Thunder fall to Cleveland as Westbrook and Oladipo struggle

Jan 29, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) grabs a rebound from Oklahoma City Thunder forward Andre Roberson (21) during the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

The OKC Thunder played their first game without Enes Kanter on Sunday, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-91.

With all due respect to the Cavs, Oklahoma City lost that game. Both sides played terrible, but the Thunder just figured out how to play worse.

It was close for the first 21 1/2 minutes. Even though the Thunder shot poorly, they scored 43 points by pushing the ball up the court and driving to the rim. Ultimately that area may have been the only bright spot on the night. They finished with 23 points off turnovers and scored 52 points in the paint.

Steven Adams only took four shots. KYLE SINGLER TOOK MORE. If you don’t have time to read a full recap, all you need to know is this: they didn’t play smart basketball today. And they didn’t play efficient basketball either.

OKC finished the afternoon shooting 37-100 from the field. They hit 6-26 from deep. Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo combined shot 13-44. With Enes Kanter out the Thunder are devoid of one of the few efficient scorers they have; they will never win when their primary scoring options shoot that poorly.

A 15-2 Cleveland run at the end of the first half opened up a 13-point lead that the Cavs never turned back from. They showed their experience, weathering the Thunder’s fast tempo by slowing down their own pace. Cleveland realized their shots weren’t falling (8-29 from deep), so they made it an emphasis to pound the ball down low in the second half.

Players of note

More from Thunderous Intentions

Westbrook recorded his first triple-double against Cleveland: 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He also only had four turnovers.

Joffrey Lauvergne’s 13 and 6 were meaningful. If he can play like that nightly the Thunder may have a cheap Kanter-replacement if they go that route.

Domantas Sabonis was incredibly physical tonight. He finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds on 6-12 shooting from the field. The key is he only shot 3 threes.

Other random thoughts

The Thunder really need to stop shooting so much. Their strength is attacking the rim with their athleticism and the first half proved that. They need to be relentless on offense.
Cameron Payne is a little trigger happy. He shot 3-11 tonight and at least three of those attempts were dumb fadeaway floaters with oodles of time on the clock. If the shots are going in it’s fine, but they weren’t.

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