Passing the Bucks
The Thunder’s Tuesday night win over Milwaukee was marked by offensive efficiency that OKC hasn’t displayed much of since the days of Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Co.
MILWAUKEE – The Thunder’s first-half offense on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks was fluid and at times very familiar.
The win against the Bucks was marked by offensive efficiency that the Thunder hasn’t seen much of since the days of Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Co. The win coupled with a blowout of Chicago on Saturday marked only the third time in Thunder history the team has won consecutive road games by 19 points or more.
On Tuesday, as the ball pinged from player to player and the pick-androll lob game opened up for monster dunks from Steven Adams, it evoked images of the last time the Thunder ripped off back-to-back road wins by those margins: Jan. 1, 2016 – a game in Charlotte where OKC showed the glimmers of its devastating offensive potential.
“That first half, that’s how I would love to see us play,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Tuesday. “I feel like when we play like that, the floor’s so spaced it takes advantage of all those guys.”
It won’t be the same magic formula every night, but here’s what was working for the Thunder against the Bucks, and what needs to continue:
Right players taking the right shots
The Thunder has traditionally been toward the bottom of the league in passes per game. OKC is throwing about 20 fewer passes per game (262.1) compared to the first seven games of last season (282), but is averaging a better percentage of assists on those passes (8.9) than last year (7.2), per Second Spectrum data provided by the NBA.
The key is who’s on the end of those passes. As expected, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony have added a spot-up shooting element that wasn’t present last season. In turn, Westbrook’s 3-point attempts have been cut in half. Andre Roberson took five 3-pointers last game, but he didn’t have more than two attempts in a game entering Tuesday. The Thunder’s catchand-shoot points per game are way up, from 20.4 last season through seven games (25th in the NBA) to 30.9 (fifth).
Donovan was ecstatic after the Thunder made 45.8 percent of its catchand-shoot 3-pointers (11of-24) against the Bucks.
Westbrook’s adaptation
“Deferring” is a strong word, but Westbrook is setting up teammates early and was outstanding in the second quarter against the Bucks.
Three of Westbrook’s six assists in the first half came on those catch-andshoot opportunities. He’s the current leader in the NBA in assists per game (11.7).
“Even though he kicked the ball out and created some opportunities, sometimes his pass went to the next pass that led to an assist,” Donovan said. “I thought he got a lot of hockey assists tonight where he passed the ball and it led to someone else (scoring).”
The Thunder was a little sloppy in the third quarter, but Westbrook set them up for success with a dominant first-half display, one in which he found Adams for as many shots (nine) as himself and committed just one turnover. When the Thunder gets into more fourth-quarter games, Westbrook’s shot attempts will increase late, but he currently doesn’t lead the team in shot attempts in any quarter.
Adams’ re-emergence
Adams is second in the NBA in dunks this season, and it can attributed to the 7-footer having way more room to operate on offense thanks to the spacing provided by Anthony and George on the perimeter.
Some of the Thunder’s best offensive possessions of the season have ended with an Adams bucket, and they’ve been an effect of the previous two elements of Westbrook’s efficiency and the surrounding shot makers.
On possibly the Thunder’s most aesthetically pleasing possession of Tuesday night, Adams finished with a floater and four Thunder players touched the ball. All five were moving.
The Thunder used only four passes to get Adams open toward the end of the second quarter to open up an 18-point lead. It was built off of the threat of a George drive-and-pass to Roberson in the corner, then a quick pass to Westbrook, who drove and was able to hit Adams with a no-look pass because a Bucks defender had to take an extra step out of the paint to cover a moving Anthony on the wing. Westbrook had similar recognition, finding Adams on a fourpass sequence, against a scrambled Indiana defense last week.
The early returns on Adams have been strong: Fourth in the NBA in field goal percentage among players playing 20 minutes or more, and an increase in looks around the basket – up to 8.1 per game (fourth in the NBA) compared to 5.4 at this point a season ago.