Help wanted
Raymond Felton needs a little help during Russell Westbrook’s absence.
It’s not as simple as passing up a shot.
In the second quarter Saturday, Dallas’ JJ Barea sagged off Raymond Felton by at least 10 feet. Felton fired from 3-point range in front of his former teammate and off the miss, the Mavericks tore out in transition, finishing the play with Barea nailing a 3-pointer.
“I think we’ve been playing well,” Felton said of how the Thunder’s played without Russell Westbrook. “Tonight, we just had a rough night.
“We played well against Houston, we played well in Cleveland. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t fall for you.”
Like recent seasons, the Thunder's offense has taken a nose-dive without Westbrook. Assisting Felton in the second unit can help when Westbrook isn’t available.
While the Thunder had its seven-game winning streak snapped because of allowing 14 3-pointers against the Mavericks in a 111-96 loss on Saturday, the offense was equally at fault.
Felton was half right about the Thunder’s performances in its last two wins. The defense has been mostly fine without Westbrook, who’s missed the last three games with a left ankle sprain. The offense, however, has failed to break 100 points in all five games Westbrook’s missed this season, including wins against Cleveland and Houston.
The Thunder’s offense has scored a blistering 112.8 points per 100 possessions with Westbrook, which would rank sixth in the NBA over an entire season. Without him, it’s scoring 99.5 points per 100 possessions, which would rank dead last in the league.
“He’s gotten guys open shots, he’s gotten us more free throws, he’s gotten us more deep paint shots, he’s created more layups,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said of Westbrook. “He’s done a very good job of in the games he has played making the game easy for the rest of the group.”
The Mavericks’ bashing of the Thunder in the second quarter Saturday was partially a product of Westbrook’s absence. With Dennis Schroder back in the starting lineup for Westbrook, Felton has been shifted back into the No. 2 point guard role. Last season, Felton was an upgrade over Semaj Christon, but
Schroder running the offense to start second and fourth quarters is far less of a drop off.
To start the second quarter Saturday, Felton missed four of the Thunder’s six shots as the Mavericks burst out on a 7-0 run. It wasn’t all on him.
“So much was on (Felton’s) plate in terms of generating offense,” Donovan said. “That’s why I kind of went with Steven there to post feed a little bit, we could throw the ball into Steven and try to get some movement around him.”
The season before Felton was signed, when the Thunder’s second unit struggled without Westbrook in the game, Donovan called for Enes Kanter post ups. Steven Adams played the Kanter role on Saturday, with Donovan trying to initiate the offense through a different starting point.
It worked to start the fourth quarter. Donovan started Adams and Paul George, and the Thunder cut the Mavericks’ lead to nine on an Alex Abrines 3-pointer. Adams posted up, and the attention from George cutting through the lane freed up Abrines.
The Thunder’s defense still crumbled in the following possessions, but Felton was a part of the initial rally with five points and an assist.
“You’re going to have to have guys who are going to break somebody down off the dribble to get someone else a shot,” Donovan said. “Raymond is really good at that.
“But when the ball does get kicked out, we’re going to need that next guy to be able to attack and get in there again. So, some of the off-ball stuff was probably better for us when the ball was posted than it was when Raymond was driving.”
When Westbrook’s healthy, Felton’s impact diminishes. Relative normalcy will return. In the meantime, the Thunder — Donovan included — needs to help Felton out.