Five takeaways from the Thunder’s Game One loss
By Tony Heim
2. Jerami Grant is finally in his rightful place
Nothing made me happier than hearing the words out of Reggie miller’s mouth: “And Jerami Grant appears to be coming off the bench for the Thunder.” This happened at the 3:50 mark of the first quarter, making Grant the first Thunder player to come off the bench this postseason.
Grant finished the game with 27 minutes, the fifth most of any player on Oklahoma City. The 23-year old had some nerves in his first career playoff game as he was hesitant to pull the trigger from dip. But that didn’t stop him from going straight at the slower-footed Ryan Anderson or whoever else was guarding him. And when he went to the rim he went to the rim hard.
.@JeramiGrant rises up angry with that dunk. #OKCvsHOU #playoffs | @okcthunder #ThunderUP pic.twitter.com/n9eNrYmJt8
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) April 17, 2017
Jerami finished with 10 points on 9 attempts and 5 rebounds. Unlike the other Thunder bigs he was active on the glass, fighting down-low for positioning. His speed allowed OKC to switch on the Harden pick & roll – the future MVP runner-up admittedly made some tough shots but Grant’s defense was perfect.
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Now Billy Donovan needs to convince Grant to trust his jumper. Since coming over from Philadelphia Grant has shot over 37% from three, yet he passed up a couple open looks last night. If he can make a couple and stretch open the Houston defense just a little bit more it will provide Westbrook with enough breathing room.