Thunder digs deeper hole with latest loss
Paul George stepped to the free-throw line to shoot a technical foul shot after the Raptors committed a defensive three seconds violation. He nodded back to the Thunder bench. Trailing by double digits, the Thunder needed every point in the early stages of the fourth quarter.
George missed, the Thunder's 12th missed free throw of the night. It was a microcosm of the Thunder's fractured play which has pained it on both ends in its worst stretch of the season.
The Thunder's 123-114 loss to the Raptors was more than just missed free throws.
“We've got to shoot better than 57 percent from the freethrow line,” Donovan said. “I think we're getting answers to things that we're going to have to do at a high level.”
The problem is the Thunder doesn't do those things at a high level. It's 15-of-29 freethrow shooting on Thursday dropped it to 28th in the NBA.
Yes, the Thunder forced overtime with a furious 32-18 fourth quarter in which its defense buckled down to force the Raptors into 7-of-22 shooting. But by halftime, the Raptors
had blistered the Thunder's defense, which offered little resistance, particularly from the 3-point line.
Donovan yelled “match up” as the Raptors stormed down on the fast break. If “match up” means Steven Adams scrambling to defend three different players as the ball pings from Raptor-to-Raptor without any resistance, then the Thunder was listening.
The rest of the Thunder players aimlessly watched the fast-moving ball, no Toronto player keeping it for more than two seconds. Eventually Pascal Siakam hit the Raptors' eighth 3-pointer in 13 tries.
Yes, Russell Westbrook had his moments of brilliance in a 42-point effort, including a surging layup with 1.1 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. But when the Thunder made it to overtime, having to rally from as much as 19 points down, it was there in spite of eight Westbrook turnovers and there without George.
George fouled out with 19.9 seconds left, scoring 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Without him, the Thunder was outscored 13-4 in overtime.