed over his shoulder to the roll man or a cutting player. But his game Wednesday was encouraging.
Durant the difference
Check out the Durant numbers through two games against the Thunder compared to Curry and Thompson (researched by
The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry):
•Durant: 79 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks, 28-of-40 FG, 12-of-18 3PT, 11-of-13 FT
•Curry/Thompson: 77 points, 10 rebounds, 21 assists, 3 blocks, 27-of49 FG, 11-of-25 3 PT, 12-of-14 FT
It’s silly to say Thompson (5-of-12, 14 points) and Curry (9-of-19, 24 points) were “non-factors” against the Thunder on Wednesday, but they didn’t have prolific games by their standards. In two games, the Thunder has defended Thompson and Curry pretty well. Durant is another issue.