The OKC Thunder fell to the Charlotte Hornets 113-101 Sunday afternoon.
Effort. Energy. Hustle. That shouldn’t be a problem for a team this young. But that’s exactly why the Thunder lost to the Charlotte Hornets Sunday afternoon.
The first five minutes were fantastic. Oklahoma City raced out to a 13-6 lead behind a suffocating defense that turned into easy transition opportunities. But once the subs (Enes Kanter and Alex Abrines) came in that intensity left. Even when the starters came back in the second quarter there just wasn’t the same energy from the team, or the arena for that matter.
It doesn't even seem like they are playing in the Peake :(
— Thunderous Intentions (@thunderousint) April 2, 2017
It starts with the turnovers. The OKC Thunder turned the ball over 24 times; the shocking number is the 18 steals they allowed. Sloppy passes were coming from every one. Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo and Taj Gibson – Russell Westbrook’s top supporting cast – all recorded three or more turnovers on the day.
Westbrook was his normal spectacular self, finishing the game with 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. It was his 40th triple-double of the season and sixth in a row, pulling him within one game of Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan’s respective records. He shot 14-31 from the field (45%) and 7-15 from deep (47%). This wasn’t on him. This was on everyone else for allowing Charlotte to come in and outwork Oklahoma City.
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Adams scored two points on 1-5 shooting. Alex Abrines missed all four of his three-point attempts. It’s on Billy Donovan for only playing Gibson 13 minutes.
Statistics can’t quantify how bad the defense was. The Hornets were able to shoot 48% from the field while only scoring 38 points in the paint because when they drove to the basket the Thunder resorted to fouling. Charlotte hit 28 of 32 at the charity strike compared to OKC’s 12 attempts. The Hornets converted 26-47 from two-point range.
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Andre Roberson and Jerami Grant (shocker) were bright spots in today’s game. Roberson had 12 points on 7 shots, with his only miss coming from the ugliest open three-point attempt I’ve seen in NBA history. Grant on the other hand was the only OKC player who played 20+ minutes to finish with a positive +/-. His energy and ability to protect the rim is infectious; I will not stop singing his praises.
This loss all but solidifies the Thunder’s spot in the sixth seed of the playoffs. The Thunder are three games back from the fifth seed with only six games left. Bring on the Rockets.
Next game is a nationally televised contest in Oklahoma City against the Milwaukee Bucks. Hopefully the boys come out with a little more energy.