THUNDER JOURNAL
Ferguson struggled to find his footing
The ball came Terrance Ferguson’s way, and he let it go with confidence. He always seems to shoot that way.
But the Thunder rookie misfired on a third-quarter 3-pointer in Sunday’s 108104 loss to the Lakers, the only shot he took in his 11 minutes of action.
That continued a recent trend for the Thunder’s fifth starter. Since Andre Roberson went down with a season-ending rupture of his left patellar tendon, Ferguson has started five games and attempted four shots. He hasn’t made any of them.
That doesn’t bother
Billy Donovan, who said his “bigger issue” in position starting alongside Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams is getting stops, not finding shots.
“Andre didn’t necessarily get a lot of shots with that group,” Donovan said. “But it was his defense. I think Terrance is learning and he’s getting better. I think this experience he’s going through is gonna help him.”
For now, though, he’s a 19-year-old rookie struggling to make an impact. Ferguson has played 11 or fewer minutes in three straight games, including a 4-minute night at Denver when he battled an illness.
But Donovan hasn’t found a consistent solution in the Roberson spot. He’s starting Ferguson, but he’s finished games playing Jermai Grant or Josh Huestis alongside the starters, with mixed results. Oklahoma City is 1-4 since Roberson was lost for the season.
The Thunder will continue to evaluate that spot.
But as long as Ferguson starts in it, his teammates are looking to give him a boost.
“It’s unusual, being a young guy coming off the bench, then a guy goes down and you’re in the starting lineup,” George said. “It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster in his career so far. But you got to be ready for everything, and he’s been a huge professional at a young age. So we’re gonna continue to work with him. We’re gonna persevere through it with him.”
Ferguson started seven games earlier this season when Roberson sat with tendinitis in that same left Patellar tendon. In those starts, he averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 shot attempts per game. That included a 24-point game against the Lakers in Los Angeles in which he made 6 of 9 3-pointers.
He’s scored two points in his five starts since Roberson went down, both on free throws.
“Life comes at you fast,” Anthony said. “Nobody expected this injury, season-ending injury with Dre. We’re all pros, and you get thrown into the fire, and you got to be ready. I think he’s doing a pretty decent job, and it’s a tough task for him to be thrown in that fire like that. But we got to help bring him along.”